Production
Typically, a grower passes through a jalapeño field multiple times, picking the un-ripe green jalapeños for market. At the end of the growing season jalapeños naturally ripen and turn bright red. There is an extensive fresh market for ripe red jalapeños in both Mexico and the United States. They are kept on the bush as long as possible. When the jalapeños are deep red and have lost much of their moisture, they are selected to be made into chipotles.
The red jalapeños are moved to a closed smoking chamber where they are spread on metal grills. Wood is placed in a firebox, and the smoke enters the sealed chamber. Every few hours the jalapeños are stirred to improve smoke penetration. The chiles are smoked for several days until most of the moisture is removed. In the end, the chipotles have dried up in a manner akin to prunes or raisins. The underlying heat of the jalapeños is combined with the taste of smoke. Typically, ten pounds of jalapeños make one pound of chipotle.
In recent years, growers have begun using large gas dryers. Some processors have started to use liquid smoke.
Read more about this topic: Chipotle
Famous quotes containing the word production:
“The heart of man ever finds a constant succession of passions, so that the destroying and pulling down of one proves generally to be nothing else but the production and the setting up of another.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
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