ABT question on Jalepenos???

jhl192

For Easter I made my third batch of ABT's. Most of my family doesn't like real hot stuff so on my first two batches I have removed almost all  of the seeds before filling the Jalapenos.  I cooked them and they were awesome.  Very mild kick and delicious.  Yesterday I did the same thing however since there kids at dinner I removed all of the seeds and lighter colored membrane.  These were slightly larger Jalapenos the the first two batches.  Some were very hot and some mild.  What happened? 

This batch of peppers was larger in size than the first two batch.  Therefore they were filed with more cheese and sausage.  The recipe said to cook them 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until the bacon crisped up.  I cooked them almost 45 minutes at about 370 degrees and the bacon was cooked but still not crispy.  When I took them off due to timing issues with the main meal, the ABT's still had a bit of crunch to the peppers unlike the previous batches.  

Could it be that unless the Jalapenos is cooked to a soft tenderness, that the heat remains in the pepper?  Do Jalapenos vary from pepper to pepper with regards to heat level?  Why some very hot and some not hot?  I can assure you there were no seeds in these peppers.  Was this a fluke or is there something I need to know about Jalapenos.  Please advise.       

NPHuskerFL

If you removed the seeds/deveined and rinsed with water that's all you can do. Yes, each jalapeno will have a little different heat to it. Not to mention what you stuff it with can effect it as well.

SenecaTheYounger

The heat is in the membranes, so be sure to scrape the inner wall free of the membrane which carries the jalapeno's seeds.

The heat can vary from jalapeno to jalapeno depending on how they are grown.  They are not all the same to begin with. Some are just hotter than others.

HDumptyEsq

I have bought jalapeño seeds for planting this year, as well as habaneros. They were both listed as "hot". I had the option of buying "medium" jalapeños. No such option with the habaneros. I don't know how you tell at the market unless they are marked (like they do sometimes in New Mexico). Testing can be an adventure!

buzd504

HDumptyEsq said:

I have bought jalapeño seeds for planting this year, as well as habaneros.

Have you planted them yet?  My banana pepper plant already has two peppers on it, and by cayenne, jalepeno and thai chili plants are flowering.

Monty77

Same thing happened to me recently after previous batches, after some reading I discovered that some jalapeno peppers are hotter than others, not much you can do about it.  Depends on where they come from and size.  Needless to say, it was a nice surprise for me and some of the other guest who like a bit more heat in our ABT's. 

I have tried stuffing them with smoked baby back ribs, spicy chicken, steak, sausage, portabello mushrooms, pulled pork, feta, goat cheese... and the the list could go on!  One of the crowd favorites here is the Cinnamon and Cranberry flavored goat cheese, stuffed with turkey and thick cut bacon wrapped!  It's got some nice Thanksgiving flavors going on!  

HDumptyEsq

buzd504 said:

HDumptyEsq said:

I have bought jalapeño seeds for planting this year, as well as habaneros.

Have you planted them yet?  My banana pepper plant already has two peppers on it, and by cayenne, jalepeno and thai chili plants are flowering.

All my peppers (hot and sweet) are still seedlings in a greenhouse but they're growing like topsy. If they all survive I'll be feeding the neighbors all summer!

Mike_the_BBQ_Fanatic

I have the same issue with audiences who don't like hot...I've had good comments from using the small red, yellow and orange sweet peppers too...I usually do 50/50 now

ShadowNick

also, the longer you cook them, the more it will mellow out the heat.   I usually do 400 for an hour.

Skiddymarker

ShadowNick said:

also, the longer you cook them, the more it will mellow out the heat.   I usually do 400 for an hour.

+1 on this... longer cook, mellower flavour. Wait for the bacon to crisp up and the heat in the pepper seems to be pretty much gone. I've found stretching the bacon, apply it at room temp, gives a tighter wrap, no toothpicks needs and the bacon seems to crisp a little faster. 

jhl192

I am thinking that @ShadowNick and @Skiddymarker are on to something.  There were a few leftovers and they were heated in the microwave yesterday and they were milder from what I am told. I had some leftover bacon and cream cheese / sausage mixture.  I am going to buy some more peppers and cook them tonight at 400 for an hour and see if the heat is lees.  Thanks for all of the good information!!  

DMW

Another trick to decrease the heat is to soak them in cold water for about an hour before cleaning them.

GalanteNate_OneEa

It happens to me all of the time.  Sometimes you just get a hot one, lol. My last batch I served every one was enjoying them, but when I popped one in my mouth, it brought me to tears.  Everyone called me names similar to sissy, but eventually someone else got the other half and my pride was restored. 

One mistake I did make one time was to keep the japs whole and stand them up to fill them.  This was bad. No oils could escape and they rated about tri-thermo-nuclear.  Would probably work if I had pealed some skin from the tip to let the oils out, but I have just sliced them in half since then.

SmokeyPitt

One time my wife prepped them and her fingers were on fire (now we wear gloves).  That batch was also too hot for most people to eat even though the seeds and ribs were removed.  As others stated...sometimes you just get a batch that is hotter than others. 

Skiddymarker

DMW said:

Another trick to decrease the heat is to soak them in cold water for about an hour before cleaning them.

Never tried this pre-clean soaking method, I always clean them, then sit in water for about 15 minutes. My logic was to clean the outside/inside of the boat, which might have some pepper oil on it as a result of cleaning the seeds/membranes. 

DMW

Skiddymarker said:

DMW said:

Another trick to decrease the heat is to soak them in cold water for about an hour before cleaning them.

Never tried this pre-clean soaking method, I always clean them, then sit in water for about 15 minutes. My logic was to clean the outside/inside of the boat, which might have some pepper oil on it as a result of cleaning the seeds/membranes. 

I'll bet that would work better. I have noticed a decent amount of oil in the water after soaking them whole.

CosmicVoyager

I make wolf turds with Habanero peppers. The ones that grow in my area don't get too hot mainly because of the amount of precipitation we get, same with the Jalapenos. Weather has a huge factor on where the pepper will fall in the scoville scale.

EGoldstein

My wife and daughter don't like them hot either. A trick I learned is to soak the jalapeños in Sprite or a Sprite-like product over ice overnight (already gutted and seeds taken out).  The longer they soak, the less intense the heat.  Soak them for less time if you want it hotter.  I also do a 50/50 ratio of jalapeños and small sweet peppers.  Both are really good.

tarheelmatt

Jalepenos are different.  I have picked some from my garden that are very mild and some that kicked my butt and gave me the hicups. 

Okie

Here's a group with lots of ABT info:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/128827721170/

mstang1988

I've got a bit of pepper love after growing up in New Mexico.  As others have said, the peppers very strongly from pepper to pepper with heat.  The amount of stress on the plant also affects the heat level.  Things like soil PH, water, and humidity affect the stress of the plant.  Cooking them with other fatty foods will help kill the heat.  I'm pretty confident that the grease/fat helps pull the heat containing oils out of the peppers and drip.

There is also a ton of varieties of Jalapeno's, not just one.  Biker Billy's tend to be pretty hot.  There is a TAM (Texas A&M) Jalapeno that is supposed to be a bit more mild and many of the new hybrids out there that are F8+ crossed with Bells at some point to knock the heat down and increase the size, Jalapeno flavor and a bit milder.  

Big_Green_Craig

This is simple. There is no "standard" of hotness level per pepper or per size. In my experience, I've had jalapenos almost sweet like a green pepper and some that I couldn't hardly even eat because they are so hot. It seems like they very by the plant? By the seeds, etc. There is no way to tell. 

Cymbaline65

I've started harvesting my Jalapenos last week. I planted two types: standard and mammoth. I tried mammoth just to make ABTs. So far, the mammoth have been very mild. Much milder than the standard even though the membrane and seed counts are about the same. Go figure...Still tasty though!

ShadowNick

Just a thought, haven't tried it myself, but maybe try soaking the peppers after cut and cleaned for 10-15 minutes or so in warm milk, then rinse them off again, as capsaicin is highly soluble in milk.  (in alchohol too, but don' think you would want to waste booze this way.)

unoriginalusername

I have had some good results with the following method for consistent results cook to cook:

1) Core peppers using the BGE corer set

2) Remove membrane with knife

3) Blanch in boiling hot water with salt in it for 60-90 seconds 

4) Rinse in cold water

5) I stuff mine with cream cheese, cilantro, minced garlic, a bit of sun dried tomato and recently have been adding a teaspoon of franks red hot buffalo wing sauce into the mix.

6) Bacon on a cooking sheet from oven off - 375 for 10-15min to pre cook some but without losing flexibility. Wrap peppers

7) I soak a handful of Maple wood with a little mesquite for an hour before hand, add everything to the grill (egg up to 500 and then close up so radiant heat holds at about 400 with the plate setter) for about 20-25min.

Last 4 or 5 cooks have come out the same so this seems to help balance the peppers heat... for kids don't add garlic or the hot sauce as both increase the heat.  I like mine with some heat, just not enough to cause pain or enough to lose the maple wood smoked bacon flavour 

Hitman7j

I tried some the other day after attempting to cook a pizza on the egg, a whole other story on the pizza but i was having a little trouble getting the temperature high enough for the pizza only had the egg for about 4 days at this point.  Was looking at this site and reading some of the post and came across the ABT's post from several months ago and wanted to give it a shot, tried it got the temp to raise by clearing some air ways out got the temp to about 520 and cooked them bad some of them burnt the peppers and bacon and also made the cream cheese i had stuffed them with bubble out and fall down into my charcoal, NOT A GOOD but looking at trying again.

stv8r

ABT's cooked at 225-250 for 1.5-2hrs and even the most timid of eaters can enjoy them.  Make sure you devein and deseed and they still keep enough heat to please most...without scaring off the lightweights