I like to make sure they are fully corked and red before I smoke them..
I take them whole and place them on cooking grids on a smoker runnung at 200 F with pecan. After about 2 hour or so, I take them off and then place in a dehdrator. Then, I let let them go on the dehydrator at about 45 hours to dry completely. Then, I freeze them. When I want chipotle, I take them out out of the freezer and cook them down with apple vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, onion, and catsup to make chlpotles in adobo sauce. You can store them in the fridge for several weeks and make all kinds of chipotle seasoning....