jalepeano peppers..when to pick ..

[anglebutterfly]

i have a plant full of jaleapeno peppers..when do i pick them..right now their pretty small.

[nuisance]

Re: jalepeano peppers..when to pick ..

From what I know from buying at the supermarket, usually the bigger they are, the "sweeter" they are. I'm pretty sure the red ones are actually the ripe ones, but they are picked green. I may be wrong. Though, I seriously doubt it! I thought I was wrong once, but I was misstaken!!

[kiop]

Re: jalepeano peppers..when to pick ..

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I might allow them to continue to grow and see if they get bigger, they typically grow to about 3".. They will ripen and turn red if allowed to.. that's what I would do if I wanted to smoke a batch to turn into chipotles..

[detritus]

Re: jalepeano peppers..when to pick ..

Let them mature until they look to be the same size as the peppers in the store. They do turn red when ripe. I discovered that they are hotter when picked during the hottest part of the day. I picked and pickled some jalapenos a couple years ago. They turned out so hot!! My nephew prides himself on being able to eat ANY hot pepper. He scoffed when I told him to be careful of these peppers. He filled his plate with food and added several jalapenos. After a few bites, he had an asthma attack!!! To this day, everyone reminds me about the time I had everyone over for Christmas Eve and almost killed my nephew.

[Ginger]

Re: jalepeano peppers..when to pick ..

Kiop, how do you turn jalapenos into chipotles? I have been buying the chipotles in adobo sauce to add to my homemade salsa that I can (neighbour's kids are addicted to my salsa. I gave each kid a batch--6 pints--as their Christmas present last year) but cannot always find it in the stores. Would love to do my own.

[kiop]

Re: jalepeano peppers..when to pick ..

Ginger, I have a Brinkmann smoker that I use just about every weekend. Chipotles are just smoked jalapenos. I just de-stem them, cut them in half and remove the seeds.. lay them on the smoker rack and allow to smoke for a couple hours, then cool and add to an adobo sauce, (I use Bean's adobo recipe).. I usually only do this when I'm fixin' to smoke some meat and will do the jalapenos first since they don't take that long (in relation to how long smoking meat takes, that is)..

If you don't have a smoker, no fear, you can also just grill them on your bbq until they appear blackened in spots, then go from there.. You can probably find wood chips (mesquite, hickory) in your bbq section of your supermarket, soak some of those and throw them on the coals for a nice smoke. If you have a gas grill, I believe you can put the wood chips in a foil packet, stab it a couple times, and toss them on your lava rocks..

I think I covered all bases, lol.. let me know if you have any other questions..

[Ginger]

Re: jalepeano peppers..when to pick ..

Thanks for the info. It has been a very wet and cool summer for us. My jalapeno plants are finally producing peppers. Keep your fingers crossed that we don't get an early frost.

One question, do you leave the jalapenos on the plant until they turn red? I don't think our growing season will be long enough for that this year.

[kiop]

Re: jalepeano peppers..when to pick ..

Yes, I left them on the plant until they turned red, but we don't have winter here, but you can also pick them and lay them on the counter or somewhere to ripen indoors.. they'll turn red on their own, you just want to make sure they don't touch each other, else they'll wig out and mold/rot.. I would also turn them every day, I would think they would redden in a week or less..

[Ginger]

Re: jalepeano peppers..when to pick ..

Thanks! I will try to leave them on the plants as long as possible. Is the flavour stronger when they are red or is it a more mellowed flavour?

[kiop]

Re: jalepeano peppers..when to pick ..

I think they are milder when red, but really it depends on the plant, some are hotter than others.. I know, what a bad response, LOL..

[TexAnn]

Re: jalepeano peppers..when to pick ..

If you are wanting to grow a hot pepper, do not water them until they start to wilt a little. The more water they get the milder they are in most cases.

[Cindy]

Re: jalepeano peppers..when to pick ..

I just want to extend my hand to any that you might have left over. Just send them my way