I had a small harvest of a single hot pepper this year due to drought and other factors. I decided it would be fun to smoke dry my lone little pepper. this has the advantage of both lowering the heat slightly as well as massively increasing the flavor a pepper can bring to a sauce or dish. However this posed a problem, I do not own a smoker and to borrow one would be a waste to even light it for a single pepper. My solution? a micro smoker made with only what I had on hand and zero power tools.

Tools used:

can opener ( one of the zero sharp edges ones is best)

side cutters

Felt tip Marker

Materials:

Tomato can

Tuna can

wire mesh

some way to lift the tomato can off the ground I used a micro stove I had laying around but a metal coathangar could easily be bent as a substitute

Additional materials:

charcoal

smoking wood

Step 1: Prepping the Cans

using the can opener remove the top of the tuna can and both the top and bottom of the tomato can

be sure to remove the labels and reserve one of the tops from the tomato can

Step 2: Making the Screen

using the tomato can and the felt tip marker draw a circle on the metal mesh add four tabs to the circle about 1 in wide and 2+ in long.

cut out the mesh with the side cutters cutting on the inside of the line to be sure the circle will fit inside the can.

after it is cut out the metal tabs can be bent 90 degrees and placed into the can using the last little bit to make a hook holding it in place

Step 3: Make Your Stand

for this step I had it pretty easy because I already had a small wood fired folding camping stove laying around but a bent coat hangar or any other sturdy but bendable metal wire could do the same thing. the goal is to suspend the larger can over the tuna can with a few inches of room to be able to tend the fire.

Step 4: Assemble the Smoker

to actually use this smoker I used 2 charcoal briquettes in the tuna can got one going and stacked the other on it then covered them both with wood chips for the smoke.

the tomato can then goes on the stand over the tuna can with the pepper/other mini smoking target on the metal mesh and the top loosely fitted over it all.

All that is left at that point is to insure the fire continues to smolder and the wood chips do not run out. and you can enjoy the fruits of your Smokey labor