[OT] Adventures in Heat

[Weave]

Not about the store on Main St in Clarence by that name, although they've got some cool stuff.

 

We used to have a hot foods topic but search doesn't turn it up so I assume it's been lost to the archives.

 

I'll start out by introducing myself. My name is weave, and I have a problem.

 

I grow hot peppers. Lots of them. Too many some years. This year was one of those years. Most years I buy maybe 12-15 plants. Almost always jalapenos and habaneros, but sometimes I mix in another variety. In my neck of the woods habaneros are not always available as plants so this year I decided to buy seeds and start my own. Problem is, seeds are cheap and window shopping for warm weather stuff in February leads to shame and regret.

 

I ended up ordering seeds for 2 varieties of jalapeno, habanero, hot cherry peppers, cayenne, Santa Fe Grandes, Supers, Takanotsume, Fresno, and Pepperoncini. WTF was I thinking? I started germinating seeds in early March and had plants in the ground on Memorial weekend. Lots of them. It was a tough year for growing hot peppers. Typically they like heat and dry weather. This Summer was anything but. My per plant yields were way down. And its a good thing. I had a half dozen of each pepper type.

 

We are nearing the end of the harvest. The only plants I have that are still putting out peppers are the habaneros. I have never been so overwhelmed by my pepper harvest. I feel like Bubba in Forrest Gump. I've got 3 varieties of pepper jelly, pickled peppers, pepper relish, hot dill pickles, hot garlic pickles, chili sauce, Thai dipping sauce, several varieities of salsa, dried peppers, smoked peppers, habanero dark chocolate bark, chili pepper-chocolate ice cream, habanero-pineapple sorbet, pepper infused vodka. I am not kidding even a little about any of these. Our pantry looks like a shrine to the Ball Jar manufacturing company. And my freezer is full with hunting season fast approaching.

 

I'm debating about how I am going to use the last 20 or so habaneros that are almost ready to harvest. I've never been stretched so far to use my crop.

 

Anyway, chat up hot food, hot sauces, peppers, whatever. This is a 12 step thread. Please engage. You can't fix your problem until you acknowledge it.

[MattPie]

Not about the store on Main St in Clarence by that name, although they've got some cool stuff.

 

We used to have a hot foods topic but search doesn't turn it up so I assume it's been lost to the archives.

 

I'll start out by introducing myself. My name is weave, and I have a problem.

 

I grow hot peppers. Lots of them. Too many some years. This year was one of those years. Most years I buy maybe 12-15 plants. Almost always jalapenos and habaneros, but sometimes I mix in another variety. In my neck of the woods habaneros are not always available as plants so this year I decided to buy seeds and start my own. Problem is, seeds are cheap and window shopping for warm weather stuff in February leads to shame and regret.

 

I ended up ordering seeds for 2 varieties of jalapeno, habanero, hot cherry peppers, cayenne, Santa Fe Grandes, Supers, Takanotsume, Fresno, and Pepperoncini. WTF was I thinking? I started germinating seeds in early March and had plants in the ground on Memorial weekend. Lots of them. It was a tough year for growing hot peppers. Typically they like heat and dry weather. This Summer was anything but. My per plant yields were way down. And its a good thing. I had a half dozen of each pepper type.

 

We are nearing the end of the harvest. The only plants I have that are still putting out peppers are the habaneros. I have never been so overwhelmed by my pepper harvest. I feel like Bubba in Forrest Gump. I've got 3 varieties of pepper jelly, pickled peppers, pepper relish, hot dill pickles, hot garlic pickles, chili sauce, Thai dipping sauce, several varieities of salsa, dried peppers, smoked peppers, habanero dark chocolate bark, chili pepper-chocolate ice cream, habanero-pineapple sorbet, pepper infused vodka. I am not kidding even a little about any of these. Our pantry looks like a shrine to the Ball Jar manufacturing company. And my freezer is full with hunting season fast approaching.

 

I'm debating about how I am going to use the last 20 or so habaneros that are almost ready to harvest. I've never been stretched so far to use my crop.

 

Anyway, chat up hot food, hot sauces, peppers, whatever. This is a 12 step thread. Please engage. You can't fix your problem until you acknowledge it.

 

I think my neighbor once made bacon-wrapped habanenos in the smoker, and they were delicious. I've seen Alton Brown make a smoker out of a hot-plate and cardboard box, so it doesn't have to be an involved thing.

[Weave]

I think my neighbor once made bacon-wrapped habanenos in the smoker, and they were delicious. I've seen Alton Brown make a smoker out of a hot-plate and cardboard box, so it doesn't have to be an involved thing.

 

Habaneros are the upper limit of my tolerance. And I generally don't eat them as the main event in a dish. A stuffed hab would likely be too much for me to really enjoy. As a supporting cast member they are plenty hot enough.

 

I toyed with the idea of ordering seeds for one of the newer super hot peppers like ghosts, NAGA vipers, or scorpions but I just don't enjoy that much pain.

[MattPie]

Habaneros are the upper limit of my tolerance. And I generally don't eat them as the main event in a dish. A stuffed hab would likely be too much for me to really enjoy. As a supporting cast member they are plenty hot enough.

 

I toyed with the idea of ordering seeds for one of the newer super hot peppers like ghosts, NAGA vipers, or scorpions but I just don't enjoy that much pain.

 

Same here, I rarely eat them in any fashion. In this case, I think the fat from the bacon and (if I remember right) cream-cheese filling really mild-ed them out.

[Weave]

We belong to a CSA group as well. The farm we are involved with grows poblano peppers. Poblanos are mild/medium in heat and are used in Mexican food. If you've had chili rellenos in a Mexican restaurant, they're traditionally made with poblanos. We usually end up with about half of a bushel of poblanos each year. Most of them get roasted, skinned, bagged and froze. This year was a tough year for poblanos. We've got something like 25 or so of them in the freezer. But we've got probably 8 or 10 bags left over from last year, which was a great year for growing peppers.

[Eleven]

Hot pepper jam/preserves on cream cheese and crackers is great with cocktails.

[Weave]

Hot pepper jam/preserves on cream cheese and crackers is great with cocktails.

 

This year I made three jellies, a jalapeno jelly, a habanero jelly, and a mixed pepper jelly with hot cherries, cayennes, and Fresno chilies. And yes, pepper jelly is awesome over a little cream cheese spread on a Triscuit.

[MattPie]

We belong to a CSA group as well. The farm we are involved with grows poblano peppers. Poblanos are mild/medium in heat and are used in Mexican food. If you've had chili rellenos in a Mexican restaurant, they're traditionally made with poblanos. We usually end up with about half of a bushel of poblanos each year. Most of them get roasted, skinned, bagged and froze. This year was a tough year for poblanos. We've got something like 25 or so of them in the freezer. But we've got probably 8 or 10 bags left over from last year, which was a great year for growing peppers.

 

I have a recipe somewhere for a poblano-potato gratin in a crock pot. Essentially, you layer sliced potatos, cheddar cheese, and poblanos and dump some heavy cream and garlic on top while cooking. It's pretty good as long as you up the peppers and spices in the recipe. That entire cookbook has some good ideas for recipes, but they're all pretty bland when I make them. Either I'm doing something wrong or the author has very bland tastes.

[Eleven]

I have a recipe somewhere for a poblano-potato gratin in a crock pot. Essentially, you layer sliced potatos, cheddar cheese, and poblanos and dump some heavy cream and garlic on top while cooking. It's pretty good as long as you up the peppers and spices in the recipe. That entire cookbook has some good ideas for recipes, but they're all pretty bland when I make them. Either I'm doing something wrong or the author has very bland tastes.

 

Double the cheese and peppers and switch out the cream for stock and I'll bet you've got a good dish there.

[biodork]

And here I thought this thread was going to be funny dog stories.

[SwampD]

And here I thought this thread was going to be funny dog stories.

I was thinking funny wives' (wife's?, wives?) tales.

 

 

 

Oh, right. There's nothing funny about that.

[Huckleberry]

Got home sundaymorning from work, and saw some peanuts lying about.

Didn't read the package, just grabbed a handfull and set my mout on fire. Wassabi peanuts :D

 

did get rid of my cold because of it though wich is nice.

[Weave]

I was thinking funny wives' (wife's?, wives?) tales.

 

 

 

Oh, right. There's nothing funny about that.

 

I never thought it would happen to me but....

[Eleven]

I was thinking funny wives' (wife's?, wives?) tales.

 

 

 

Oh, right. There's nothing funny about that.

 

Wives'. You had it right.

 

I never thought it would happen to me but....

 

...one day, in the campus library...

Edited September 16, 2014 by Eleven

[Huckleberry]

 

...one day, in the campus library...

 

Thought it was: one day, at band camp ...

[darksabre]

As long as we're not talking about horses.

[PASabreFan]

Wives'. You had it right.

 

An argument could be made for wives.

 

And here I thought this thread was going to be funny dog stories.

 

I thought it was going to be about prison and lesbians and chafing and stuff.

[Claude_Verret]

Apparently the ghost chili has been knocked off it's throne as the worlds hottest pepper, that title now belongs to the Carolina Reaper. I had a sauce made with reaper peppers a few weeks ago, but it wasn't that crazy hot IMO.

 

My neighbor once made those bacon wrapped stuffed jalapeno poppers on the grill, except he tossed a few habanero "sleepers" in there without telling a few of us (he only warned the women and children). Naturally I picked one of the sleepers right away.... man that was some serious pain.

[shrader]

Apparently the ghost chili has been knocked off it's throne as the worlds hottest pepper, that title now belongs to the Carolina Reaper. I had a sauce made with reaper peppers a few weeks ago, but it wasn't that crazy hot IMO.

 

My neighbor once made those bacon wrapped stuffed jalapeno poppers on the grill, except he tossed a few habanero "sleepers" in there without telling a few of us (he only warned the women and children). Naturally I picked one of the sleepers right away.... man that was some serious pain.

 

Wasn't the scorpion pepper already listed higher than the ghost pepper?

 

Anyway, this comment may only be interesting to me, but I was at a farmers' market this past weekend and a stand had a bunch of these peppers up for sale. At that moment, I realized that I had never actually seen most of these peppers in their original form before. It's amazing the horror that are hidden in these mostly harmless looking peppers. If I knew what to do with them, I'd buy a couple and put together some decent foods.

[Campy]

Do not, under any circumstances, even think about messing with Carolina Reapers. Trust me.

[Weave]

Apparently the ghost chili has been knocked off it's throne as the worlds hottest pepper, that title now belongs to the Carolina Reaper. I had a sauce made with reaper peppers a few weeks ago, but it wasn't that crazy hot IMO.

 

My neighbor once made those bacon wrapped stuffed jalapeno poppers on the grill, except he tossed a few habanero "sleepers" in there without telling a few of us (he only warned the women and children). Naturally I picked one of the sleepers right away.... man that was some serious pain.

 

I knew Guinness was looking into it but I hadn't realized its been confirmed. From what I understand, before they will award the world record the strain has to be stable. IOW, the seeds and subsequent plants have to maintain the plants unique characteristics. I guess it takes so many generations before a new hybrid is considered.

 

For those interested, you can buy the seeds here, http://www.pepperjoe.com/shoppingcart/html/pepper.html Too much heat for me, personally.

 

Wasn't the scorpion pepper already listed higher than the ghost pepper?

 

Anyway, this comment may only be interesting to me, but I was at a farmers' market this past weekend and a stand had a bunch of these peppers up for sale. At that moment, I realized that I had never actually seen most of these peppers in their original form before. It's amazing the horror that are hidden in these mostly harmless looking peppers. If I knew what to do with them, I'd buy a couple and put together some decent foods.

 

Ghosts, scorpions, vipers, et all are all on a pretty similar heat level. I'm betting the Reaper reign won't be long. There are a bunch of folks trying to up the ante.

[Eleven]

There's a tex-mex chain that makes a burrito with the Carolina Reaper, the "Burrheato." Salsarita's. There's one on the corner of Delaware and Chippewa in case one of you pepperheads decides to try it.

[Weave]

There's a tex-mex chain that makes a burrito with the Carolina Reaper, the "Burrheato." Salsarita's. There's one on the corner of Delaware and Chippewa in case one of you pepperheads decides to try it.

 

Owwie.

 

 

This mornings harvest.....

 

 

I counted 21 more on the plants still ripening and maybe 40 takanotsumes that are also ripening. The takanos will be dried and used in Asian recipes.

[shrader]

Ghosts, scorpions, vipers, et all are all on a pretty similar heat level. I'm betting the Reaper reign won't be long. There are a bunch of folks trying to up the ante.

 

I have so little experience with these peppers, but I'm willing to bet that those differences are not detectable to just about any person. If your tongue falls of at x scoville units, you're not going to notice a change when you try x+5 scoville units.

[Weave]

I have so little experience with these peppers, but I'm willing to bet that those differences are not detectable to just about any person. If your tongue falls of at x scoville units, you're not going to notice a change when you try x+5 scoville units.

 

I have never tried any of the "super hots". I am going by published scoville units when I say they are all close in heat. And I agree, once you hit some limit, how do you even detect the change?

 

Search youtube for ghost pepper challenge videos. Guys are barfing after eating these things. If it's gonna mess up my tongue, trash my throat, abuse my stomach, and then burn the hell out of my fart pipe on the way out, you can have it. Nope. None thank you.