Q&A -- Hot and Spicy

[elyse]

Mark, (should I call you Mark, or =Mark?) several hot sauces I've tried have a metallic taste to me. Tapatio is one of them. What is it? This is why I prefer Frank's. Besides, I love vinegar!

[=Mark]

Call me Fred!

I've not noticed that taste, all I can say is poke around until you like a particular sauce and then go with it. My fridge (Yeah, typical single guy fridge; full of stuff to go on food but no actual food to speak of) has more than half a dozen different hotsauces so I can vary according to my mood.

My favorite sauce outright for a few years has been Hoboken Eddie's Mean Green with roasted jalapeno and lime juice.

[peechdogg]

=Mark,

thanks for the well written article.

can you provide some information on preserving peppers: drying/smoking, in oil, pickling, jams/jellies, etc.

regards,

scott

[fifi]

can you provide some information on preserving peppers: drying/smoking, in oil, pickling, jams/jellies, etc.

That sounds like a whole new lesson. Great idea, actually.

I do pepper escabeche and pickles. But I have not tried jellies. I would love to figure out how to do pepper jelly that is not sweet. I know... I need to brush up on pectin chemistry. I have also tried in vain to candy peppers. Everytime I see those beautiful red jalepenos I want to do that. I saw some strips of candied pepper in a magazine served as a granish on some kind of dessert. They were gorgeous. Mine always shrivel up whatever method I use. I want them to come out with a texture like those candied cherries you put in fruitcake. And smoking! Yes, smoking!

[=Mark]

I've dried and smoked peppers to preserve them. Depending on the local weather conditions most thin walled chiles may be just left on a hard surface and allowed to dessicate over a week or more. This is why ristras of chiles are made in the southwest US. Thicker walled chiles such as Jalapenos may have to be sliced in half lenthwise and seeded to prevent spoilage. They can be helped along by placing in the oven at low heat with the door cracked open with a metal utensil (Note, oven drying of very hot chiles may require thorough ventilation).

I've smoked Jalapenos in my Weber Smokey mountain smoker, just load it up with lump charcoal and wood chunks as with smoking any meat, and place halved, seeded chiles on the cooking grate (I place an expanded metal pizza pan on the grate to prevent any sacrificial leaps thru the grill) I place a piece of foil over an empty water pan as the idea is to dry the peppers without scorching them. Keep the temperature no higher than 250 and let the smoker go overnight. The next day you will have dark, leathery chipotles which are OK for storing, or further dried via the oven if one wants to grind them. I suppose you could do the indirect smoke on a kettle grill but I've not tried that.

Another method of preserving chiles is by soaking in alcohol, this has the added benefit of yeilding a spicy liqueur that can be used for drinks and in cooking. For over 5 years a group of Chileheads have been meeting at the Bowers Chile Pepper Festival and imbibing in a drink they invented called the Lemon Drop, named after the Lemon Drop Chile grown and sold by Jim Weaver's Mennonite farm that hosts the festival. It started with a bottle of Bacardi Lymon Rum into which are added a handfull or 3 chopped lemon drop peppers. Ice is added to a glass, then a lemon or lime wedge is squeezed in and dropped in, The Lemon drop Lyman rum (Steeped overnight) is added, then it is topped off by a splash of sprite...

A group of Chileheads at Bowers enjoying their Lemon Drops:

In Bermuda the standard preservation method is to keep the chiles in a jar/bottle of sherry.

The sherry is terrific in soup and the peppers are good in almost anything, having both the sherry and the chile flavor. I use dry sherry, but one could also use Chinese rice wine.

To make any of these alcohol preserved chiles, pack the washed and stemmed chiles into a glass container; fill the container with the alcohol of your choice and cover.

Most any Chile can be preserved in Vinegar, but one has to be OK with the vinegar flavor that will be imparted to the chiles. It is a good idea to pierce or slice the chiles to ensure penetration of the vinegar inside the pod.

Preserving chiles in oil is somewhat problematic in the chiles are not acidic enough to prevent spoilege and risk contamination by botulin toxin (Anyone else out there been to those trendy restaurants with the herb infused olive oil that looks suspiciously like something is growing in there? ) Since it would be difficult for the average home cook to determine the acidity of any given batch of oil, the safest way to achive this would be to thoroughly dry the chiles before adding to the oil. Since the 3 nessessary things for the growth of botulinum are an oxygen free, low acid environment and moisture, removal of all water from the chiles by oven drying will prevent any nasties from messing with your preserved peppers.

I don't have a sweet tooth, so have not personally experimented with jams or jellies, but I have found a site with a ton of recipes. Check out Pepperfools Recipe Links.

Edited September 7, 2003 by =Mark (log)

[peechdogg]

can you provide some information on preserving peppers: drying/smoking, in oil, pickling, jams/jellies, etc.

That sounds like a whole new lesson. Great idea, actually.

I do pepper escabeche and pickles. But I have not tried jellies. I would love to figure out how to do pepper jelly that is not sweet. I know... I need to brush up on pectin chemistry. I have also tried in vain to candy peppers. Everytime I see those beautiful red jalepenos I want to do that. I saw some strips of candied pepper in a magazine served as a granish on some kind of dessert. They were gorgeous. Mine always shrivel up whatever method I use. I want them to come out with a texture like those candied cherries you put in fruitcake. And smoking! Yes, smoking!

virtual weber bullet has a good tutorial on chipotles that i'm going to try soon (they also have a link to doing the same process with tomatoes).

i like pepper jellies, but have never attempted making any myself.

[peechdogg]

thanks =Mark,

the other methods, i think i can handle, but the chiles in oil one is tricky. i've saved so much info from the chileheads list on this it makes my head spin.

i think next weekend's project will be some peppers and possibly some tomatoes in the WSM using your advice and the virtual weber bullet site's info

[Episure]

Thanks Mark, for your dissertation on Chillies. Has anyone ever thought about grading them by instant heat, slow heat and everything else in between.

I find that fresh green chillies kick in and die out fast.

Reds are usually in dried form and have a lasting burn. Something to do with the oleoresins being locked in, perhaps?

And yes it is a matter of getting used to the heat by experience. Inspite of being used to my Indian cuisine, when I travel to Thailand, it takes me three days in to accustom myself to the real Thal food. Day one is usually in places that cater to tourists, after that...........

[Toliver]

Great course! I look forward to trying your recipes.

Drying chiles: My brother uses a Mr. Coffee dehydrator to dry his crops. Then he grinds batches of peppers into flakes to give out as presents. The flakes rock! He also keeps some of the dried peppers whole to rehydrate for cooking. As long as they've been able to dry without the presence of moisture, they'll be okay. Otherwise you have to watch out for mildew/mold.

A cure for the burn: The "dairy" cure does nothing for me. It's supposed to counteract the capsaicin but, for me, it's temporary at best. It always seems to return.

I think the "heat" in a chile burn is from some sort of capsaicin oils. They get absorbed into your skin, lips, mouth, etc. which is why there is lingering pain with hot chiles.

There have been two cures that have worked for me, though.

The first came from a woman who hailed from Acapulco. She said a spoonful of sugar does the trick. That worked for me. Let it sit in your mouth for a short bit then "swish" it around. Then spit or swallow.

The second cure I stumbled on and it is a kind of freaky sensation. Next time you have a chile "burn" in your mouth, take a big drink of a hot liquid (coffee, soup, etc). Obviously, it can't be hot enough that you scorch your mouth, but hot enough to lift the capsaicin oils in your mouth and drain them away. Let me forewarn you, it is a very weird sensation when you drink that first gulp of hot liquid, but it definitely works.

I think both cures work (for me, at least) because they both remove the lingering capsaicin oils in your mouth. The sugar absorbing the oils & the hot liquid "melting" the oils away.

[elyse]

I remember seeing something on Good Eats about the Scoville tests, and spraying the mouth with sugar water before the next test.

[torakris]

A Korean friend of mine once told me that if the kimchee "burns" your mouth to put some soy sauce on your tongue, it actually worked pretty well, no longer need it though!

[k43]

Feed a man a fish, satisfy him for a day.

Feed a man to a fish, shut up his complaining forever.

[=Mark]

Thanks Mark, for your dissertation on Chillies. Has anyone ever thought about grading them by instant heat, slow heat and everything else in between.

That may be difficult as the signature of the heat can vary not only between chiles but with the same type chile given varying degrees of ripeness as well as varying growing conditions during different seasons. As Alton Brown is known to say, that might have to be a whole other show...

[=Mark]

I remember seeing something on Good Eats about the Scoville  tests, and spraying the mouth with sugar water before the next test.

In the original test, Scoville blended pure ground chiles with a sugar-water solution and a panel of testers then sipped the concoctions, in increasingly diluted concentrations, until they reached the point at which the liquid no longer burned the mouth. A number was then assigned to each chile based on how much it needed to be diluted before you could taste no heat. I've not found a mention of what they rinsed their mouths with

I find this interesting in that they start out with the strongest solution then work their way through more and more dilute solutions. I have to wonder about their accuracy as the tasters within a session as well as over a period of time would nessesarily develop a resistance to capsaicin which would skew the results as time went by.

[Episure]

I have to wonder about their accuracy as the tasters within a session as well as over a period of time would nessesarily develop a resistance to capsaicin which would skew the results as time went by.

Absolutely right!

As I wrote in my post 3 days is what it takes me to eat real Thai food.

Let's give Wilbur Scoville the credit for being a pioneer and thank modern technology for inventing High Performance Liquid Chromatography.

[Suzanne F]

Just thought I'd share some recipes from a friend on another board. Scroll down to the one she calls Agent Orange! WOW!!!!!

[stagis]

Red vs. green jalapenos is basically the same as red vs. green bells. And I'm also one who will bypass green jalapenos for reds every time. If I'm in the supermarket and they've got a pile of jalapenos sitting there, if the greens are starting to change to red, I'll buy 'em and wait for the ripening to finish on the shelf......it's worth the wait :)

[JFCampbell]

Scotch Bonnet peppers ... where can I get them for my recipe? So far no one on this forum has provided a useful answer. Perhaps they aren't available by mail order? Maybe I have to locate a local grower and get them fresh?

I don't see how it is possible for me to buy them locally here in Michigan. Is there any other solution? Are they sold dried or preserved in a fashion that I could use them in my recipe? Does any mailorder house ship them? Google has failed to locate anyone who can help me, so ...

Help, guys! What can I do? I don't know of any farmers markets in the Lansing, Michigan area where I could hope to buy fresh peppers.

[mnebergall]

Scotch Bonnet peppers ... where can I get them for my recipe? So far no one on this forum has provided a useful answer. Perhaps they aren't available by mail order? Maybe I have to locate a local grower and get them fresh?

I don't see how it is possible for me to buy them locally here in Michigan. Is there any other solution? Are they sold dried or preserved in a fashion that I could use them in my recipe? Does any mailorder house ship them? Google has failed to locate anyone who can help me, so ...

Help, guys! What can I do? I don't know of any farmers markets in the Lansing, Michigan area where I could hope to buy fresh peppers.

You might consider growing your own. However, it is kind of late in the growing season for that. Also, I see that Whole Foods has a few stores in Michigan. You might give them a call and ask the produce manager if they have them or plan on getting them in.

[andiesenji]

Scotch Bonnet peppers ... where can I get them for my recipe? So far no one on this forum has provided a useful answer. Perhaps they aren't available by mail order? Maybe I have to locate a local grower and get them fresh?

I don't see how it is possible for me to buy them locally here in Michigan. Is there any other solution? Are they sold dried or preserved in a fashion that I could use them in my recipe? Does any mailorder house ship them? Google has failed to locate anyone who can help me, so ...

Help, guys! What can I do? I don't know of any farmers markets in the Lansing, Michigan area where I could hope to buy fresh peppers.

These guys have peppers which are a habanero/scotch bonnet cross.

http://www.peteshydrohot.com/fresh.htm

I know there are several people on the Chile-Heads list that grow Scotch Bonnets but I don't know if they have them for sale.

Sign on to the list and post the question. They are a helpful bunch. If the information is out there they will provide it.

I have been a list member for more than five years. Have attended hotluck meetings, great people.

http://GlobalGarden.com/Chile-Heads/list_info.phtml

This page has a huge list of links.

http://dmoz.org/Shopping/Food/Condiments/S...Hot_and_Pepper/

email Susan Byers, The Chile Woman chilewmn@bluemarble.net

She has over 100 varieties of chile pepper plants - great person to deal with.

I can't find the printed catalog right at the moment but she may have the plants.

They grow rapidly and do well in pots so you should be able to get a crop this year.

[FaustianBargain]

Apparently, for many years Drs. thought that frequent chile pepper consumption could be a cause of stomach ulcers. New research shows quite the opposite: that not only may chiles be a deterrent to ulcers, but maybe even a cure! Nothing definitive yet, but interesting.

I am not sure that chilli peppers are a cure for ulcers, but now we know that 'spicy' food is not really the major cause of stomach (peptic) ulcers(neither is stress). Peptic ulcers are caused by a fairly common type of bacterium called Helicobacter pylori which infects the inner mucous lining of the stomach leading to gastris infections and ulcers. Not all infections show symptoms. Now that we know this, there is no reason not to love hot foods...SO THERE! hug your chillis... Fascinating thread, but work beckons. I have to more to say, but that has to wait.

[dmreed]

Great class and extremely informative Q & A!

Now I know why I grow the hottest chiles in the  country, I am a lazy gardener and don't give them water until I think they are past the point of no return!

I am very interested in the red jalapenos, I have only seen them sold as green. Are there any parts of the world that prefer to eat them as red chiles? You say they are sweeter but does the heat level change at all? increase? decrease?

Can't wait to try some of your recipes!

I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a chile head, but I need chiles in some form everyday, that kick is like an energy burst for me.  My current addiction is a Japanese product called yuzukoshou, that is a paste of pounded green chilies and yuzu (a Japanese citrus).

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what is the hottest chile you grow?

the Red Sevina Habanero is supposed to be the 2nd hottest chile in the world at about 1/2 million Scoville Units.

the Ghost Chile from India is supposed to be the world's hottest chile at over 1 million Scoville Units! I have not yet been able to propogate the Ghost Chile but I am still trying!

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BTW I have found that eating picante (spicy hot) foods increases my metabolism which helps to lower my blood sugar afte eating (I am diabetic).

I also suspect that ignoring physical reasons why chiles cause discomfort (such as hemmoroids)...one of the principle reasons some folks can eat chiles and others cannot is genetic!

Edited August 16, 2009 by dmreed (log)