What to do with a bumper crop of hot peppers?

[freemotion]

WZ, that is pretty much what I plan to do. I am so glad I bought 50 bulbs of the organic garlic....it seemed excessive at the time, but I am using it! (I'll be planting a huge patch this fall.) Is the lemon to preserve the color, or for flavor?

 

[freemotion]

Does anybody use fresh peppers to flavor chili? If so, how do you determine how much to add? If the recipe calls for 1 Tbsp chili powder, for example, what would you add if using whole, fresh peppers? I'll be canning up some chili soon!

 

[patandchickens]

"to taste"

Seriously. They vary so much in hotness anyhow that no measurement or conversion is going to be at all dependable. Just add some, then if you wanna add some more after a while you can.

Remember that chili hotness tends to increase with storage, so if you are on the sensitive side, it is better to err on the side of too little. Can easily enough spicy it up more before serving

Have fun,

Pat

 

[freemotion]

So......what would you start with? Before tasting? I have no clue what to even put in to start with! I don't have any hot-hot-hot varieties....my Hot Portugal were in the mild-medium range. Far from habaneros, etc.

 

[Henrietta23]

Does anybody use fresh peppers to flavor chili? If so, how do you determine how much to add? If the recipe calls for 1 Tbsp chili powder, for example, what would you add if using whole, fresh peppers? I'll be canning up some chili soon!

DH does. He just chops and adds enough that the spoon just starts to melt....
seriously, he makes his chili HOT but he only adds a few small fresh peppers. I like hot food but I can't eat what he makes, even when he tones it down.

 

[patandchickens]

Sorry free but I think you're going to have to just try it and see Mince them up real fine, this first time, so that you can get a fairly rapid idea of how much heat you've added -- put in a little, let it simmer for 5 min or so, then taste. Lather rinse repeat til happy (again, err on the side of less-hot).

For what it's worth, for the size pot of chili that I typically make, and honestly I have no idea what size it actually is, maybe 2-3 quarts???, I would typically add something like a couple tablespoons of minced frozen hot peppers or a heaping tablespoon of storeboughten sambal oelek (my go-to if the freezer is empty). But everyone's tastes and tolerances are so variable, and pepper hotness is so variable, and I am so unsure what size pot of chili I am really making , that I would not feel right steering you towards a particular measurement.

Honest. Just mince or puree some up; then add in little dabs, allowing some time between additions, til you like it

Have fun,

Pat, pleased enough with the jalapenos on my deck this year that next year I am definitely going to grow a *lot* more, and maybe try some cayenne type, despite our short season here.

 

[Wifezilla]

Is the lemon to preserve the color, or for flavor?

Preserve color
Add flavor
Add acidity
but the main reason...
To use up a lemon I had for too long

 

[freemotion]

Thanks, WZ...... and Pat......

Just kidding! Thanks, I guess I just have to do it and learn like everyone else has to!

 

[freemotion]

H23, maybe if I use a plastic spoon, and stop adding peppers when that starts to soften slightly, it'll be just right!