2022 peppers

[flowerbug]

What is your average growth rate for peppers? Is it normal for them to take for eeeeeeever to grow?

they are a later season crop for us, sometimes we do get multiple harvests though. right up until frosts.

the thing i've found out is that some varieties react to nutrients differently so what may work for one may not work for others.

since they do like heat i think you can probably do better with them watering gradually (so you don't shock the root system and plant) with cold water from the well. i've yet to really do anything with this technique myself but i'm contemplating leaving buckets near the plants and then filling them to let them warm up for a day before using the water on the plants.

 

[AMKuska]

@flowerbug I asked my husband and he did indeed use habaneros and the fermentation method of creating hot sauce. He wants to know if there is a way to make hot sauce from habaneros without fermenting, as he does love their flavor and most of his hot sauces contain them without tasting nasty.

 

[flowerbug]

@flowerbug I asked my husband and he did indeed use habaneros and the fermentation method of creating hot sauce. He wants to know if there is a way to make hot sauce from habaneros without fermenting, as he does love their flavor and most of his hot sauces contain them without tasting nasty.

sure, dice them very fine and then add them when the rest of the sauce has completed whatever amount of cooking you want for it to do - assuming it is acidic enough they should be ok. if you don't want the fine diced texture you could even super blend them. as long as the overall mix is acidic enough and the bits you put into the sauce are completely accessible to the juice so that it will be suitably pickled you can do that. normally sauces have enough vinegars or other acids to make sure there's no issue with risking botulism. you could also pressure can the results but to me that destroys a lot of things i want in a sauce. the other approach if you don't think the sauce is acidic enough would be to find things you do like to add more acidity. the main worry is that you do not use big chunks of anything if you're not going to pressure can it or ferment it.

 

[heirloomgal]

some of the floral notes are likely coming from the varieties of peppers (like if you are using habanero and relatives of those). i personally do not like habanero peppers because of that precise issue. sauces made from them to me taste of rotted fruit and not in a good way. jalapeno (and relatives) when fermented don't give me that same problem.

which gets me to the question i was going to ask in another post, but to put it here instead.

does anyone here regularly grow serrano peppers? how would you describe their flavor at various stages of growth/size? are they pretty uniform when it comes down to heat level?

I've grown them a couple times in the last few years. Well, personally I find them hot as the blazes, and at every stage. Very, very juicy though a lot like Tabasco.

@AMKuska I've experimented quite a bit with different hots in the last 4 years and some of the hots seem to me just 'hot' while others really do have nice, more complex flavours in there. Hot Paper Lantern, & Piazinho might be something else to try (early maturing & productive too) I find they have super great taste as well as heat. Biquinhos are smaller, but they have a very, very distinct flavour. Traditionally pickled. Aji Crystal has nice flavour too, and it's smokin' hot IMHO. I've grown reapers but they just don't seem to make much peppers so I gave up on them. Devil's Tongue and Naga Morich produced much more comparatively.

 

[digitS']

I'm glad that you have a response on serrano peppers from heirloomgal, flowerbug.

I listed them and the seed is in the mix but, again as in 2021, the plants are for a neighbor. I had one (1) plant in the garden last year. There were lots of Super Chilies and Garden Salsa of somewhat the same shape and, as usual, I couldn't keep things separated. So

This was the story with me mixing up Tam Jalapeño and the Early Jalapeño. In that case, It was a problem because they had to be tasted to determine heat levels.

Habanero - I had one year and one plant produced 1 misshapened pepper. Easy to keep that one separate - I just ignored it and left it on the plant.

Steve

 

[Zeedman]

does anyone here regularly grow serrano peppers? how would you describe their flavor at various stages of growth/size? are they pretty uniform when it comes down to heat level?

Not Serrano per se, but I grow "Red Chile", a serrano-like heirloom. Cylindrical peppers that are solid & very heavy for their size. To me, they were somewhere between a jalapeno & habanero for heat. I only used them ripe & dried, so can't comment on their green flavor. For pickles, I often place one of the dehydrated ripe peppers in a jar, it gives the pickles a nice but not unbearable heat.

Based upon observations of the one I grow, Serranos can have a very large yield - but a late DTM. I get enough ripe peppers to save seed, but always have a lot of peppers still hanging when the frost arrives. At that point I cut the plants, and hang them in the garage for the peppers to ripen. These are from 2018:

 

[digitS']

For those of you who have never made a sauce and are apprehensive when reading the word "ferment," realize that there is a simple salsa that can be made with a toaster oven and a blender. We use a mortar and pestle which is especially easy for small batches.

Rinse your pepper(s), some green onions, cherry tomatoes, and cilantro. Lay them out on your oven tray. Now the Hard Part: toast them turning once while paying attention to not burn them. Into the mortar or blender with a little salt. A garlic clove can be included in the oven or garlic salt used. Fresh onions and cilantro are needed but frozen tomatoes and peppers work okay.

For the guy who used to regularly make beer and wine but still cringes at the idea of fermenting peppers, a very simple and tasty salsa.

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

Not Serrano per se, but I grow "Red Chile", a serrano-like heirloom. Cylindrical peppers that are solid & very heavy for their size. To me, they were somewhere between a jalapeno & habanero for heat. I only used them ripe & dried, so can't comment on their green flavor. For pickles, I often place one of the dehydrated ripe peppers in a jar, it gives the pickles a nice but not unbearable heat.

Based upon observations of the one I grow, Serranos can have a very large yield - but a late DTM. I get enough ripe peppers to save seed, but always have a lot of peppers still hanging when the frost arrives. At that point I cut the plants, and hang them in the garage for the peppers to ripen. These are from 2018:
View attachment 47510

a picture that makes me drool. yum.

 

[Zeedman]

For those of you who have never made a sauce and are apprehensive when reading the word "ferment," realize that there is a simple salsa that can be made with a toaster oven and a blender. We use a mortar and pestle which is especially easy for small batches.

Rinse your pepper(s), some green onions, cherry tomatoes, and cilantro. Lay them out on your oven tray. Now the Hard Part: toast them turning once while paying attention to not burn them. Into the mortar or blender with a little salt. A garlic clove can be included in the oven or garlic salt used. Fresh onions and cilantro are needed but frozen tomatoes and peppers work okay.

For the guy who used to regularly make beer and wine but still cringes at the idea of fermenting peppers, a very simple and tasty salsa.

Steve

@digitS' , that's a wonderful idea for small-batch salsa!!! I've never been a fan of "fresh" salsa (which up until now was the only small-batch alternative) so I will be putting your technique to the test this year. After trying a roasted tomatillo salsa last year, I could really see myself becoming a fan of roasted salsas. Just thinking of roasted Beaver Dam or Aji Cristal peppers has my mouth watering.