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Hi all,
Just after some advice on smoking my own paprika. From what I can find on the www it looks like smoked paprika is mostly made by warm-smoking fresh peppers until they are dry. I was wondering if it would work as well to smoke dry paprika powder in a cold smoker? Has anyone tried this?
Cheers,
Kev

I think it would work so long as you spread the paprika thinly enough...

This may sound totally absurd (No, i haven't been eating any strange mushrooms or smoking anything illegal ):

Since paprika is very finely powdered, how about filling e.g. a plastic bag with smoke, add a little paprika and seal it? Then shake a few times. Theory is that the enormous surface area in contact with the smoke would make the paprika smoked in an instant.

Unfortunately I can't try it since I don't have a smoker.

Good bit of lateral thinking there Andre If you had a smoke (but not paprika:)) permeable bag you could pipe smoke in continuously and shake until you got the desired amount of smoke

Be aware that the peppers used to make hot, bittersweet and sweet pimentón are all different from one another, and different from the pepper used to make Hungarian paprika. If you smoke Hungarian paprika, you will end up with smoked Hungarian paprika, which will probably be quite good, but not the same as smoked pimentón from various regions of Spain.

vagreys wrote:Be aware that the peppers used to make hot, bittersweet and sweet pimentón are all different from one another, and different from the pepper used to make Hungarian paprika. If you smoke Hungarian paprika, you will end up with smoked Hungarian paprika, which will probably be quite good, but not the same as smoked pimentón from various regions of Spain.

OK...is it the smoked pimenton that I should be using in chorizo? Looking at ebay it looks like I might as well buy it...although I wouldn't know a good one from a bad one.
Kev

I think it would be difficult to make the powder absorb the smoke unless you make a one-grain thin layer which is unrealistic. That's probably why they smoke the whole paprika before grinding. Just a theory. The only way to know is to try!

kevster wrote:OK...is it the smoked pimenton that I should be using in chorizo? Looking at ebay it looks like I might as well buy it...although I wouldn't know a good one from a bad one.
Kev

Yes. Some styles of chorizo use smoked, some unsmoked, and some blend the sweet and hot, or bittersweet and hot. Look for "Pimentón de La Vera, D.O." These are dependable and from the region best known for quality pimentón. There are several brands that I've used and like. I like La Chinata, Mas Portell, La Dalia and El Rey. If you want to try unsmoked pimentón, look for Chiquilin brand. If you want to try from a different region, look for Ecoato brand Pimentón de Murcia.

Hope this helps.

kevster wrote:OK...is it the smoked pimenton that I should be using in chorizo? Looking at ebay it looks like I might as well buy it...although I wouldn't know a good one from a bad one.
Kev

Yes. La Vera (pimentón de la Vera is a denominación de origen) is reckoned to be the best region. I'm using El Rey and La Chinata brands at the moment, they're both fine. I like about two parts picante to one dulce for most purposes, which is a bit hot without being bum-scorching. I bought the last batch from Amazon as pimentón dulce is quite hard to find in supermarkets.

Martin/

I use El Rey, but had a friend give me about a Kilo of Turkish smoked Paprika, it was very coarse, kind of rustic I guess. Was in an unmarked bag so I have no idea where he got it. I split it up vacuum bagged and still have a small portion in the freezer. It has a distinctive flavour that I wish I could find in a commercial product.

Roughly how hot is the hot smoked paprika? Is it cayene hot? For example, if I just want to add a bit of a zing to 1kg of chorizo (so it leaves a tingle in the mouth, but so my kids will still eat it) how much would I use?
Cheers,
Kev

No, not like cayenne, but definitely hot nevertheless.

Giving an exact amount is impossible. Chili tolerance is extremely individual. What for me feels like one tablespoon may be 1/4 teaspoon to others. Go through some recipes and see what level they are at. That can serve as some guidance.

kevster wrote:Roughly how hot is the hot smoked paprika? Is it cayene hot? For example, if I just want to add a bit of a zing to 1kg of chorizo (so it leaves a tingle in the mouth, but so my kids will still eat it) how much would I use?
Cheers,
Kev

I do not use cayenne when making Chorizo, what I use is flaked [crushed] chillies. The usage I use is 5g per kg if you use 2g per kg you should be all right

HTH

Well...I've bought some smoked paprika (the one sold by Sausagemaking.org) and I've cold smoked some ordinary shop paprika for 8 hours spread outage few millimeters thick on some greaseproof paper and I can tell you that the cold smoked is MUCH smokier. I don't know whether this is a good thing yet though.
Kev