Hot peppers and more hot peppers...

[mattw]

So, these are Carolina Reapers and Trinidad Moruga Scorpion peppers. They are currently the number 1 and number 2 hottest. I know the CR is not a naturally occurring hybrid, purely created for their chemical heat, the TMS is a naturally occurring species.

I have about 6 ounces of powder from each, dried and ground. Just the tiniest bit of CR powder on crilling onions is intense but lasts less than a minute and leaves a very good flavor, I have not tried the TMS yet on anything but I hear it is tastes good.

So... what would you do with them? If our season holds, I will get 2 more picks like this and I have already picked 30 or so of each.

[daengmei]

I like 'em!
I am a pepper nut. Wife is from Thailand and she says I'm crazy. From the garden I take one of her Thai peppers and crunch....8 minutes of intense pepper burn....no water or anything. That's how I test them. Habaneros take so much time...they don't quite mature here in KY. She won't let me "crowd" her garden with much.

For me stir fry with them fresh is killer.

[mattw]

What do you do with them??? I am thinking that if the dust is simmered into something to disperse the intensity that they will provide good heat. I am surprised that they do not burn all the way down.

[daengmei]

OH they do all the way down and out.

[mattw]

I like 'em!
I am a pepper nut. Wife is from Thailand and she says I'm crazy. From the garden I take one of her Thai peppers and crunch....8 minutes of intense pepper burn....no water or anything. That's how I test them. Habaneros take so much time...they don't quite mature here in KY. She won't let me "crowd" her garden with much.

Have you used or eaten either of these? While cutting and seeding them for drying, the heat went thru latex gloves in about 15 minutes and my hands were stinging. I am going to save seeds from both. Both plants hit almost 4 feet tall and about 3.5 feet wide at the canopy. If we had more growing season, they would make 150+ peppers. The CR is still blooming in the canopy.

[mattw]

OH they do all the way down and out.

Normally peppers do for me as well... but the burn quit by mid gut and nothing the next morning. The flavor was very good.

[Hossfly]

Man just looking at those I’m starting to sweat on the forehead.LOL

[daengmei]

Have you used or eaten either of these? While cutting and seeding them for drying, the heat went thru latex gloves in about 15 minutes and my hands were stinging.

Yes. Just picking them will add to your day if you touch your face or, like men need to relieve themselves you will know you have touched them. Less your already crazy, get ready!

[mattw]

I will tell you... just a bit of the dust on my grilled onion and burger made me sweat profusely. That is why I am shocked that my gut and well you know what the next morning had no signs of heat.

[mattw]

Yes. Just picking them will add to your day if you touch your face or, like men need to relieve themselves you will know you have touched them. Less your already crazy, get ready!

That is the other odd part, the outside is not hot! When picking I just handle the peppers, the odd thing is if I break a leave off the leaf stem is hot enough to leave a red mark on my arm. These are about double the heat that I would normally grow. That is why I am at a loss of how to work with them. I did eat a small chunk of the CR to see what the flavor was like, got about 15 seconds before the intense heat kicks in. They do have flavor, almost citrus.

[daengmei]

Did I say I like hot peppers? Gasping is when they are good. Trying to die is a better statement.

[skrapyard628]

I have a carolina reaper plant that Ive been growing for a little over 2 years now. Its potted and goes indoors for the winter each year. Its becoming more of a bush at this point and is about 4ft tall.

We harvested maybe about 120 peppers from it this year and there are still more on the plant right now.

Its definitely the hottest pepper by far. I can cook 1lb of beef for tacos with a ghost pepper in it and easily enjoy the meal. I used two of these carolina reapers in a crock pot with some chili and it was almost too hot for me.

They definitely have a good flavor though. I always thought that most good hot peppers have a fruity scent and flavor when they are fully ripened.

This year I made a pepper jelly with the majority of the reaper peppers. Ive tried it on a few things but the heat is pretty much unbearable. I love hot foods but once it hits a certain level I just get the hiccups and that isnt fun when trying to eat.

I tried giving away some jars to the guys at work and they thought I was trying to kill them after trying some. At this point we call it the "weaponized jelly". Ive been using some of it to spread around the holes that critters have been digging around my house and garage. It seems to be working at keeping the critters away so at least it has been put to good use.

I have a few jars left if anyone wants one just send me a PM. I do have to warn you that its some mean stuff.

[gwpercle]

Here in Baton Rouge Louisiana something has been eating all the leaves off my pepper plants .
I hate to spray things I eat but I got to do something . The wife grows plants for the butterflies ... Like Milkweed ... I wonder if they also like the leaves of my pepper plants ...
I would hate to kill the butterfly's but they are stripping the plants bare of leaves .
Also got an bad infestation of Sod Webworms ... don't mind killing those , we been spraying and spreading stuff to kill them ... they have just about wiped out our lawn . I don't know if they eat any other plants but they might .
Gary

[mattw]

Something has been chewing on my plant as well. I have not spotted the visitor yet. i can't imagine that they will chew on it, a broken leaf leaves a hot spot on my arm. I agree, these are hotter than hell! I considered jelly as well, but it would be unbearable. I am not sure at this point if I will keep seeds or not. The Scorpions are not nearly as bad, but still way hot. I think a person could hurt themselves with the Reapers.

[762 shooter]

I use my Carolina Reaper peppers to silence smart alecks who say no pepper is too hot for them.

100% shut up rate so far.

762

[GregLaROCHE]

I started a lot from seeds inside about five years ago. They went well, but I couldn’t get any to survive when I moved them outside. Read later that some people have a small fan blowing on them as they grow and that makes them harder. Now I just buy a few plants. Just don’t have the same selection that way. Anyone had good success and advice on how to start them from seeds?

[redhawk0]

I'm gonna try candying some Jalapenos when I get the chance...maybe that is something to try with them.

[EDIT] - I just saw you already ground them....sorry.

redhawk

[skrapyard628]

Starting them from seeds isnt too hard. But I may have a slight edge because we have a grow lamp and a fan for them and there is a heating vent in the little room under my staircase that we start all of our seedlings in.

In the past I had found that I needed to start most of the exotic peppers early because some would take 120-180 days before they would flower and grow peppers. Maybe it was something I was doing wrong? Anyway, I usually sprout the seeds in December in a wet paper towel and keep it over the heating vent. The heat is your friend.

Keep the soil that you plant the sprouted seeds in warm too. Whether its a heating pad on a timer or just putting the potted plant next to a heat vent/register. I found that as long as I kept things warm and didnt move the plants outdoors until the temperature was above 70degrees each night they took off and grew like crazy.

Ive done this for ghost peppers (red,white,orange), chocolate habanero, chocolate 7 and a bunch more. Really only the peppers that originate from areas that are constantly warm/near the equator.

[GregLaROCHE]

If I try again I definitely will use a fan. How much circulation of air is best? Starting as soon as they come out of the ground?

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I'm a wimp. Our jalapenos were extra hot this year. Plenty hot enough for me. My thai chilies packed a bit more wallop than I prefer, but they taste amazing! Keeps me singing Johnny Cash the morning after! It'd be pretty cool (no pun intended) to taste all the peppers without their heat. The range of flavers is pretty amazing!