Some Like It Hot

Author: Meera, June 10, 2016

When it comes to growing and eating peppers, many people will opt for the sweet, mild peppers while others prefer the ones with heat. The reasons are varied but may have to do with factors such as cultural (we eat what’s in our environment or what we’ve grown up eating), genes (yes, they play a role in how we taste), and the adrenalin (some folks experience a rush) that can come from eating spicy hot cuisine.

 

 

Peppers for my Mexican and Caribbean cooking

Peppers for my Mexican and Caribbean cooking

 

 

 

A compound known as capsaicin is the active ingredient that provides the heat in hot chili peppers. Capsaicin is most often found in the light-colored ribbing known as pith. The seeds may contain a little capsaicin but taste hot most likely because of contact with the pith.

 

 

 

Cayenne peppers take about 65 days to ripen and average 30,000-50,000 SHU

Cayenne peppers take about 65 days to ripen and average 30,000-50,000 SHU

 

 

 

Capsaicin heat is measured on the Scoville Scale as Scoville Heat Units (SHU). An Anaheim chili pepper might have 500-2,500 SHU, for example, whereas a cayenne pepper might measure upwards of 30,000-50,000 SHU. Then, there are the tiny habanero peppers that can exceed 100,000 SHU. The hottest peppers in the world measure beyond 1 million SHU.

 

 

If you like it hot, try growing some heirloom peppers such as the Hungarian Yellow Wax or the tiny Scotch Bonnet, so appreciated in Caribbean cuisine.

 

 

 

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If you enjoy reading about gardening, keeping bees, raising chickens, and creating delicious recipes, you might want to check out my novels from Kensington Publishing. The Henny Penny Farmette series of cozy mysteries are available online and in tradition bookstores everywhere, in hardcover, kindle, and mass market paperback formats.

 

 

First book in Meera Lester's Henny Penny Farmette series of cozy mysteries

First book in Meera Lester’s Henny Penny Farmette series of cozy mysteries

 

 

 

Novel #2 in the Henny Penny Farmette series, available Oct. 1, 2016

Novel #2 in the Henny Penny Farmette series, available Oct. 1, 2016

 

 

The Murder of a Queen bee will be released September 29, 2016 in hardcover and kindle formats and can be pre-ordered. See, http://tinyurl.com/j9vh7vr

 

 

Check out  my article about “How to Make a Lavender-Sage Smudging Stick.” See, http://tinyurl.com/jds38e8

 

 

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