October 6, 2008 – Peppers at Peak
Even though it is the first week of October, the peppers are really coming on. It seems like a long frost-free season so far.
These are some purple peppers. Some years we don’t get them to turn purple. Sweet bell peppers like these are a snap to preserve – just cut them up in strips or chopped and throw them in the freezer – no canning, not even any blanching. They are great on pizza and wherever you use fresh peppers.
OK, no we are moving up a notch to the Jalapeno peppers. This is about as hot as many people go (and many don’t go this far). It’s been a great fall for fresh salsa. It’s about a meal after some long days in the garden – a batch of fresh salsa, some thick chips and a seat in the Adirondack chair while listening to “A Prairie Home Companion” is about as decadent as it gets around here!
Up a notch in heat are the cayenne peppers.
Another bump up in heat are these Thai hot peppers.
By far the hottest peppers we’ve ever grown are these Habanero peppers, native to the Yucatan. These babies are about 50 times hotter than Jalapenos! I’ve copied the Scoville scale of pepper hotness from Wikipedia below so you can see where your peppers fall on the heat scale.
| Scoville rating | Type of pepper |
|---|---|
| 15,000,000-16,000,000 | Pure capsaicin |
| 8,600,000-9,100,000 | Various capsaicinoids |
| 2,000,000-5,300,000 | Standard U.S. Grade pepper spray irritant ammunition |
| 855,000-1,050,000 | Naga Jolokia, Dorset Naga |
| 350,000-580,000 | Red Savina Habanero |
| 100,000-350,000 | Habanero chili, Scotch Bonnet Pepper, Datil pepper, Rocoto, Jamaican Hot Pepper, African Birdseye |
| 50,000-100,000 | Thai Pepper, Malagueta Pepper, Chiltepin Pepper, Pequin Pepper |
| 30,000-50,000 | Cayenne Pepper, Ajà pepper, Tabasco pepper, some Chipotle peppers |
| 10,000-23,000 | Serrano Pepper, some Chipotle peppers |
| 2,500-8,000 | Jalapeño Pepper, Guajillo pepper, New Mexican varieties of Anaheim pepper, Paprika (hungarian wax pepper) |
| 500-2,500 | Anaheim pepper, Poblano Pepper, Rocotillo Pepper |
| 100-500 | Pimento, Pepperoncini |
| 0 | No heat, Bell pepper |
one year ago…”Getting Ready for the New Roof”.
