# Favorite Peppers



## madelinez (May 30, 2020)

What are everyone's favorite peppers? I've been buying mine from a spice shop with a larger range lately so looking to try new interesting varieties.

Mine would be
-Mulato/Ancho (no heat but the flavor is incredible, I use these in combination with cayenne for Indian curries)
-Jalapeno (hard to beat the taste in salsas, dips and salads)
-Cayenne (Good flavor and heat, this is my primary pepper for adding heat)
-Kashmiri (Dried and then ground, it adds a really nice color and flavor for marinades)


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## Michi (May 30, 2020)

Depends on what you like. For really hot, birds eye and habaneros. For something people can actually eat, jalapeños. I've used cayenne only in powdered form, and I've never tried Kashmiri. Seems like I need to work on that problem 

One of my truly favourites: frigitello. They are mild enough to eat a whole bunch of them and still be able to taste whatever other food is on the plate.


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## madelinez (May 30, 2020)

I've never been a big fan of the habanero flavor, the citrus overtones come off as acrid to me (ignoring the high heat). I can't believe I haven't come across frigitello peppers before, they're on the list now! You should try some Mulato/Anchos for your next curry/stew even if it's not a Mexican dish, somehow it just works.


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## ian (May 30, 2020)

Hey, Michi beat me to it.

Habaneros - love that fruity taste, especially after taking the seeds and membranes out
Thai bird chiles - love the sharp quality of their heat

Also like a bunch of others... love guajillos in mole, mulatos/anchos are great too. Chipotle is a great flavor too. Then there is a whole list of lesser known peppers that I like, but let's leave it as above.


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## MrHiggins (May 30, 2020)

Well, being from New Mexico, I'm obligated to say that our green chiles are the world's best (Hatch is the most famous, but I typically buy from Soccoro or Lemitar, which are towns a bit further north in the rio grande valley. Specifically, I buy a hybrid variety called Mrs. Junie, which is a cross between the famous Big Jim and the spicier Sandia). 

Also, I'm a big fan of habaneros. Just like Ian, I find that once you seed and de-membrain them, the sweetness really comes through. I'm decidedly not a fan of raw jalapeños, which I find too vegetal (I also don't like raw green peppers for the same reason). 

I'm growing a bunch of peppers this year, like habaneros and peppers with names like Genghas Khans Brain, Rasputins Revenge, and Atomic Starfish (among many others). These are mostly for novelty and just to see if I can get them to grow in my sunroom.


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## LostHighway (May 30, 2020)

It is early and I haven't had coffee yet so please bear with me, future edits likely

For fresh hot peppers I mostly use Jalapenos and Serranos but occasionally Thai peppers, Cherry Bombs, or Habaneros. It is largely an availability question since I don't grow peppers every year.
The list of dried peppers is longer:
Urfa Biber, this Turkish pepper isn't terribly hot but it has an unusual smokey, almost chocolatey flavor with some black tea and raisin notes.
Aleppo-style peppers, burgundy to bright red in contrast to the deep purplish Urfa Biber, slightly similar flavor profile and heat but more bright citrus notes and little to none of the chocolate and black tea notes. Grown in Turkey these days since the tragedy in Syria.
Spanish Paprika, I use both the sweet and hot versions, both smokey.
Kashmiri peppers, low to medium heat, bright red, fruity
Chile de Arbol, another often bright red dried pepper, typically fairly hot
Chipotle, dried, smokey, Jalapeno, low to medium heat
Ancho, dried, smokey, Poblano, low heat 
Guajillo, another dried smokey chili, ballpark Jalapeno/Chipotle heat, but with brighter and sweeter notes.
Tien Tsin, IME the dried pepper most commonly found in Sichuan and Hunan cuisine at least in North America, moderately hot.

I've grown a number of other peppers over the years. Here in the not blazingly hot north I've found that hot peppers tend to do better in containers rather than in the ground. It could be a matter of sharper drainage but I rather suspect that higher root zone temperatures is the primary variable.

With all hot peppers you have to go by taste as the heat level is not all that predicable. The only time I've had significant chile "burns" on my hands was from handling fresh Poblanos which typically aren't all that hot. Growing conditions and plant genetics can make a significant difference as can freshness with dried chiles. The labeling on Asian dried chiles is also not entirely reliable IME.


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## WildBoar (May 30, 2020)

The best way to gauge the heat of a pepper is to cut it up bare-handed and then put in your contacts lenses.


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## The Edge (May 30, 2020)

Fresh varieties I like:

Jalapeno
Serrano
Hatch Green
Fresno

Dried I always have on hand:
guajillo
ancho
kashmiri
paprika both sweet, hot, and smoked
thai chillies
chipotle 
red pepper flakes

I'll have more eventually, but need more pantry space for that to be a reality. I also enjoy pickled varieties, and usually have some in the fridge.


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## ian (May 30, 2020)

WildBoar said:


> The best way to gauge the heat of a pepper is to cut it up bare-handed and then put in your contacts lenses.



Thanks for keeping this safe for work.


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## WildBoar (May 30, 2020)

True. The contact lenses are the way to check the heat BEFORE you eat the peppers...


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## pleue (May 30, 2020)

Dry: espellete, urfa, aleppo, cascabel, guajillo, arbol, kashimiri are what I tend to use the most.

Fresh chiles are one of my favorite things to grow. I really like mirasol and chilaca (fresh guajillo and pasilla), shishitos, gypsy, korean gochu, biquinho, aji varieties, anaheim types, eastern europe paprika varieties.


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## ian (May 30, 2020)

mmm.... shishito and aleppo are favorites in my kitchen too.


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## dafox (May 30, 2020)

Wow, you guys are a lot more sophisticated than me. I use serrano and jalapeno in salsa, dried red Thai chilies in Thai and Chinese food, chili oil in chinese food, Fresno peppers in salads, canned enchilada sauce, and red pepper flakes on pizza.


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## M1k3 (May 30, 2020)

WildBoar said:


> True. The contact lenses are the way to check the heat BEFORE you eat the peppers...


Or go #1. Your choice.


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## Dendrobatez (May 30, 2020)

My favorites are charred shishitos with merguez sausage. Other than that there are some local cubanelles that I really enjoy for making into jam and hot sauces.


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## jacko9 (May 30, 2020)

I buy New Mexico peppers sometimes I get Hatch because our local grocery carries them other times I go to a vendor in Albuquerque I met when traveling there a lot and have him send me 40#'s of Extra Hot Green.


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## chinacats (May 30, 2020)

One note on habanero is that the orange has the most citrus flavor...try using reds but even a bit less than orange as they're a bit hotter...quite delicious once you find your use. 

Personal favorites are:
Chocolate 7 pot (Douglah)
Fatali (yellow varietal) 
Thai (most any varietal) 

While all are pretty hot you can easily adjust by quantity (removing membrane and seeds too).


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## Paraffin (May 30, 2020)

I would like Jalapenos except that the degree of hotness of the ones in the local stores is just all over the place, not predictable at all. They can be anywhere from an expected medium heat to something that's as mild as a green bell pepper. So I seldom buy them.

My favorite fresh chilies for medium heat are Serranos and Fresno chilies. Both are always predictable in heat level at the local stores where I buy them. I use the Serranos for recipes where they'll be minced for heat and flavor, and the Fresnos where they'll be thin-sliced as a garnish or stuffed and wrapped with bacon as an appetizer. Fresno chilies are basically what Jalapenos should be when they're hot enough, but with a nice red color.

For dried hot chilies I buy "Facing Heaven" Sichuan chilies from the online Mala Market. Great for making Hot Chili Oil, Gung Pao Chicken, Roasted Chili powder, or any of the dishes where you want a good, hot dried red chili flavor.


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## panda (May 30, 2020)

fresno & calabrian


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## Marcelo Amaral (May 31, 2020)

I love all kinds of pepper, but my favorite is called murupi









Pimenta murupi da Amazônia: saiba tudo sobre ela - Tudo Ela


Quando se fala de pimenta, sempre vem à mente um sabor forte, picante, ardente. A pimenta murupi. além disso, traz benefícios à saúde.



tudoela.com


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## zizirex (May 31, 2020)

Aleppo pepper, Marash Pepper, Isot/Urfa Bibier, Piment d'Espellete, Pimento de la Vera, Hungarian Paprika, Cayenne, Gochugaru, Shichimi Togarashi, Kasmiri are my go-to for dried chilli/pepper.

Jalapeno, Serrano, Thai Bird's eye, Fresh Cayenne, Habanero/Scotch Bonnet, some Sweet mini pepper for colour are my go-to for fresh Chili heaven.

Then, there is a semi-processed pepper-like Aji Amarillo, Aji Panca, Chipotle, Sambal variety (from fake "Sambal Oelek" to Italian Calabrese Chili sauce) for a specific type of cuisine


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## ian (May 31, 2020)

My favorite hot sauce that I make is with fermented fresnos and habaneros.


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## MrHiggins (May 31, 2020)

jacko9 said:


> I buy New Mexico peppers sometimes I get Hatch because our local grocery carries them other times I go to a vendor in Albuquerque I met when traveling there a lot and have him send me 40#'s of Extra Hot Green.


Just a quick note on New Mexico green chile. There are two main varieties: Big Jim and Sandia. Big Jim is what's mainly used for the green chile you find in restaurants. It's a huge chile, around 10-12 inches long and is thick and meaty, perfect for roasting. It's quite mild, as chiles go. Sandia is smaller (6 inches) and thinner. It's used a lot more to make red chile, which is made after drying the red chiles rather than roasting them when they're green. Sandias are spicier. When you buy extra hot green, you're almost certainly buying Sandia picked green (nothing wrong with that!). A nice trick is to buy half a sack of each and mix it together before roasting. You get the best of both worlds. Finally, if you can, buy your chile at the end of the season (beginning of October) when some of the chilies are starting to turn red. It adds one more layer of complexity that I really like.


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## Bert2368 (May 31, 2020)

This year I am growing:

Ghost, Bahama goat, fish peppers, serrano, orange Thai, Fresno, ancho/mulatto, anaheim, sushito.

Had an accident which took out all the urfa biebers and giant red marconi, damn.


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## Bodine (Jun 5, 2020)

My go to pepper is a Mole Holy Mole Pepper: Pasilla Perfected - PepperScale
Mild, but useful for many dishes. I can always spice things up with other peppers I grow, but this is the one I use most, fresh or smoked and dried.
I also smoke and dry Jalapenos, Poblanos, and Habeneros.


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## Noodle (Jun 5, 2020)

Just planted 4 padron pepper starts—great for frying.


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## MowgFace (Jun 5, 2020)

zizirex said:


> Then, there is a semi-processed pepper-like Aji Amarillo, Aji Panca, Chipotle, Sambal variety (from fake "Sambal Oelek" to Italian Calabrese Chili sauce) for a specific type of cuisine



What do you mean by Semi-processed? I have an Aji Amarillo plant, and any knowledge/advise would be super helpful.


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## zizirex (Jun 6, 2020)

MowgFace said:


> What do you mean by Semi-processed? I have an Aji Amarillo plant, and any knowledge/advise would be super helpful.


it's already in a paste form, not the actual chilli itself


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## MowgFace (Jun 7, 2020)

Oh ok, just double checked the tag I have Aji Habanero plants.


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## Ultrafiche (Jun 7, 2020)

Paraffin said:


> I would like Jalapenos except that the degree of hotness of the ones in the local stores is just all over the place, not predictable at all. They can be anywhere from an expected medium heat to something that's as mild as a green bell pepper. So I seldom buy them.
> 
> My favorite fresh chilies for medium heat are Serranos and Fresno chilies. Both are always predictable in heat level at the local stores where I buy them. I use the Serranos for recipes where they'll be minced for heat and flavor, and the Fresnos where they'll be thin-sliced as a garnish or stuffed and wrapped with bacon as an appetizer. Fresno chilies are basically what Jalapenos should be when they're hot enough, but with a nice red color.
> 
> For dried hot chilies I buy "Facing Heaven" Sichuan chilies from the online Mala Market. Great for making Hot Chili Oil, Gung Pao Chicken, Roasted Chili powder, or any of the dishes where you want a good, hot dried red chili flavor.


How has your experience with Mala Market been? They seem to have really good stuff, but their prices are also exceedingly high. I guess it's worth it for folks who don't have access to a good Chinese grocer, though.


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## CoteRotie (Jun 7, 2020)

Noodle said:


> Just planted 4 padron pepper starts—great for frying.


I've been growing Padron peppers for 25 years. I smuggled some seeds back from Spain because back then they weren't available here. Now the local nursery carries them, and the peppers are available in many of the local supermarkets.

They're called "Spanish roulette peppers" because some are hot and some are mild. If you let them turn red before picking they're all very hot.

Traditionally they're fried quickly in olive oil and sprinkled with coarse sea salt. For variations I like to sprinkle them with curry powder just at the end of frying, or grated parmigiano. Well worth seeking out if you haven't tried them!


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## Paraffin (Jun 7, 2020)

Ultrafiche said:


> How has your experience with Mala Market been? They seem to have really good stuff, but their prices are also exceedingly high. I guess it's worth it for folks who don't have access to a good Chinese grocer, though.



I've ordered from Mala Market for a little over a year now and have been happy with the service and the quality of what arrives in the mail.

Up here in a fairly remote corner of the US Pacific Northwest I don't have easy access to a Chinese market, at least not a "real" one. I suspect ordering direct from Mala might actually be getting me fresher ingredients with a specialized local Chinese source, than some of the local Asian markets that in my area are more Philippine-owned with just a few Chinese/Thai condiments on the side.

Because it's things like Facing Heaven dried chilies, fermented bean paste, and the real deal Sichuan pepper that I don't use in large quantities, I don't see it as too expensive. I haven't ordered anything since the pandemic hit though, so they may be experiencing some shortages in the supply chain.


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## Ultrafiche (Jun 7, 2020)

Paraffin said:


> I've ordered from Mala Market for a little over a year now and have been happy with the service and the quality of what arrives in the mail.
> 
> Up here in a fairly remote corner of the US Pacific Northwest I don't have easy access to a Chinese market, at least not a "real" one. I suspect ordering direct from Mala might actually be getting me fresher ingredients with a specialized local Chinese source, than some of the local Asian markets that in my area are more Philippine-owned with just a few Chinese/Thai condiments on the side.
> 
> Because it's things like Facing Heaven dried chilies, fermented bean paste, and the real deal Sichuan pepper that I don't use in large quantities, I don't see it as too expensive. I haven't ordered anything since the pandemic hit though, so they may be experiencing some shortages in the supply chain.


Makes sense. They definitely have all of the esoteric ingredients needed for Sichuanese cooking, which might be worth the premium. I've been steadily making my way through Fuchsia Dunlop's new book, but even here in New York, some of the ingredients are difficult to find, so I've been considering them from Mala Market. To your point, they're currently OOS, so I'll have to keep them in mind once things settle down a bit!


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## orangehero (Jun 22, 2020)

I used to run a little operation growing hot peppers for a sauce maker as well as collecting all of the rare varieties. I've grown dozens if not hundreds of different varieties over the years.

Three of my favorites that come to mind right away are the Yellow Scorpion CARDI, Bhut Jolokia, and Bishop's Crown.

I'm a huge fan of Capsicum pubescens varieties like Rocoto and Manzano. They are tricky to grow in my area without a greenhouse and even harder to buy.


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## Ploppy Blobby (Jun 22, 2020)

I like the Aji Lemon or lemon drop. Enough heat, good when fresh and dries very well for keeping also


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## MowgFace (Jun 22, 2020)

Ploppy Blobby said:


> I like the Aji Lemon or lemon drop. Enough heat, good when fresh and dries very well for keeping also



I am so stoked for my Aji Lemon this season!


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## FishmanDE (Jun 22, 2020)

Cubanelle peppers are my #1. I also like pablano, serrano and thai chili


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## Ploppy Blobby (Jun 23, 2020)

Bought some Carolina Reaper seeds, they came up really quickly.
Should have known they were rubbish, must have been cross-pollinated with a bell papper or something. No flavour or heat


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## MrHiggins (Jun 23, 2020)

Ploppy Blobby said:


> Bought some Carolina Reaper seeds, they came up really quickly.
> Should have known they were rubbish, must have been cross-pollinated with a bell papper or something. No flavour or heat


What vendor did you get them from?


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## GorillaGrunt (Jun 24, 2020)

Chilhuacle; I grew them a few years ago to make mole and got a lot more than I expected. So I used them that summer for most of my fresh chili needs and the next two years for dried. It probably was a psychological boost that there was something dodgy about the way I got the seeds so it was sort of like getting Cuban cigars in the States.


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## MrHiggins (Jun 30, 2020)

I'm growing habaneros, fatalii, something called "atomic starfish" and (my favorite name) "Genghis Khan's brain". In my garden (not shown), I'm growing fresnos and thai bird.


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## Ploppy Blobby (Jul 1, 2020)

MrHiggins said:


> Genghis Khan's brain


I have GOT to get me some of them 🌶


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## LostHighway (Aug 23, 2020)

I need to revive this necro, but hopefully not totally decomposed, thread. I have a chili nomenclature question, many European recipes call for a red chili. What is a red chili? Surely it doesn't just refer to color. In the places I have lived, northern tier of the United States east of the 100th meridian, Jalapenos, Serranos, and Poblanos are widely available. Fresnos, Habaneros, Thai chilies, and Cherry Bombs slightly less so but not really uncommon. Only the Fresno, Thai, and Cherry Bomb are easy to find fully red. The usual run of dried Mexican chilis are also widely available but I've gotten the impression that the European "red chili" refers to fresh chilies. Any idea as to what "red chili" refers to in terms of varietal name, Scoville units, or flavor profile or just what the best match among USA available chilies might be? The truth is out there...


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## orangehero (Aug 23, 2020)

From my very basic understanding of botanical history, "red chili" probably refers to cayenne type peppers, whether fresh, crushed, or ground. If you want to get even more general it's probably a medium sized, medium heat, _C. annuum_ type of pepper that may or may not be called cayenne (Thai peppers also being "cayenne type"). The alternative is paprika which usually is either sweet or smoked.


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## McMan (Aug 23, 2020)

LostHighway said:


> I need to revive this necro, but hopefully not totally decomposed, thread. I have a chili nomenclature question, many European recipes call for a red chili. What is a red chili? Surely it doesn't just refer to color. In the places I have lived, northern tier of the United States east of the 100th meridian, Jalapenos, Serranos, and Poblanos are widely available. Fresnos, Habaneros, Thai chilies, and Cherry Bombs slightly less so but not really uncommon. Only the Fresno, Thai, and Cherry Bomb are easy to find fully red. The usual run of dried Mexican chilis are also widely available but I've gotten the impression that the European "red chili" refers to fresh chilies. Any idea as to what "red chili" refers to in terms of varietal name, Scoville units, or flavor profile or just what the best match among USA available chilies might be? The truth is out there...


Depends on where the recipe is from... Red pepper/chile called for in a southern Italian recipe is going to be hotter than the red pepper/chile called for in a Basque recipe. This is because Calabrian chili, for example, is way hotter than piment d'espelette. Not that this answers your question --just that it adds another variable to look into in the recipes.


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## LostHighway (Aug 23, 2020)

McMan said:


> Depends on where the recipe is from... Red pepper/chile called for in a southern Italian recipe is going to be hotter than the red pepper/chile called for in a Basque recipe. This is because Calabrian chili, for example, is way hotter than piment d'espelette. Not that this answers your question --just that it adds another variable to look into in the recipes.



The most common context is recipes written in but not necessarily culturally from the UK. I've also seen the reference in translations of Scandinavian cookbooks. Since the recipes typically call for a quantity rather than weight or volume I'm guessing fresh peppers. It is certainly an addressable issue, flavor profile possibly aside, if you make the dish multiple times, but the first time out of the gate there is the potential to go significantly wrong with regard to heat/Scoville units. North American written recipes, for all their faults in volume measurements, at least properly name peppers IME.


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## Ploppy Blobby (Aug 24, 2020)

Most supermarkets in the UK sell chillis (chilis, chillies, whatever) as a generic packs of whatever they happen to have bought this time. Most are jalapeno, 'thai' or birds eye


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## Michi (Aug 24, 2020)

What is sold here as "red chilli" is mostly Serrano or sometimes jalapeño. (Rarely, it might be cayenne, but is then usually labelled "hot chilli".) Take any medium-heat and longish red chilli, and it'll qualify.


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## nakiriknaifuwaifu (Aug 25, 2020)

Sharing a recent harvest of some of my favorites: Brazillian starfish (20k scoville), Aji Limon (30k scoville), Aji charapita (50k scoville), thai chillies (90k scoville), chocolate reapers (500k scoville), Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion (900k scoville), carolina reapers (1.5m scoville)

The ajis are hands down the best choice for a good pico de gallo salsa


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## Michi (Aug 25, 2020)

nakiriknaifuwaifu said:


> carolina reapers (1.5m scoville)


There are special places for people who grow these. I forget… What was it now? Hmmm… Special place? No. that's not it. Unusual hostel? No, not that either. Let me think…
Ah, yes, _that's_ it: *Asylum!*


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## Ploppy Blobby (Aug 25, 2020)

You won't like a pile of habaneros then................


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## nakiriknaifuwaifu (Aug 25, 2020)

Michi said:


> There are special places for people who grow these. I forget… What was it now? Hmmm… Special place? No. that's not it. Unusual hostel? No, not that either. Let me think…
> Ah, yes, _that's_ it: *Asylum!*



While they're great on pizza or in salsa, a good 80% of my reapers are dried in salt and smoked to make a smoked reaper salt. It's a big hit with my fellow patients friends. It's perfect for roasted corn, rubs, etc.


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## Michi (Aug 25, 2020)

Ploppy Blobby said:


> You won't like a pile of habaneros then................


Well, "like" is sort of a non-sequitur term. I do appreciate them without actually liking them


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## Michi (Aug 25, 2020)

nakiriknaifuwaifu said:


> It's a big hit with my fellow patients friends.


Are you sure you didn't mean to say "victims" instead?

But I concur. With enemies like these, who needs friends?


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## Ploppy Blobby (Aug 25, 2020)

nakiriknaifuwaifu said:


> reapers are dried in salt and smoked to make a smoked reaper salt


That sounds fun, I've dried and smoked them then dired and smoked again to make ploppyrprika. Very popular stuff.
Top tip, when grinding the dried peppers don't lean over the food processor to have a closer look


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## nakiriknaifuwaifu (Aug 25, 2020)

Ploppy Blobby said:


> That sounds fun, I've dried and smoked them then dired and smoked again to make ploppyrprika. Very popular stuff.
> Top tip, when grinding the dried peppers don't lean over the food processor to have a closer look



It's a right of passage, alongside forgetting to wash hands well and rubbing eyes/using the restroom. I once ran my dehydrator indoors overnight...coughed the rest of that day lol


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## naader (Sep 5, 2020)

madelinez said:


> What are everyone's favorite peppers? I've been buying mine from a spice shop with a larger range lately so looking to try new interesting varieties.
> 
> Mine would be
> -Mulato/Ancho (no heat but the flavor is incredible, I use these in combination with cayenne for Indian curries)
> ...


Shishito and jalapeno


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## Bert2368 (Sep 6, 2020)

Going by what I have liked enough to grow again?

Sweet peppers for grilling or frying: Giant red marconi, shishito

Fresh milder "hot" chilis: Anaheim/New Mex, poblano

Somewhat hot peppers: Serono, guero/Santa Fe. In particular, I grew "Havasu", Johnny's Select Seeds version of the guero this year and it is OUTSTANDING roasted and added to salsas, I ate a few bits while I worked and it is very tasty. Going to try stuffing some of the bigger ones like a Poblano.

Hotter peppers: Habanero, ghost, scotch bonnet, "fuego" orange thai

And this mystery rather hot chili which grew out of a packet of Bahama goat pepper seeds from Ohio Heirloom Seeds I planted this Spring but doesn't look anything like the rest of the goat peppers (scotch bonnet variant, squat, round but flattened and wrinkly), no idea what it is but it is very tasty AND very hot. Anyone recognize this little guy? They are about the diameter of a quarter, look like smooth little red flying saucers, similar sweet sour tang to habanero/scotch bonnet. The bush is loaded with green ones, got 4 red ones so far.








(Edit)

After looking at lots of chili porn, I think this one matches my mystery pepper: The Kambuzi from Malawi. Taste matches description, a very tasty, fruity Capsicum Chinense type, at least as hot as a good habanero, smaller plant with small leaves, immature peppers a darker green, ripe ones a deep orange.


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## 4wa1l (Oct 17, 2020)

My parents have a few varieties growing. These shishito's were nice last year, but yet to have the supposedly 1/10 spicy one. The plant has quite a few flowers and a couple of pods already, so hopefully they have a good yield this year. Also really dig the aji limon. Not too hot and I swear they have quite a distinctive citrus flavour.


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## Twigg (Oct 21, 2020)

My favorites. I grow all of these. 


Leutschauer – Love these! I grow them and dry for paprika
Aji Charapita – Dry to make yellow chili powder, PITA to pick
Hungarian Wax – Great fresh or stuffed, my favorite general hot pepper, wonderful flavor
Lesya – Great sweet pepper, its juicy and thick like a bell pepper, but it has better flavor


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## Staystrapped (Oct 21, 2020)

I grow the following

jalapeño (I have a 4 year old tree)
Jigsaw
Butlah
Thai
Devils horn
Oh and ghost peppers by the hundreds 
bell banana for sweets

I dry them separately and make varying degrees of chili powder


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## jacko9 (Oct 21, 2020)

I had one of you fine folks send me some of your ghost peppers a few years back and I thought I was "experienced". Ha - I chopped up one in a breakfast skillet one morning and I was going to explode ;-)


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## Staystrapped (Oct 22, 2020)

I give mine away quite often, this year I had to basically refuse people for fear they would hurt themselves with the jigsaw and butlah, I can eat only tiny pieces at the beginning of a meal and my mouth will be spiced for the remainder


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## ref (Oct 22, 2020)

Nobody in the bell pepper fanclub?


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## Staystrapped (Oct 22, 2020)

I actually find that getting a “ store bought looking” bell pepper quite difficult. I came close this year by putting them in straight compost and blasting them once a week with 1000 ppm maxi bloom


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## Staystrapped (Oct 22, 2020)

One of these days I will tell my award winning chicken wing recipe that involves the dry red chili


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## jacko9 (Oct 22, 2020)

Staystrapped said:


> I give mine away quite often, this year I had to basically refuse people for fear they would hurt themselves with the jigsaw and butlah, I can eat only tiny pieces at the beginning of a meal and my mouth will be spiced for the remainder


I finally ended up just taking a small slice and chopping it fine to add to my breakfast skillet and then I got the flavor without the overwhelming heat.


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## Staystrapped (Oct 22, 2020)

Here is my 4 year old jalapeño plant in a 30 gallon trash can


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## Staystrapped (Oct 22, 2020)

Butlah and jigsaw


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## Staystrapped (Oct 22, 2020)

Ghost butlah jigsaw in that order at full color


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## KO88 (Oct 22, 2020)

My most favourit is 7pot Brain Strain Yellow it gives great yields and the taste is phenomenal (heat unforgiving  ).


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## Ploppy Blobby (Oct 23, 2020)

ref said:


> Nobody in the bell pepper fanclub?


d


Love them, I grow a bunch of the each year (a must for ratatouille) - sweet pimento an old fave and tried YOLO for this first time this year. Did well.


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## Crobert (Oct 23, 2020)

I agree about bell peppers - I like spice so I tend to overlook them, but they're so versatile that many of my favorite foods just wouldn't be the same without.


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## jacko9 (Oct 23, 2020)

I did several red and green bell pepper plants this year and while the peppers were numerous they were medium to small peppers. I grew them in a new 2' x 8' x 23" raised bed planter with a heavy mulched soil mix.


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## Staystrapped (Oct 23, 2020)

In my experience bell peppers require a heavy amount of fertilizer be it synthetic or organic 
For organic I like the espoma brand due to the availability and affordability


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## jacko9 (Oct 23, 2020)

I got a seaweed based organic fertilizer from my local nursery and it seemed to work really well with my summer squash and other veggies.


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## Staystrapped (Oct 23, 2020)

Seaweed based fertilizer is wonderful in my experience you can even make a dilute spray with it that seems to help

I’m too lazy for that though lol I like to just dump and forget


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