Pepper question

[fuzzy9]

A customer of ours was telling me about some pickled jalapenos that he used to buy in Texas when he lived there. He raved about them! That challenged me to see if I could duplicate the taste. I thought they would possibly go over well in our bar too, and could be used in some recipes in our restaurant as well.

So I found a recipe online, and made them two weeks ago, they have been marinating in the brine ever since then. I let the customer try one tonight, and he said the flavor was really good, but the peppers were hotter, and they were harder than the others he had eaten in the past.

Now I know, jalapenos don't come in mild, spicy, and extra spicy, so I'm wondering if there's a way to somewhat mellow a jalapeno before pickling? One thing someone had mentioned was to possibly blanch the peppers, soften them a bit, and then dump the water they were blanched in down the drain, then put them in the pickling brine. The thought behind that was to get rid of some of the oil in the skin and seeds.

Anyone have any other ideas that they know will work?

 

[Marinea]

The heat of jalapenos is in the seeds and ribs inside. Take those out, and you're talking MUCH less hot.

 

[fuzzy9]

So there's no other way to do it? I'd actually like to leave the pepper whole, with stem in place.

 

[Miss M]

I have never heard of another way to decrease the heat of peppers.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Try using different peppers. Use banana peppers and toss in a few hot peppers to "spice" the jar. I added two jalapenos, a hungarian pepper and a banana pepper to a jar of dill pickles I canned last fall......the pickles were spicy but not OMG MURDEROUSLY HOT and apparently everyone who had the peppers OR pickles loved them...only the jalapenos were inedibly spicy.

 

[azbowhunter]

In my experience, the water content is directly relative to a peppers heat factor.
I found that picking in the morning having watered the evening before made my jalapenos milder than those I picked while I was watering(they sat all day in the sun, losing water).
I like the heat, and the intense flavor, from picking while watering.
However, I have many friends that cuss the ground I walk on when I offer them Chiles...might have something to do with slipping in a Caribbean red habanero into my infamous salsa last year....

 

[Miss M]

:lol:

 

[fuzzy9]

Thank you for the help everyone. I'd like to keep them whole if I can, it's the whole finger food thing in a bar, it's easier with the stem. I wonder maybe if I just take the tip off, if I can get at the seeds and ribs. I'll have to try that.

In my experience, the water content is directly relative to a peppers heat factor.
I found that picking in the morning having watered the evening before made my jalapenos milder than those I picked while I was watering(they sat all day in the sun, losing water).

I don't know if this will relate to what I'm doing though, I'm buying them in bulk to make at our restaurant, I'm not growing them at home.

However, I have many friends that cuss the ground I walk on when I offer them Chiles...might have something to do with slipping in a Caribbean red habanero into my infamous salsa last year....

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Marinea]

One last thing I thought of. I am guessing you're not growing your own peppers, so this may not help, but there are a lot of varieties of jalapenos, and some are less hot than others. I can look up some less hot varieties if you like...I skip over those when looking for seeds

 

[TMTex]

Good responses all around. Watering does change the heat in jalapenos as well as the toughness. You can inspect the peppers before pickling and put the mildest in there. Then save the hottest for cooking.

The mildest ones will be smooth and green. The hottest ones will have little cracks along the outside. These will not only be hotter, but will be tougher from not getting as much water while growing out.

Depending on your taste, the "mild" ones might still be pretty hot.

Texas A&M developed some milder jalapenos by crossing them with bell peppers. I haven't been able to find any in bulk though.

 

[fuzzy9]

Thanks TMTex! I think next year I am going to try growing my own jalapenos, and see if I can get a more mild pepper. I just found some more info on how water will pull some of that heat out, it says to bring to a boil, and simmer, then discard the water. It says the longer you simmer, the more mild they become. I know my customer said the ones he got in TX were softer also, so the simmering must soften them as well.

I'll try that, and if that don't work, I may resort to cutting the stem, and gutting them till I can grow my own next year.

 

[Marinea]

Texas A&M developed some milder jalapenos by crossing them with bell peppers. I haven't been able to find any in bulk though.

FYI, heirloom peppers cross QUITE easily. If you want to try this, just plant two species of peppers next to each other. We have to plant our bell peppers on the opposite end of the garden from our jalapenos to prevent this.

 

[fuzzy9]

Good to know! Thank you! I can't wait till next spring now!!