Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Tip: Chile Peppers


Before our family moved to New Mexico, the only time I cooked with chile peppers was when I was making salsa.  After moving to a state who's motto is red or green (meaning red or green chile sauce), I figured it was probably time to expand my knowledge of the local fare . I quickly came up to speed, and along the way, I learned by trial and error how to handle chile peppers.

Wear gloves when chopping chile peppers.  Not the flimsy kind, but the good old yellow ones.  The thin glove can let the capsaicin (the ingredient in peppers that create the burn) through.  Even the mildest chile pepper can burn your skin.  If you touch your eyes or nose after chopping peppers, it can burn for hours.

The heat in a pepper is contained in the veins which transfers to the seeds.  To help control the heat in your recipes, remove not only the seeds, but also the veins.

When picking a pepper a general rule to keep in mind is that red peppers are hotter than green or yellow peppers.  The hottest peppers have pointed tips and narrow tops.  Round ends indicate mildness.  Of course to every rule there is at least one exception.  One of those being the fiery Habanero pepper.  It has a rounded end and is often green or yellow in color.

The best relief for a burning mouth is sour cream, yogurt or milk.  Don't grab the water or pop in a effort to cool your mouth, both of these beverages tend to move the heat around instead of putting out the fire.





10 comments:

  1. I learned to wear gloves the hard way and it only happened once! I use chilies daily and love the zing they provide. We always grab bread to cool a hot bite, but I'm sure you're right about sour cream, milk, etc. Thanks

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  2. My husband and I love chilli peppers. I always keep a packet, frozen whole in the freezer so I have them on hand when not growing in the garden. I just chop them frozen and add to what ever meal I am doing at the time. Diane

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  3. loads of information about peppers.. thanks for sharing!

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  4. hey lovely tip and thanks for sharing the facts abt chillies...we indian eat chillies in every dish...this wil b helpful while picking chillies 2...wonderful

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  5. I love peppers. There was a show on the History Channel about them not too long ago, very interesting! I add them to many things and find the older I get, the more heat I like! :-)

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  6. I have found that nitrile gloves seem to work effectively against peppers, at least when I seed 50 jalapenos for poppers or 1 or 2 habaneros.

    I learned the hard way about wearing gloves two years ago and my wife and I will never forget that lesson. We processed 100 poppers and our hands (and other places) burned for 2 days. Misery.

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  7. Yes...rubber gloves are a must!

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  8. Great tips, it's a must in my cooking....

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  9. Thank you for all the wonderful comments! I am currently in Cape Town, South Africa and have very limited access to email. I am able to read the comments but at times I am unable to answer them. So please keep the comments coming, I enjoy reading them.

    Thanks Again,

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