Learned that when I moved to Washington and suddenly the jalapenos I was growing were mild like bell peppers. Back in the south now and they’re spicy. The more heat and less moisture they get, the spicier they get it seems.
dough_eating_squid
I just bought some jalapeños in California that are so spicy I can barely eat them. They’re like serrano+. I took a nibble to see how much to add, and my lips hurt all day.
I don’t know where they are from, though.
Prairie-Peppers
Huh? I’m a professional pepper grower and I promise you heat levels have nothing to do with location.
KaizokuShojo
Tbh I like jalapeños for flavor more than heat. They’re wildly different on the same plant I think. When I ferment them it all blends to a good even heat but even then I will usually toss in a serrano or something to up it just a little. Not that they’re not spicy but they just vary so much!
wzlch47
Depends on the variety of jalapeños. I grow a variety called Mucho Nacho hybrid and they are bred to be really spicy. There’s a variety called Tricked You that is bred for almost no heat. I grow both in my garden and they grow true to type.
soggyfries8687678
I live in Arizona, and every jalapeño I grab from the grocery store is pretty much a green bell pepper. They’re about two times as big as I remember them when I was growing up and about a quarter of the spice. I feel they started growing them for jalapeño poppers. I still use them just cause I like the flavor, but I always add Serranos or habaneros for the spice.
Lately I’ve been seeing Serranos get bigger and bigger. Hopefully they’re not ruined like jalapeños pretty much were.
udahoboy
Store bought seem to be bell peppers in winter and spring, and habaneros in the warmer months. Very interesting
Ok-Commercial-924
The ones they sell in arizona may as well be bell peppers. Maybe we’re importing from Ca, but these things suck.
physedka
If anyone is wondering why this is, it’s because pepper plants have a tendency to produce hotter fruits when you make the plant “suffer” a bit. By that, I mean deny it water strategically. I don’t fully understand the science behind it, but the general idea is that the plant boosts the capsaicin in its fruit as a protection mechanism. Like the plant thinks that it’s dying and it wants to make sure that its offspring is eaten by the right animal (birds, generally).
So pepper growers sometimes try to stress their plants on purpose to make them produce hotter fruits. This would explain why the same breed of jalapeno could be hotter if grown in Arizona vs. Washington.
Source: I grow peppers in south Louisiana and my jalapenos are way hotter than you would expect. And I don’t even do anything on purpose like described above. It’s just that hot here in the summer so I don’t have to fake it.
10 Comments
Learned that when I moved to Washington and suddenly the jalapenos I was growing were mild like bell peppers. Back in the south now and they’re spicy. The more heat and less moisture they get, the spicier they get it seems.
I just bought some jalapeños in California that are so spicy I can barely eat them. They’re like serrano+. I took a nibble to see how much to add, and my lips hurt all day.
I don’t know where they are from, though.
Huh? I’m a professional pepper grower and I promise you heat levels have nothing to do with location.
Tbh I like jalapeños for flavor more than heat. They’re wildly different on the same plant I think. When I ferment them it all blends to a good even heat but even then I will usually toss in a serrano or something to up it just a little. Not that they’re not spicy but they just vary so much!
Depends on the variety of jalapeños. I grow a variety called Mucho Nacho hybrid and they are bred to be really spicy. There’s a variety called Tricked You that is bred for almost no heat. I grow both in my garden and they grow true to type.
I live in Arizona, and every jalapeño I grab from the grocery store is pretty much a green bell pepper. They’re about two times as big as I remember them when I was growing up and about a quarter of the spice. I feel they started growing them for jalapeño poppers. I still use them just cause I like the flavor, but I always add Serranos or habaneros for the spice.
Lately I’ve been seeing Serranos get bigger and bigger. Hopefully they’re not ruined like jalapeños pretty much were.
Store bought seem to be bell peppers in winter and spring, and habaneros in the warmer months. Very interesting
The ones they sell in arizona may as well be bell peppers. Maybe we’re importing from Ca, but these things suck.
If anyone is wondering why this is, it’s because pepper plants have a tendency to produce hotter fruits when you make the plant “suffer” a bit. By that, I mean deny it water strategically. I don’t fully understand the science behind it, but the general idea is that the plant boosts the capsaicin in its fruit as a protection mechanism. Like the plant thinks that it’s dying and it wants to make sure that its offspring is eaten by the right animal (birds, generally).
So pepper growers sometimes try to stress their plants on purpose to make them produce hotter fruits. This would explain why the same breed of jalapeno could be hotter if grown in Arizona vs. Washington.
Source: I grow peppers in south Louisiana and my jalapenos are way hotter than you would expect. And I don’t even do anything on purpose like described above. It’s just that hot here in the summer so I don’t have to fake it.
The more you piss them off, the hotter they get