Without much success. Having followed the instructions for the small (entry level) brinkman smoker, some of their "schpiel" is turning out to be rubbish, though it also might be me as well.
There's little temp control with the small brinkman smoker. They say that there's little difference in temps between the middle and upper shelf. I suspect that's rather incorrect. I've just had to dump the chillies from the middle shelf as they were pretty much cremated. While the ones on the upper shelf seem to be drying/cooking/smoking much better.
I've been wrapping the hickory chips in foil (and they've been dampened as well) but the smoke does seem to dissipate very quickly, as far as I can see.
The smoker only has minimal guidance for temperature as the installed thermometer says "warm", "ideal" and "hot". Despite trying to keep it in the "ideal" range by opening the door etc, it still cremated the chilli on the middle shelf and also seems to be cooking/drying/smoking the chillies faster than I've read should be happening (figures from 12 to 18 hours are what I've read).
Hell I'm committed now, so I'll just have to keep an eye on them and hope that I get something. Luckily, I've put some of the green/turning red jalapenos into spiced vinegar as well. Which did work well last year, so with any luck, I'll still have a few to eat, even if they're pickled rather than chipotled.......
p.s. I did cut the jalapenos in half length ways, and have placed them with open side up. Perhaps I was too ambitious and trying to dry them out/smoke them too quickly..... They've been on for an hour and a quarter now.....
