Smoked pepper powder – How to make your own?

Do you like to making your spices and rubs from scratch? You are damned right! I’m not anti commercial rubs. But, in my opinion you can make some good stuff yourself and know what you’re eating. If you share this philosophy or just like to experiment, you might be interested in this home smoked pepper powder recipe.

I’ve smoked some chili’s for chili powder last year. In my yard I managed to succesfully grow some chili peppers. I had about 15 homegrown chili peppers I could use for whatever I wanted. The idea of making my own smoked pepper powder was verry attractive. So I decided to smoke and dry them in order to make my own home smoked pepper powder from scratch. Alas it didn’t last long… The smoked pepper powder was used in almost any recipe I made. Those five meals were awesome! Haha ok you’re right that’s not much… But I had a great time smoking so you won’t hear any complaints coming from  my kitchen.

How to make your own smoked pepper powder?

The process to smoke your own peppers isn’t that hard as it sounds. First you make a choice on what hot peppers you want to use. Or you’re getting near your 30’s and you start to forget what you’ve bought before. You buy the same ingredients again. If you’re really lucky you open the fridge and notice your wife bought some peppers too. Who says getting older is hard? These are the peppers I used. Please help me out telling what peppers I used… I really don’t know. My knowledge about peppers is a shame but I’m eager to learn.

I sliced the pepper in halves and removed the seeds. I did this in order to improve the drying process and to maximize the smoke taste. While most recipes I read were made with cold smoked hot peppers and dried afterwards. I didn’t know this before, so the first time I smoked and dried the peppers in one action by smoking at 90°C/200°F. Since my first attempt was succesful I used the same method again.

The wood used for this project is a mixture of Quebracho Rojo (Argentina Hardwood) and Hickory Wood chunks. You should look for wood that brings a heavy smoke since the time you’re smoking is not as long as when you’re cold smoking. It takes about 3 hrs. until the little ones are dried and about 5-6 hrs. until the larger ones are ready. The peppers need to be hard and easy to break all the way before removing them. If they’re not completely dry you won’t be able to grind them into powder. They need to look like the picture above.

At last I think these additional instructions might be useful:

• Use gloves or you’ll end up in tears… Unless you want to end up with some funny stories as a reminder.
• If you have a chance to take your blender I’ll strongly advice you to do so. The blending process is intense and breath taking. Especially when children are walking around there’s a chance they’ll suffer from this part of the project.
• Add your home smoked hot pepper powder to your favorite recipes, come back and tell me what you made from it! I’ll be happy to hear. Here’s some ideas on how I use the powder:
  • Coffee rub for Irish Coffee Pork Tenderloin
  • Salt cure for Bacon
  • Smoked Pork Cheeks

Please take a moment to tell a friend about this site if you like what you’re reading over here. I’m looking forward to interact with people interested in the art of BBQ! If you have some advice or own experiences you want to share please leave a message in the comment section, I’ll be happy to read and answer. 

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