It is an odd thing, but everyone seems to want green Jalapeños chillies, but at the end of the growing season they are starting to turn red before they can be picked and sold, at this point there market value as a fresh product is about as low as it gets.

The wise farmers then either let then ripen fully until they are a deep red, at which point they are picked and and placed in a smoker and smoked until the almost all the moisture is removed and until the weight of the product has been reduced 90% drying and preserving them.

If fact smoking is really a way of dehydrating and preserving the crop, Jalapeños are hard to sun dry due to their thick flesh and tough skin, they would just rot if left to dry naturally.

There are at least two distinct varieties of Chipotles:-

Meco - The skins are a tan/grayish colour and a matt finish, they are far less common, they are also know as tipico or ahumado

Morita - They are dark purple with a shiny skin and are probably the most common outside Mexico, they are not as deeply smoked as the Meco Chipotles and are generally considered and inferior, cheaper product.

We are used them when we made our Hot Juan range of products in both our BBQ Rub and Crisps, they are mild in heat (but hotter that the Jalapeños due to the reduction in moisture)

I have always wondered how to pronounce them, the best I have phonetics found is "chip-oat-lay"

They are available from most of the online retailers please see www.chillipepperpete.com, Cool Chile Co www.Hot Headz.com and www.scorchio.com

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Almost anything is available of eBay, In the past few years I have even seen "Chipotle Seeds" for sale. I did ask the seller how this was possible, but did not get a reply, I have not seem then for sale again.

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Possibly Related posts:

1. The Chilli Jam Man — Oak Smoked Garlic & Chipotle Jam
2. Chipotle Style Chili Powder
3. Atkins and Potts — Chipotle Chilli Jam
4. Chilli Variety — Jalapeno
5. Chilli Pepper Pete’s Red Bean Soup with Ancho and Chipotle Chillies

3 Responses to “Chilli Variety – Chipotle (Smoked Red Jalapeños)”

1. Chilli pepper Pete's Red Bean Soup with Ancho and Chipotle Chillies | The ChileFoundry says:

   July 4, 2009 at 10:59 am

   […] more if you use reg­u­lar oregano) 2 gar­lic cloves, crushed and chopped 500g fresh toma­toes 2 soaked Chi­potles 2 socked Anchos 1 tbsp Olive oil Salt and Pep­per grated cheese for the […]
2. ASDA Sun-dried tomato and chipotle chilli flavour crisps. | The ChileFoundry says:

   July 6, 2009 at 10:01 am

   […] through the super­mar­kets, I vis­ited ASDA and found to my sur­prise “ASDA Sun-dried tomato and chi­potle chilli fla­vour crisps”. I love Chi­potles; it is one of my favour­ite fla­vours. ASDA Sun-dried […]
3. Bar King Nuts – Chihuahua Chilli Nuts | The ChileFoundry says:

   September 17, 2009 at 10:12 am

   […] of Pea­nuts, Cashews and Almonds, the coat­ing has very little bite, they need a good dose more Chi­potle to be at all inter­est­ing, these are very mild and it is hard to find the smoked Chipotle […]