I love chipotle flavor and chipotle peppers, but I recently discovered that my chipotle seasoning cubes are not in line with our family’s Get Real challenge. And yes, I suppose I could buy already-smoked whole chipotle peppers at the store, but I happened to have jalapenos in the house so I decided to try to find a way to smoke them myself. That’s when I remembered Kathy Hester’s Slow Cooker Smoked Tofu. I set out to smoke my peppers in a similar way, in my slow cooker. I changed the spice line-up in the smoking materials to reflect the flavor I wanted for the chipotles.

After actually trying it out, I wouldn’t do this inside the house again (the smell is actually pleasant, but stings your eyes a bit). In the future, I’ll wait for a nice day and set the slow cooker out on my porch or at least open the windows before I start the smoking process. But my peppers were totally smoked! It was awesome. You’ll need a 4 quart or larger CrockPot, a vegetable strainer or colander that will fit in your crock without sitting down on the bottom and at least two sheets of foil.

Home Smoked Chipotle Peppers

Ingredients

2-4 jalapenos, sliced

Smoking Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons raw white rice
• 4 tablespoons sucanat (or brown sugar)
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon chili pepper
• 2 tablespoons black pepper

Method

Protect your crock insert (from the burning sugar) with at least two sheets of foil and create a vessel for your smoking ingredients. Insert and stir all of your smoking ingredients. Place sliced jalapenos in a single layer inside vegetable strainer or colander.

Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours, then cook on LOW for 6-10 hours, flipping jalapenos halfway through.

The Results

These chipotle peppers turned out fantastically. As I said, the smell in the house was really strong, so I’ll be a little more wary of that next time I do this. But the method is awesome. The little smoked chipotle rings are perfect. I can’t wait to use them in a recipe.

PS: In case you’re curious, here are the ingredients from my Chipotle Seasoning Cubes–Salt, Monosodium Glutamate, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Chile Powder, Silicon Dioxide (Prevents Caking), Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Caramel Color, Citric Acid, Disodium Inosinate, Spice, Yellow 6 Lake, Disodium Guanylate, Sulfur Dioxide (Used to Protect Quality).

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