Jalapenos

[chopsaw]

Typical of this time of year, they pick them before they are fully ripe,

And in perfect conditions . They want to sell , not eat .
They need to " stress " . I let mine get pretty rough looking . . Low water , let the soil dry out a bit . Plenty of heat . That only helps if you grow your own though .

 

[jcam222]

I have a friend who grows these jalapenos annually. They always have this really heavy corking and they are blazing hot.

 

[nlife]

And in perfect conditions . They want to sell , not eat .
They need to " stress " . I let mine get pretty rough looking . . Low water , let the soil dry out a bit . Plenty of heat . That only helps if you grow your own though .

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This right here.

Years ago, the Chile Pepper Institute at the New Mexico State University did a few studies on heat and drought stressing peppers. They found that there was a strong correlation between stress and overall heat levels in mild peppers such as jalapeños. Infrequent watering and letting the plants wilt a little (like pictured above) produced hotter peppers compared to those that got regular water and were not left to wilt. Interestingly enough, this same correlation did not occur with hotter peppers like Habanero and up.

Now you might be thinking, "if I want more heat, I'll choose a hotter pepper!", but when you think of the economics of it all, distributors want consistency (or at least relative consistency). As consumers, we want predictability. It's hard to cook with peppers that go from mild to wild when dealing with different batches of the same pepper.

All that said, there are specific varieties that are bred to have reduced heat so none of this would apply.

 

[chef k-dude]

I've grown a couple of "heat less" varieties of jalapeno's at home. The one I usually grow is called "fooled you" and I like that you get the jalapeno flavor but zero heat. So other family members who are not fond of the heat can still eat items with the flavor. I suppose it's possible some similar varieties were grown on the commercial farm or the seed growing company farm and might have crossed with normal jalapenos producing yet another lower heat hybrid (not intentionally)? But they do make them.

I concur that if you have a local Mexican store or "Mercado" they will usually have the real deal with full heat. They also have many other pepper options at the ones around here.

I've come around to this camp. I always loved hot peppers but as I'm getting older, it's hard to handle the really hot ones. I prefer to control the heat using other sources, Asian chili garlic sauce, various hot sauces, red pepper flakes in some stuff. I like that the mild jalapenos allow me to use plenty for the flavor in dishes and tweak the heat with "known quantities".

When I grew a garden, it was small, but I grew usually three or four varieties of peppers. Some seasons, random jalapeno plants would yield insanely hot peppers. Too hot to use in any quantities in dishes. I kept forgetting and would just harvest everything in to the same basket instead of using my head, sampling peppers from individual plants and marking the plants; so it was always a crap shoot when actually cooking with them. I learned to cut the stem end off and just touch the cut flesh to my tongue a little to know how hot things were going to be.

I also learned to use finger cots or gloves when cutting/chopping. One wrong touch of the eye otherwise could be devastating! Even have to be careful going #1 if you are a man! THAT can be very uncomfortable. Simply washing your hands after cutting does not remove the heat from very hot peppers.

 

[Fueling Around]

I agree on the variability back in MN, Charles. Luckily later in the season my garden grown are predictable, but I do get get a dud plant now and then.
Here in Central Florida the japs are pretty predictable.

This right here.

Years ago, the Chile Pepper Institute at the New Mexico State University did a few studies on heat and drought stressing peppers. They found that there was a strong correlation between stress and overall heat levels in mild peppers such as jalapeños. Infrequent watering and letting the plants wilt a little (like pictured above) produced hotter peppers compared to those that got regular water and were not left to wilt. Interestingly enough, this same correlation did not occur with hotter peppers like Habanero and up.
...

Plant stress at the appropriate time influences a lot of desired harvest results.
My area back in MN the most profitable harvest is sugar beets. Water and temperature (high and low) stress produce high sugar levels. We had the optimal conditions a couple of years ago with sugar in the 20% range. For reference, sugar cane is lucky to hit 15%

 

[BB-que]

For the past several months the jalapenos I have bought have absolutely no heat, no different than a green bell pepper. I have gotten them from different places, but they all taste like they came from the same farms. It's almost like the heat is being hybridized out them, I just don't get it.

I'm not looking for "why did I put that in my mouth" heat, but what is an alternative fresh pepper to look for that has similar heat levels?

Look for wrinkles on the skin of them

 

[luvcatchingbass]

I've grown a couple of "heat less" varieties of jalapeno's at home. The one I usually grow is called "fooled you" and I like that you get the jalapeno flavor but zero heat. So other family members who are not fond of the heat can still eat items with the flavor. I suppose it's possible some similar varieties were grown on the commercial farm or the seed growing company farm and might have crossed with normal jalapenos producing yet another lower heat hybrid (not intentionally)? But they do make them.

I concur that if you have a local Mexican store or "Mercado" they will usually have the real deal with full heat. They also have many other pepper options at the ones around here.

Do you start those from seeds yourself or do you have a place around you that has the "fooled you"? Wife and I like the heat and the 14yr old daughter is mixed on it but our 11yr old daughter is finally realizing that black pepper is not "that hot". She obviously is much more sensitive to certain things that she portrays as hot.