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Stickman's 2013 Glog - Time To Pull The Plug on 2013

I'm pulling things together to get ready for my next growing season. I bought NuMex variety seeds from Sandia Seed company in New Mexico, Hot Paper Lantern Habaneros and Antohi Romanians from Johnny's Select Seeds in Maine and Korean varieties from Evergreen Seeds in California. Due to the unbelievable generosity of a number of THP members I've also gotten seeds to a wide variety of chiles from around the world. Special thanks to BootsieB, stc3248, romy6, PaulG, SoCalChilehead, joynershotpeppers, highalt, cmpman1974, smokemaster, mygrassisblue, Mister No, chewi, KingDenniz, orrozconleche and most recently and spectacularly, Habanerohead with a great selection of superhots and peppers from Hungary!
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There are eleven varieties of Hungarian peppers in here, mostly the early, thick-fleshed, sweet ones that range from white through yellow to purple and red.., plus Aji Lemon Drop, BJ Indian Carbon, Naga Morich, Bishop's Crown and TS CARDI Yellow! Now I just have to go through my seed bank and match the space available to what I want to grow. Thanks Balázs!
 
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PeriPeri said:
Rick, I love the Kitchen Sink Powder... I bet that will keep those pots and pans shiny lol
 
When grinding supers a hazmat suit come to mind. Preferably with gloves, mask and separate air tanks lol Or there is the John Wayne approach where you just put a wet handkerchief around your face, grit your teeth  and take it like a man. Personally I'd rather go noodling for snapper turtles than breathe bhut dust lol
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Agreed Lourens... that's why I take it outside into the proverbial "well ventilated area"... ;)  We have outdoor electrical outlets so this is actually feasible. I just make sure I'm standing at a right angle to the breeze since standing directly upwind makes an eddy in the air current downwind of you and any airborne powder sticks around for a bit...
 
Noodling for Snappers is quite a word picture... and one I'd avoid too! They get really big here. I saw one when I was float tube fishing in a small pond that had to be at least a meter wide. It came up to get a better look at me, then dropped back down to the bottom again. The world record snapper was caught near here about 7 or 8 years ago and sold to a zoo in Canada... I think it was in Toronto.
meatfreak said:
 
Cheers, Rick. I'm definitely gonna do something similar like your blend from last year, it tasted great! At the end I got my wife to try it on chicken and she was surprised by taste and the fact it had almost no heat :D I got another noob question for you about the Poblano. I got one ripening off now (lost the rest due sunscald) but a lot of new ones are forming. Do you roast and dry the unripe ones or do I need to ripen those of as well?
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Hi Stefan,
   You don't have to let the Poblanos ripen to Anchos to eat them... just roast and peel them, remove the stems and seeds and can or freeze the flesh. You can do it in the oven broiler or on the stovetop if you have gas burners, but I prefer doing it on my charcoal smoker for the added flavor.
 
Looking Gooood up there Brother, pods are starting to give back the love and your blending up some tasty powders there too.  if you get enough of the Yellow 7's and have a sufficient amount of powder you might consider making some of AJ's puree, process is in the Hot Sauce threads. I haven't tried it but everyone i read who has says it really preserves the taste and heat of those fantastic pods :) 
 
WalkGood said:
Wow Rick that kitchen sink powder looks great!
 
Off to work now, have a great day brethren!
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Cheers Ramon!

RocketMan said:
Looking Gooood up there Brother, pods are starting to give back the love and your blending up some tasty powders there too.  if you get enough of the Yellow 7's and have a sufficient amount of powder you might consider making some of AJ's puree, process is in the Hot Sauce threads. I haven't tried it but everyone i read who has says it really preserves the taste and heat of those fantastic pods :)
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Thanks for the heads-up brother... :)
 
I checked it out and the process looks a lot like making Ajvar, just using hot chiles instead of sweet peppers. Y'know... if it preserves the flavor better than making powder, I'll process my first batch of Yellow 7s that way instead. I have about 310 grams picked so far, so that makes a triple batch. Cheers mate!
 
poypoyking said:
That powder looks fantastic Rick, great job.  I really need to invest in at least making a smoker someday.
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Hi Ben,
   You can make a functional smoker cheaper than you think... http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Cardboard-Smoker/
The one drawback the originator of this URL said his design had, was keeping it hot enough to slow-cook the meat. That wouldn't be a problem if you were smoking something you didn't want to cook... like peppers!    Or cheese, or salt, etc.
 
Ok, that is just brilliant Rick.  My neighbor has an old metal vertical filing cabinet he uses for smoking, but that has me thinking of ways I could make one myself.
 
For those of you not familiar... What Brother Bill was referring to in post #2103 is this thread... http://thehotpepper.com/topic/32602-making-some-puree-todaywill-post-pics-of-the-processits-easy/?hl=%20aj#39;s%20%20puree
 
I followed AJ's method except for one particular... I cooked it down like I would for Ajvar, until a spoon run down the middle parts the pulp to either side, but the liquid doesn't run back in to fill the gap... like thus
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I never had a problem with separation when making Ajvar as long as I didn't leave out this step.
 
The finished product.... 314 grams of ripe Yellow 7 pods reduced to three 4oz jars. Cool!
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Devv said:
I was thinking about some Puree this year, now I have something else to try :party:
 
Nice work Rick!
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Stefan_W said:
That looks really good. I have piles of 7s that I want to use up, and I'm considering giving this a try now.

Did you can? If so, how long did you put it into the water bath for?
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Thanks guys!
Another advantage to processing as a puree is that it takes a lot less time than than drying/grinding... it took longer to cut the pods in half and remove the seeds than it did to cook the puree down and can it in a hot water bath. I simmered the jars for 15 minutes Stefan.
 
I've got close to 3 pounds of mixed pods that I've pulled since the weekend, so if the weather cooperates I'll smoke up another batch of pods for powder.
 
Wow, missed a few days and ya got powder, puree, and smokin pods!  I gotta do me a bit of smokin this weekend as well.  I usually wait for my meat to come off, throw a few coals back on the smoker and some wood to carry through.  Looks like it is gonna be great!
 
ronniedeb said:
Looks good Stickman. Are those pods being cold smoked in the Barbecue?
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Hi Ronan, welcome to the zoo!
 
I'm trying to smoke the chiles as cold as possible but it's kind of a balancing act. I need enough charcoal briquets to make enough coals to last at least 2 hours, and that generates an unavoidable amount of heat when I close the lid. I've found that using 12-15 briquets in my grill and adding pre-soaked wood chunks keeps the temperature down to around 150 degrees f (65 degrees C). I also put the charcoal at one end and the chiles at the other to keep them as far apart as possible.

MGOLD86 said:
Wow, missed a few days and ya got powder, puree, and smokin pods!  I gotta do me a bit of smokin this weekend as well.  I usually wait for my meat to come off, throw a few coals back on the smoker and some wood to carry through.  Looks like it is gonna be great!
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Thanks Matt, it's finally starting to add up and amount to something as far as the Chinense varieties are concerned. The Manzanos are still green and the Aji Pancas are still covered with tiny purple pods, but we've got a few weeks left before frost, so I hope to see at least some ripening before that.
 
I got my smoked peppers into the dehydrator this morning... almost three and a half trays... so I filled in the rest of the top tray with some Trinidad Perfume and Cheiro Recife pods. If the yield from the last batch is any indication... I should get 2 cups of powder from this one. The smell of the cherry-wood smoked peppers reminds me a lot of cumin... maybe I should make a hot salt blend with the powder, ground, toasted cumin and garlic powder.
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