Smoked Kale Chips?

[Smokin Don]

Sep 25 2014

I think it was Spud and Kat that made Kale chips so it inspired me. I have wanted to try them for a while. I went to the grocery for some things I needed for my supper so I picked up a bag of kale, or so I thought. I reached in back of the front bag to get one. Sometimes they will have a later use by date. I didn’t look this time and when I got home I had a bag of mixed greens, kale, collard and mustard. Well I guess I am having mixed green chips!

These were already cut up and washed so didn’t have to do that. I put the top shelf in my Traeger so I could do 2 sheet pans full. I got it on smoke mode and got the greens ready. I spread them out so I just had one layer, sprayed with a little olive oil and added some salt to one and some seasoned salt to the other pan. I stirred to coat all evenly.

The smoker was running about 180 deg. grill level. I was going to follow Kat’s lead and do them about 2 hours on the smoker. After one hour I stirred them and looked like they might be done in another ½ hour. I wanted to get some brats on smoking for our supper so checked them after another 20 minutes. I cranked the heat to 225 deg. I took them off after a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes.

After cooling a little I tasted them. I liked them but I could have set down and ate all of them! That’s a lot of work for one snack!  When my wife came home from an auction she tasted them, said it was like eating grass! She does not like cooked greens either.

Bottom line is they are good and I know they are good for you; but to me it’s just too much trouble. I doubt if I make them again; if I want to eat greens I’ll cook them!

Smokin Don

[sliding_billy]

They look good, but I have to agree about the return on investment being fairly low.

[Las Vegan Cajun]

Looks good Don, thanks for the info on making Kale chips. 

[spuds]

They are hyper loaded on nutrition,Kale is a powerhouse food so I'd say return on investment is high.

I just hit em in the oven,1-2 trays go plenty fast and thats a lot of chips,smoking does look like an awful lot of work.

Takes 20-30 minutes at 325F in oven but times vary based on kale and moisture,some take even less,Mrs does 1 tray at a time (about 2 servings for me from one bunch of kale,thats a lot of Kale IMO)

LOOSELY piled high is about 2 bunches of kale per cookie tray (why do it slow,it shrinks down says Mrs).Every load is different.Just a light spray with EVOO on pan,and spray/spread it lightly and evenly well among the leaves.Sometimes we move em around as they cook for more even drying,optional.

We either sea salt (or spice you choose)  is important for flavor before oven time.Nutritional yeast is yummy after they've been cooked,has a salty cheesy taste(some we do,some we dont),might be an acquired taste,I liked it from the get-go very much,I like salty things.Its also really good on popcorn.They say its good for you too,but I like it just from the flavor aspect.

Im not so sure if doing the mixed greens is what you want either,I dont like collards or especially mustard at all unless cooked.I think you'd be much happier done as above.