Jalapenos turning Red

FrankC

Hi all,

I'm a newbie gardener, and planted two jalapenos this year. They've done pretty well, yielding about 18 or more peppers. My question to all of you gardeners out there is this: Should I be picking the jalapenos before they turn red? What happens to them once they turn red? Stronger or more mild?

I hope someone can point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance!

fc

vidalia1

Here you go:

Jalapeños are a pod type of Capsicum. The growing period for a jalapeño plant is 70–80 days. When mature, the plant stands two and a half to three feet tall. Typically, a single plant will produce twenty five to thirty five pods. During a growing period, a plant will be picked multiple times. As the growing season comes to an end, the jalapeños start to turn red.

The jalapeño rates between 2,500 and 10,000 Scoville units in heat. In comparison with other chili peppers, the jalapeño has a heat level that varies from mild to hot depending on cultivation and preparation. The heat, which is caused by capsaicin and related compounds, is concentrated in the veins (placenta) surrounding the seeds, which are called picante. — deseeding and deveining can reduce the heat imparted to a recipe that includes jalapeños. They also have a distinct acidic taste. Handling fresh jalapeños may cause mild skin irritation in some individuals. Some handlers choose to wear latex or vinyl gloves while cutting, skinning, or seeding jalapeños.

stike

they get a little less "hot" when they redden (ripen)

Cpt'n Cook

Stike is correct they get a little sweeter and he should know he grew a bean earlier this year

FrankC

Thanks for the quick response! So if I like them spicy, I should pick them before they turn red...got it! Now for the follow up. What's the best way to store them for future use?

fc

stike

i grew TWO, so there.

also, two pea pods. three tomatoes, and two cucumbers salad at stike's house! ...though it's "BYOL" (bring your own lettuce....) :(

Spring Hen

Darn, we had some that turned red and I was afraid to eat them. I thought red would be hotter than green. At least I will now know, thanks to you, for next year's crop.

stike

if you want milder ones, scrape out the white veins. that'll of course take the seeds with them, but the REAL heat (about 80%) is in the veins, followed by the flesh, not the seeds.

i have three (yes, captncook!) THREE jalapenos going right now.

horrible year up here for peppers of any sort. least in my yard! hahaha

BConk

FrankC wrote:

Thanks for the quick response! So if I like them spicy, I should pick them before they turn red...got it! Now for the follow up. What's the best way to store them for future use?

fc

For short term storage they refrigerate well and last a long time.

For long term storage the red ones can be smoked with mesquite to make chipotlés but they don't dry well whole as they often mold before they've dried completely.

I've split the red ones, removed the seeds and sun dried them on black baking sheets left on the dash of my pickup truck parked in the sun facing south. This has worked very well for me even though I live in Connecticut which is not known as a sunshine state and 90 - 100% humidity is the rule in summer.

I then use the dried peppers pieces either ground for chile powder or dropped into dried beans as they're cooking or into stews/soups. Stored in a mason jar with a lid out of the light they literally keep for years. I'm still using dried jalapenos I grew in 2005.

Spring Hen

Oh, believe me, the veins and seeds are the first things to come out...I'm a wuss when it comes to heat but I love the flavor. Have you ever tried a chili piquine? Now, that's hot!

Cpt'n Cook

We have been doing OK with the jalapenos but the sweet peppers aren't doing well at all. We have been getting a ton of pole beans, zukes and cukes. Red tomatoes are starting to show up finally and we picked the first eggplant yesterday. We can't grow lettuce here either because of the damn slugs.

stike

i'm a heat pansy too. hahaha

our jalapenos are pretty hot for some reason, though we don't get dry hot summers like they prefer.

stike

i planted for summer squash plants. looks to me like they hybridized. i got some giant frikkin gourds. grrrrrr

BConk

That's why I never accept plants my father in law wants to give me. He never buys seeds so I never know what's growing until it's done.

All the curcurbits (melons, squash, gourds, cukes, pumpkins) hybridize very easily so I only grow them from quality store bought seeds or seedlings.

Cpt'n Cook

We picked these this morning and that is yesterdays Zucchini bread. We ate the Jalapenos last night

Big'un

The red ones are still great to use. You can smoke them to make chipotle, or use them in armidillo eggs.

Little Steven

Todd,

Do you make the chipoltles on the egg?

Steve

Spring Hen

Todd, what do you have those rolled in? It looks like sausage with sesame seeds????

Judy Mayberry

I planted serranos instead of jalapenos the last two years. I like them best when they turn sweeter and red. I put some in a zip lock freezer bag last year and they still look fresh. Some I left on the counter till they were all wrinkled and dried up and used them in everything from eggs to making dill pickles.

Judy
San Diego

Judy Mayberry

I should have added that the freezer bag went into the freezer!