Before and After

I finally got around to smoking the chiles I collected from my CSA and a friend. 

It all started with a pile of
habaneros, jalapenos and
poblanos.

Soaked the hickory for 2+ hours.  Got the chimney starter going with hardwood charcoal on the Weber.  Put slits in the chiles to accelerate drying and prevent explosions.  Also cut the tops off some to investigate quicker smoking.








Set up a wire basket to contain the smaller chiles.  Used foil to prevent chiles from falling through as well as protection from direct heat.












An hour into the process.







Resulting in some great product.  The flavor was there and will rack them up for final drying.









All in all it took about 1.5 hours for the habaneros, 2 for the jalapenos/chipotles and 3+ for the poblanos/anchos.  The stages of 'drying' were varied from burned beyond recognition, mostly dried, leathery, smoke roasted and combinations of the aforementioned.  This all stemmed from my issues with heat control in the Weber.  The fire was cooking some of the product instead of smoking.  I also should have used a thermometer to monitor the heat.  I knew all of this going in, but the chiles and I couldn't wait. 

Now I have an array of nicely smoked chiles that will hold me over until next season.  Maybe I'll get a proper temperature gauge, use a smaller fire and exercise some patience in the future.  I'll also investigate a real smoker, because I can't resist the idea of making bacon.

Here are a few links that I found to be helpful. 
http://www.io.com/~wallen/chili/smoked.html
http://www.cyberbilly.com/meathenge/archives/000608.html
http://stason.org/TULARC/food/preserving/6-6-9-How-do-I-smoke-chiles.html

Still workin' The Plan.