377664 Mon Mar 05 11:57:41 -0800 2007 3 31 Home Cooking 0 2354357 Garden planning time. Would like to try making my own smoked paprika this season but am unable to locate directions. Anyone know the technique, as well as what varieties of peppers are preferable? Mon Mar 05 11:57:41 -0800 2007 80060 chooch 1 2355625 You can smoke peppers just the same as you would fish, chicken or other food item. As with most smoking recipes, you'll get better results with relatively low heat over a long period, so an electric smoker probably works best. You want to dry the peppers, not cook them, in the smoke. It will take a couple of days at least, but you don't need to have smoke the whole time, and you can turn the smoker off at night if you're concerned about safety. Taste them now and then and when they seem smoky enough, stop adding chips or just take them out and finish drying in the sun (or in a food dehydrator if you have one). Oh, yes, make some trays from hardware cloth or chicken wire so the peppers don't fall through the racks. Sorry for the lack of detail but I just do it by trial and error and so much depends on what type of smoker you use. I haven't done paprika, but I've smoked jalapenos and chipotle peppers and the results were far better than what you can buy in stores (if you can find them). As for seeds, check out Tomato Growers Supply http://www.tomatogrowers.com/ or www.victoryseeds.com. I believe they sell seeds for several Hungarian varieties, but any mild or slightly hot red pepper should do. Mon Mar 05 16:08:49 -0800 2007 2354357 53530 Zeldog 2 2791809 I agree with your recommendations, except that it shouldn't take anything like a couple of days. I generally lay whatever fresh peppers I have laying around (I have used jalepenos for chipotles, and Hungarian wax peppers for smoked paprika), on my smoker when I have started smoking some ribs or a pork shoulder, which takes about 8 hours or so depending. By the time I'm done, I leave the peppers on with the dying embers, and they're nicely dried and smoky when I get out to the smoker the next morning to put things in order. (If they seem a little under dried, I put them in a dehydrater for a couple hours, but that is only needed with very large peppers.) When they are done, I hold onto them in clean Ball jars, and either use them whole in sauces, or grind very fine in a food processor for chile powders. Not grinding until use is very good at avoiding loss of flavor. They keep OK for a few weeks after grinding, but are better if ground at the time of use. Sat Jul 28 10:45:31 -0700 2007 2355625 114992 jeffruss 3 4802633 If I do not have the capability of smoking his own peppers, does anyone know where I find smoked/dried peppers that I can buy and grind up myself? I've seen dried, smoked jalapenos and anchos, but I believe paprika is made from other varities (ie. capsicum), which I can't find anywhere. Wed Jun 24 12:54:38 -0700 2009 2791809 166161 SMOG