Need Suggestions....Please Help...

[louster]

We make lots of salsa in the summer for fresh eating and canning. It's been a few years now, and the jalapeno's just aren't doing it for us anymore. So....could you folks help me out with suggestions for a pepper that is a little hotter than a jalapeno and would go well in salsa? Years ago I couldn't tolerate much heat at all, but, as the years have passed, I find myself adding more and more peppers to the salsa, and this past year was a little ridiculous. Must have built up our tolerance!Thanks in advance!!!

[Dukerdawg]

Try Bulgarian Carrot. Hotter than a Jalapeno but not Habanero scorching hot. Also looks great in salsa, being a bright orange color. Lemon Drop is another hot one that is great and very prolific.

Duane

[oc tony]

I like the serano pepper. A mexican coworker says he likes to use chipolte pepers out the can (it's a smoked jalapeno in a sauce). He says he uses one pepper for about 4 pounds of salsa.

[montanamato]

Fresno combined with Serrano gives a better flavor and more heat in my opinion. They are both early maturing and produce well....Serrano even takes a light frost w/o dying.

Jeanne

[louster]

Thanks, guys, I knew I would get some great advice here......Now, just waiting for the arrival of some of my favorite catalogs!!

[ddrsheden]

check out the site.. www.thehotpepper.com it is a great place to learn about hot peppers..and if you are lucky, some people actually will share seeds

[barkeater]

In Michigan it may be too cool to get a good crop of Serrano's. I don't here.

Before you give up on Jalapenos, try Goliath Jalapeno from Totally Tomatoes. It is hotter than the average jalapeno. Garden Salsa is also hotter for me.

[Dukerdawg]

I forget about the shorter season in Michigan. I am outside of Detroit but have a small 8X16 greenhouse that I grow my peppers in. They do great in the summer and I got about 10 gallons in the freezer. A small GH is a nice investment if you like peppers. For outside growing I think you can still get a decent crop, just not an abundance.

Duane

[Worth1]

Try mushroom or squash peppers, yellow or red they are a real must for salsa.

I just love the things and they are not over powering but hotter than jalapenos.

If you grow hotter peppers and cut back on the amount in the recipe you get that great tomato taste without the over powering taste of some peppers like the hab's have.

Once again mushroom or squash peppers do this for me.

Worth

[cmpman1974]

Lemon Drop is a wonderful suggestion. Purira is another I highly recommend.

Chris

[louster]

Thanks again, everyone, I am writing all this down. Just waiting for my favorite catalogs to arrive in the mail......for some reason, seems like an especially long wait this year!

[BrianS]

Hi, I personally like the chocolate habaneros, scotch bonnets, and Caribean Reds. If you normally dont like it blistering hot just add enough to your like.

[Zana]

Brian,
Now you're talking....scotch bonnets...yummmm. Grew up scarfing pickled scotch bonnets down like candy on the beach any time I visited the "family" in Jamaica. Yummmmm....ok.... now I've got to go dig out a jar of mixed hot peppers. Can't hold out any more, after all this talk.

I'd definitely put in a vote fro the mushroom ones that Worth mentioned and scotch bonnets. I'm tempted to try a dab of the "ghost" in the mix, and see what that does to my next batch of salsa. A glass of Mango Lassi beside me while I sample, just in case. I seem to react to the habaneros too....only pepper that has me breaking out in "purple hives". Sighhhhh. But I do like their flavour and heat.

[BrianS]

Zana, So you have family in Jamaica? Wow thats pretty neat!
Can you tell any difference in the Scotch Bonnets in Jamaica and the ones grown here?

[Zana]

One of my Dad's closest friends at McGill University was a guy from Kingston, Jamaica. I just grew up thinking of him as my "Uncle Jack"...and the rest of his family as our extended family....and it works/worked both ways for his widow, kids, sibs and nephews and nieces, mother, cousins, and aunts. My aunt would pack us a lunch for the beach that would include 2 jars of pickled peppers, loaf of bread and some other stuff....being the little s***s that we were - some would argue that we still are - we would arrange to add one or more bottles of overproof rum, and some soda, limes and lemons. We'd climb some trees and grab fresh coconuts or bananas to have on hand to put out any "fire". After awhile, dunno if it was the rum, or my tolerance levels increased to the point that there wasn't any need to put out any fire...the coconuts and bananas were only for flavour...lol. Not much I can't handle anymore, I guess.

When I lived in the U.K., or after when I went back to visit, a friend and I would go for Indian and Caribbean food - trying to find the hottest we could in all of London. London definitely has a wealth of selection of Indian and Caribbean food - from the glorious to the fast food crap. Although we were looking for heat, we were also looking for flavour too. My friend rated heat on a scale of:
Mild - barely a hint of heat
Medium - a teaser
Hot - not breaking a sweat, but definitely assertive
Complicated - remembering to put the toilet tissue in the freezer before departing for the restaurant!

I can say we found few of the Hot and not enough of the Complicated, at least to us, and unfortunately way to many of the "amateur" mild and medium categories.

So far I haven't found any scotch bonnets grown in Canada that meet the same levels of those in Jamaica. Could be the sun and heat and longer growing season there, but I also have to think that the Island's abundance of bauxite in the soil "colours" the flavour with nuances rarely found elsewhere. I've had them grown in Georgia, Florida and Texas. Some of those grown in Georgia came close, but still not the same. I even brought back seeds from Jamaica the last time I was there for Scotch Bonnets. Still didn't taste the same. Sighhhh. Oh well....just more motivation to visit, I guess. but then again, it might be the SB & Rum combo that makes a difference too....lol. Hmmmm.....beginning to think a scientific tasting comparison is called for in this case. Will let you know what I find out.