I was at the local farmer’s market yesterday, in search of cayenne peppers. I didn’t find any, but I did buy a bunch of a variety used to make Spanish paprika.
I understand the process is smoke the peppers, dry them, then grind them. I’m well experienced with the drying and grinding steps, but I have not a clue regarding how to smoke them.
Anyone done this, and can clue me in?
Well, not all paprika is smoked, so technically that step isn’t needed.
That said, smoked paprika is a wonderful spice, so I understand why you’d want to do it. I don’t see a lot of recipes online for making your own smoked paprika, but there are a few for smoked jalepenos - aka chipotles - and I’m guessing the technique would be the same.
Most of what I read say they’re cold smoked for 8-16 hours. Do you have a cold smoker? That’s the big obstacle - cold smokers are either expensive or time-consuming to build. Not impossible, but I’ve been lusting over one for a couple years and have yet to commit to building one, much less learning how to use it.
It might be worth a try to hot-smoke them and then dry them. Certainly easier/cheaper from an equipment point of view, but still, a hot smoker is anywhere from $100 on up.
I have a hot smoker. I’ve been assuming a hot smoke, followed by a trip through a dehydrator and grinding.
ETA: I’ve done cayennes and chili peppers by going straight to a dehydrator in the past, I want to do something a little different this time.
I’ve never done it, but see no reason why this wouldn’t work. I’d be interested to know how it goes if you try it. Fun!
Cold smoking is easy.
Fill a soup can with hardwood pellets for smoking (apple, hickory, pecan, etc)
Place a new soldering iron in the pellet filled can.
Put a grate or drying rack above the can to hold the food you intend to cold smoke.
Place a box (cardboard works, wood or metal is better) over the whole apparatus with a hole at the top.
Plug in the soldering iron.
The soldering iron will heat the pellets and cause them to slowly smolder without significantly heating the food you’re smoking. Of course you don’t want to do this inside or near your house or on a wood deck as there is a chance your cold smoker could catch fire.
I tried smoking peppers once. They burned like hell when I inhaled.
Stem in mouth, light the bottom, inhale deeply…
Our garden’s been producing a ton of habaneros this year, so we’ve been smoking them for use throughout the rest of the year. This is how we’ve been doing it:
“Core” the peppers by holding them by their stems and, using a sharp paring knife, cut around the base of the stem, making sure that you’re pressing it deeply enough to cut the membranes holding the seedy part of the pepper to the rest of it. If you do it right, you can completely pull out the seed core, leaving just a hollow pepper with no seeds or membranes. Wear gloves when you do this- if you don’t, you’ll regret that decision the next time you go to the bathroom.
Then we’ve been smoking them on the Big Green Egg, at around 150 degrees for about 8 hours. We’ve been using sweeter woods, like apple or cherry, for the smoke.
When you’re done, the peppers will be about half their original size, and (once they cool), they’ll be so hard that they’ll rattle against each other. They’ll also have an absolutely amazing smell.
If you dried them long enough, you should be able to just crush them to a fine powder in a mortar-and-pestle. Warning- it’s going to be hot as hell. I love spicy food, but these things’ll bring tears to my eyes.