Does anyone have a pepper grill that can measure the hole size for me? I'm going to make a couple at work but am not sure if I should go with 3/4" or 1-inch holes. I'm going to make it similar to the pic below. Also how much room is between the holes?
Thanks
pensrock
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh46/pensrock/peppergrill02.jpg)
Pens the holes in mine are 1" diameter with 1/2" in between.
Welcome back Huh,
Pens,
I thinking about making your own pepper holder, I would think that if you added small holes in between the ones the peppers sit in, it would allow more smoke to penetrate through. You could also make the plate the same width as the bradley and stack one with leggs on top of it to increase capacity. But then do you really need that many? Why not. ;)
I have holders that are both sizes. Most of the commercial ones have 3/4" holes which are too small. You should go with the 1" holes. The one that I have that has the 1" holes have 15/16" (it may be an inch) space between the holes. The 3/4" holes have 3/4" space.
I've never seen one of these pepper holders. What do they provide that just laying the peppers on the rack doesn't?? Thanks
Tom
If you keep you peppers whole, they keep the pepper upright, and when the filling gets soft you have very little loss. When the peppers are lying down, when the filling gets soft it tends to flow out.
I have about six of them, made by about three or four different companies. I don't use mine as much as I used to. I now split the peppers in half lengthwise and then stuff them.
Habs,
Do you do the lengthwise cut for easier seed removal or just a personal preference?
I was just wondering because I keep having the problem of the filling melting out of the peppers.
Hey Buck
I cut the stem end off and then core them with my potato peeler. Then stuffed and cover the cut off end with thin sliced deli ham and then wrapped in bacon! Don't lose one drop of the filling!
C
Buck, Myself I do it that way for both reasons. it makes it easier to stuff it IMHO. I use the CC, Rub of choice, Little Smokey smash together wrap with bacon apply rub again technique. I usually don't have any loss of stuffing, unless I overcook. Which doesn't happen very often, The look close to being done and they are consumed with an adult beverage or three.
Thanks everyone for the information. I normally cut mine in half and stuffed but lose some of the filling during cooking, thats why I want to try it this way. Even when stuffed while whole and bacon wrapped some of the cheese oozes out. With the stand none of the filling will be lost. Now if I stuff them with sausage with cheese mixed in I do not lose any.
Without the stand, I've found the biggest key is the deli ham over the end and then wrapped with bacon....
C
I think I would be more inclined to say it is in how you wrap the bacon. Overlapping a little so when you get shrinkage it still seals the edges. IMHO
Quote from: Buck36 on October 01, 2008, 02:25:17 PM
Habs,
Do you do the lengthwise cut for easier seed removal or just a personal preference?
I was just wondering because I keep having the problem of the filling melting out of the peppers.
I use to use an apple corer to remove the stems and seeds. The apple corer made it fairly easy, but not as easy as cutting them in half. Filling was a problem because the mixture I used was too thick to pipe in. If you can make your mixture thin enough, try placing the mixture in a plastic bag, cut a small piece off the corner and that should allow you to pipe it into the pepper. If you have a jerky gun with a small nozzle that may work, but I've never tried that.
The major reason for cutting them in half is because it makes a better serving size. I no longer wrap any bacon around them, I cook the bacon, crumble it and add it to the cream cheese mixture. With a greater amount of cream cheese stuffing exposed you can add toppings; more bacon if you want, but I like to top with chopped pecans, or crushed pineapple, or maple syrup or what every you can think of.
Ha, this is a first for me. :o
I made 12 dozen this weekend, three flavors and stuffed them using a jerky shooter. Worked well but the three cheese/bacon mixture had to be nuked for a few seconds to loosen it up some so it could be pumped into the peppers.
After stuffing, I placed on trays and put into the freezer. When frozen I vac packed. I should have stuffed penos all winter now.
The three kinds I made were, three cheese/bacon, cheese/sausage & cheese/taco. Some I mixed in chopped habs for a little more heat. Thanks to whoever it was that suggested trying the taco meat stuffing, I added salsa, cream cheese and cheddar cheese to the taco meat for the filling. The three cheese was made of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, parm cheese and mixed in crumbled bacon. The cheese/sausage was simple, cooked crumbled sausage, cream cheese and cheddar cheese.
Now I'm out of penos, I stuffed 12 doz and smoked and dried about another hundred.
Haven't had time to make a pepper grill out of stainless at work yet but needed to tinker. I found an old cake/baking pan and made a simple pepper grill out of it.
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh46/pensrock/pepper_grill.jpg)
Pens or other;
Do you make any hot sauce. I got about six pounds of green jalapenos; I had to take them off the plant do to a frost warning. All six pound will be smoked, but not dried. I'm going to pickle about three pounds, but thinking about making hot sauce with the rest. I'm not sure if I want to go through the extra steps of making a pepper mash, or just go ahead and make the sauce. If you make hot sauce do you make a mash.
I have four Tabasco plants, the yield it not great. Right now they are yellow, and I'm hoping to protect them from the frost until they turn red. I'll probably make those into a mash. I was checking out another forum in which one member was going to place oak chips in his mash to simulate aging in oak barrels. That sounds feasible, so I think I may try that.
Any thoughts.
Also your jalapeno holder looks great.
I have not made sauce myself but a friend does. He makes mash then ferments it for a couple months before making the sauce. I think the flavor would be better if the peppers were ripe/red rather than green. He has an oak board that just fits into the crock and it holds the peppers down as well as adds flavor.
I was going to do cayenne sauce this year but just do not have the time to mess with it. I just found out that my dad has a hundred or so red penos and a few green ones, I'll have to go pick them this week. We are going to the Outer Banks, NC on the 11th. so I'll have to do something before then. I'll most likely smoke/dry most of them and maybe stuff/vac/freeze the rest. One thing you can try is to fire roast the penos and then chop them up and freeze for other dishes.
I went way overboard this year with peppers, I have containers full of dried, shakers full of powdered. A pile frozen. And there are still piles of them on the deck.
Don't tell me where your father lives, or I'll quickly get over my fear of flying and raid the garden before you get there. ;)
Tabasco makes a green jalapeno sauce, which isn't bad and with the right seasoning I'm hoping mine will turn out alright. I also plan to mix in some habaneros into the sauce for an extra kick.
If I go through with this I'll post my results, both on the sauce and the pickled peppers.
Habs, I have tabasco plants too, all peppers are green, I may have gotten a dozen red ones, alot of good that does me. :( I'm just hoping I can beat the frost, next few nights look okay over here.
Are you fermenting the pickled peppers? My friend says they taste much better than canned/pickled.
Quote from: HCT on October 05, 2008, 03:39:52 PM
Habs, I have tabasco plants too, all peppers are green, I may have gotten a dozen red ones, alot of good that does me. :( I'm just hoping I can beat the frost, next few nights look okay over here.
I'm almost at the base of the Berkshires, so that cold air rolls down the mountain side. Friday night it got down to 33.5°F. Tonight and tomorrow night we have another frost warning in my area. After those two days, it looks good for the next five.
Quote from: pensrock on October 05, 2008, 05:36:31 PM
Are you fermenting the pickled peppers? My friend says they taste much better than canned/pickled.
I wasn't going to ferment the ones that I was going to pickle, maybe the ones that I will be turning into sauce. I have made kimchi in the past, if it is not a problem I would be interested in how your friend ferments his pepper. I would like to try that for the next time.
Will smoking them first interfere with the fermentation process?
QuoteI wasn't going to ferment the ones that I was going to pickle, maybe the ones that I will be turning into sauce. I have made kimchi in the past, if it is not a problem I would be interested in how your friend ferments his pepper. I would like to try that for the next time.
Will smoking them first interfere with the fermentation process?
Next time I talk to him I'll ask how he pickles the peppers. I've had some cauliflower with habs that he pickled by fermentation and they were great. ;D
From what I can remember when he makes sauce he cuts the peppers up small and packs into a jar/crock adds salt, not sure if he adds anything else. puts an oak cover on a little smaller than the jar and uses it to hold the peppers/mash down. I would think it is very close to making kraut or kimchi.
I asked about using smoked penos one time and he thought the smoke might get too strong and suggested just making the sauce directly from the smoked peppers and not fermenting.
I'll try to remember to ask. I'm getting old and forgetful, I turn the big 5-0 on Friday. :P :'(
Just found this online and it sounds very close to what my friend does. For sauces he does not add any water or liquid, there is enough from the peppers. But for veggies he must add something besides salt because the veggies need to be covered in liquid.
The article I found is below:
Sandor Ellix Katz, aka Sandorkraut, wrote a book on vegetable ferments and has a website full of useful facts and recipes (including a recipe for sauerkraut!). This exerpt from her book describes how the basic process works:
The simple key to successful vegetable fermentation is to make sure your vegetables are submerged in liquid. That's it, the big secret. Usually the liquid is salty water, also known as brine, but fermentation can be done without salt, or with other liquids, such as wine or whey. Typically, when fresh vegetables are chopped or grated in preparation for fermentation—which creates greater surface area—salting pulls out the vegetable juices via osmosis, and pounding or tamping the vegetables breaks down cell walls to further release juices, so no additional water is required. However, if the vegetables have lost moisture during long storage, occasionally some water is needed; if brine hasn't risen to submerge the weighted vegetables by the following day, add a little water. In the case of vegetables left whole (cabbage heads, cucumbers, green tomatoes, string beans, okra, zucchini, eggplant, peppers—try anything), the vegetables should be submerged in brine.
Pretty much any vegetable can be fermented. Use what is abundantly available and be bold in your experimentation. Seaweeds are a wonderful addition to ferments, as are fruits, though mostly fruit ferments go through their process very quickly. I've even made delicious sauerkraut with mashed potatoes layered in with the salted cabbage, as well as kimchi with sticky rice layers. The sharp fermented starches are delicious. The spicing of vegetable ferments is quite varied, too. Kimchi typically includes red chili peppers, garlic, ginger, and scallions. Sauerkraut might include caraway seeds (my favorite), juniper berries, apples, or cranberries. New York–style sour pickles are spiced with dill, garlic, and sometimes hot peppers. To keep cucumbers crunchy, add to the brine some grape leaves or leaves of horseradish, oak, currant, or cherry.
Pensrock;
Thanks for the information. I copied it and will use it. Now I cannot get kimchi out of my mind, that may be my new fad for my favorite side dish (probably caused by the 13 months I spent in Korea). :)
It's strange I was waiting for my fuel company to arrive to service my furnace. They never did show up but while waiting I went through some old boxes and found a book titled "Stocking Up: How to Preserve the Foods You Grow, Naturally"; edited by Carol Hupping Stoner, Rodale Press (1977). That book has a chapter on brining and fermenting vegetables.
So my plan is to apply smoke to all the jalapenos. Once smoked 1/3 will be pickled without fermentation; 1/3 fermented then pickled (hopefully the antimicrobial properties of the smoke won't prevent the fermentation process); 1/3 made into a sweet relish.
Nice info pensrock. I love kimchi and sauerkraut. It's to late for us this year but next season is a must to restock the pantry.
I spent five weeks in Korea installing a high temp furnace for the military. I ate a lot of kinchi. It all tastes different, everyone seems to have their own little different flavor. I liked it all.