Tips for chillies

corblimey

Does the size of a chilli have an effect on its potency (chilli variety notwithstanding)? I generally get the 'medium' red chillies from Tesco, which come in a bag of 4. Usually, I chop up the 4, leaving the seeds in for 2. This makes a very tasty quite hot dish. However, yesterday, the bag had only 3 in it, and they were very big. I used all 3 with seeds in place, and while the resulting dish was plenty hot, it didn't make my eyes water as normal, and I didn't need 6 glasses of milk to cool the inferno

It just seems odd that a small medium chilli packs a bigger punch than a large medium chilli, or is size of no consequence, and I just got a 'dud' bag?

PS: Chilli? Chili? Chile?

Dizzyblonde

I think the general rule is that the smaller the chilli, the hotter it is.

pwurple

Size doesn't make as much of a difference as variety. Similar to apples or spuds or any other plant really, chili's have varieties and strains that have heat levels. Their growing conditions can also make a difference.

Basically it's variable. Some varieties (habenero) are much MUCH hotter than say jalepenos, even though they are about the same size. Different shape though.

I don't pay much heed to the seeds in -seeds out malarky either. The heat is in all parts of the fruit. Leaving out the seed is just leaving out half of the chilli, so you need an extra one.

Faith

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I think the general rule is that the smaller the chilli, the hotter it is.

Yep, this is correct as far as I know.

corblimey

Yeah, I was under the impression that Tesco used chillies of equal (medium) heat for their medium bag of chillies, regardless of size, but I suspect that's not the case. I'd say they just grab whatever isn't a bird's eye or a habanero and shove it in the bag. I think I need to get used to cooking with other varieties where consistency might be more key

the beer revolu

It can be a bit of a mine field, all right. I also agree with the smaller equals hotter rule of thumb but it is not always a reliable guide. Sometimes smelling a cut chilli will give you an indication of how hot it will be.

pwurple wrote: »

I don't pay much heed to the seeds in -seeds out malarky either. The heat is in all parts of the fruit. Leaving out the seed is just leaving out half of the chilli, so you need an extra one.

I disagree with this. The seeds and membrane have little flavour - just heat and bitterness. I'd prefer to use flesh of two chillies than the whole of one chilli - better flavour that way. I sometimes hang onto the seeds to add in later if a want a bit more heat.

Honey-ec

the beer revolu wrote: »

Sometimes smelling a cut chilli will give you an indication of how hot it will be.

I use the highly scientific method of licking the cut end...

BaZmO*

pwurple wrote: »

I don't pay much heed to the seeds in -seeds out malarky either. The heat is in all parts of the fruit. Leaving out the seed is just leaving out half of the chilli, so you need an extra one.

the beer revolu wrote: »

I disagree with this. The seeds and membrane have little flavour - just heat and bitterness. I'd prefer to use flesh of two chillies than the whole of one chilli - better flavour that way. I sometimes hang onto the seeds to add in later if a want a bit more heat.

I think it's the white pithy bit that surrounds the seeds, along with the outer membrane of the seeds, that packs the most heat.

CJhaughey

Scotch Bonnets can be big and are usually hot enough.

Outkast_IRE

I grow my own chillies, and I am more than happy to come in with a few hints from a grower.

1. To answer does the size of a chilli have an effect on the potency. The answer is partially yes it would be a hit and miss way of picking hotter chillies but it works. But generally with a chilli plant to produce hotter peppers you must treat it a bit mean, leave it go a bit dry etc, when conditions get tough for the plant it puts more of its energy into reproduction (its chillies) and hotter chillies can result. Sometimes this mean treatment will result in smaller but more potent chillies. However a commercial grower will not want to do this as it can impact the weight and amount of chillis it gets from plants.

Chillies of the same variety can be hit and miss, some can be far hotter than others, its not a good guage really.

The medium red chillies from Tesco are probably Cayenne or similar. I have found with these that the bigger and more rounded they look the more they lack heat ( in general). If you ever see some smaller bumpy mean looking ones they are probably hotter.

Here is one of mine that's probably medium hot, its a long slim cayenne, notice the bumpy skin and how they twist etc, they are mean looking


I would recommend you try Birds eye chillis, I have seen them in Tesco they are small and red in a little bag. Usually just a few of these add a nice heat, without being overpowering. Also leave the seeds and the white inside part of the chilli in.

Mellor

BaZmO* wrote: »

I think it's the white pithy bit that surrounds the seeds, along with the outer membrane of the seeds, that packs the most heat.

The membrane is the name for the pithy part. That contains most of the heat.
I think when people remove the seeds they also take most of the membrane and don't realise its not the seeds that pack the punch.

endacl

Her you go OP. It's HIGHLY recommended you start at the bottom of the page though. And work your way up from there. Most definitely not the other way round!

www.chilliworld.com/FactFile/Scoville_Scale.asp

Outkast_IRE

endacl wrote: »

Her you go OP. It's HIGHLY recommended you start at the bottom of the page though. And work your way up from there. Most definitely not the other way round!

www.chilliworld.com/FactFile/Scoville_Scale.asp

The hottest im currently growing off that list is the birds eye.
I don't think I would go near the top half of the list, I like flavour as well, not something that's just going to burn the mouth off me

endacl

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

The hottest im currently growing off that list is the birds eye.
I don't think I would go near the top half of the list, I like flavour as well, not something that's just going to burn the mouth off me

Yeah, once you get into the realms of props for funny YouTube videos, you're probably getting into silly territory....

CJhaughey

Maybe homegrown chilis are different but I was pretty disappointed with the Naga's I bought at a vege market.
They were dutch grown so I suppose they might not have been made mean by lack of water.

Outkast_IRE

CJhaughey wrote: »

Maybe homegrown chilis are different but I was pretty disappointed with the Naga's I bought at a vege market.
They were dutch grown so I suppose they might not have been made mean by lack of water.

Exactly my point, when grown commercially the grower wont treat the plant mean as the yield weight and size can reduce. But at the same time with chillis there are dud ones where one chilli from the plant can be very hot and another had little heat.