Chipotles - Smoking Procedure

Step 4: I lit about 8 briquettes in my chimney lighter and let them get mostly ashed over. I then put them on top of the unlit pile in the cooker and assembled. Notice that I have both the water pan (foil is your friend) and lower grid in the unit. These will help to disperse the heat evenly, and also catch any chiles trying to escape into the fire.

Step 5: Spray down your cooking grids with your favorite oil to keep the chilies from sticking (after 24 hours, they will have dried to the grid).

Step 6: Lay them out evenly, keeping in mind that the edges will get more heat than the center.

This is what they look like before they're cooked.....watch the magic, they're gonna change.

Step 7: OK, here is where the WSM will do its magic. Remember, there is no water in the pan, and I have 8 hot coals on a bed of cold ones. Now, we let the cooker come up to about 130 degrees (measured at the vent), then shut down all but one bottom vent. The one open vent will be the only adjustment during the entire cook (yup, the timer is set for 23 hours....hence the WSM w/briquettes). Also, we're gonna break a cardinal rule of smoking and close the top vent to halfway (usually wide open). Here is a log of my cook:

Time (from 0:00)	Temp at Top Vent	Vent #1 (% open)	Vent #2 (% open)	Vent #3 (% open)	Notes
00:15	147	0	0	10%
00:30	154	0	0	5%	Closing Vent #3 a bit tobring temp back down.
00:45	152	0	0	5%	Solid, no temp movement for 10 minutes.
00:60	154	0	0	5%	NAILED!!!, this should be perfect for a while
4:00	159	0	0	5%	Still cranking, looking good.
6:00	150	0	0	10%	getting cool outside, open #3 a hair
8:00	180	0	0	5%	getting too warm, cut back vent.
12:00	170	0	0	5%	still not as cool as I'd like, but stable, going to bed*
19:00	97	0	100%	100%	Good morning, ooh, the cooker has cooled way down. Must have been the sprinklers. They look fine though. Open up vents to raise the heat.
20:00	97	0	100%	100%	Hmmmm, not rising but at least pretty warm still.
21:00	97	0	100%	100%	Bah, they're done...take a look.

*note: since these are just chiles, I'm not worried about temp dips or cooking unmonitored. We're just trying to dry them out. If I were cooking meat, I'd worry about letting the temp dip too low.

Now, the moment I've been waiting for.....The Unveiling.

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