zxcvbob wrote:
>
> On 7/11/2010 9:57 PM, lil abner wrote:
> > zxcvbob wrote:
> >> Most store-bought jalapeņos are mild. Not just slightly hot, but mild
> >> like a bell pepper. (I seek out the ones with cracks in the skins,
> >> they often have a little heat.) So I started buying serranos, but they
> >> are not really hot either now. Yesterday I bought a handful of little
> >> Thai peppers thinking at least they would be hot. Well, some of them
> >> are, barely.
> >>
> >> This is starting to **** me off.
> >>
> >> Fresh habaneros, dried chilitepins and chipotles, and cayenne pepper
> >> don't taste right for a lot of uses, even though they are still hot.
> >> Maybe I need to try the Asian and Mexican grocery stores.
> >>
> >> Bob
You do need to try those shops. Their customers are unlikely to tolerate
any dumbing down of capsaicin content
> > Raise your own and don't harvest until ripe.
> > I raised some Jalapenos one year.
> > I harvested them barehanded, about half a bushel.
> > For many many days some, of my favorite parts, were plenty hot.
> > I can kid about it now.
>
> I've had several years in a row of crop failures. :-( Looks like I will
> at least get a few this year.
>
> I made a couple of batches of picante sauce last year. My recipe has
> 5:2:1 ratio of tomatoes, peppers, and onions, by weight. One batch was
> made with 2 pounds of grocery store jalapeņos. It turned out "medium"
> (I was pleased that it was that hot; the peppers were pretty mild but
> got hotter when cooked). The other batch had 1.5 pounds of the same
> barely-warm jalapeņos and 1/2 pound of home grown green jalapeņos from
> my brother's garden in Houston. That batch will knock your socks off.
> I'm going to enter a jar of the "hot" in the county fair next month.
>
> I think the growers are just pampering the pepper plants and then
> rushing the peppers to market before they develop their heat. I'll try
> some Fresno chile peppers next time I see them. They have to wait for
> those to turn red.
>
> Bob
That is very true. Chiles (like grapes) are best when they are not
pampered. Let them suffer a bit for best results