peperdew anyone...

[bobarillo]

anyone have anypeperardew seeds ? or now where i can get some thanks.

[ContainerTed]

In your state, you'll have to consider over-wintering a plant or two. Peppadews are very late. Like, VERY late.

[lakelady]

Hey Bobarillo, I have some seeds over on the Jersey side . Send me a pm

[b54red]

Ted is right about how late Pappadews are in making. My seed are already up and growing and I will get the bulk of my peppers off of them in late fall. You should plan on overwintering them and putting them out in the garden next spring as fair sized plants. I set one out a bit late last year and it only got about 3 ft tall but it is sprouting new growth now so if we don't get any killing freezes the next month or so it should get really big this year.

[bobarillo]

thanks guys for the heads up .... i would love to try them anyway practice make perfect ...

[clkeiper]

Oh, Glad to have read this....I have some, but didn't realize they were that late. Will go start them tonight. BYE!

[bobarillo]

have you had luck with pepperdew..when i get my seed im gona get them under a heat pad real quick..i have full sun so maybe i can get a nice harvest .are your really sweet like the store bought

[lakelady]

Bobarillo, they are hot/sweet to my taste buds. There is a recipe someplace here if you want to pickle them, and then they will be more sweet. Look in the recipes section

[ContainerTed]

Originally Posted by bobarillo

have you had luck with pepperdew..when i get my seed im gona get them under a heat pad real quick..i have full sun so maybe i can get a nice harvest .are your really sweet like the store bought

The store bought Peppadews are pickled in a sugary brine. The raw peppers are not sweet at any point in their growth and ripening. If you leave the seeds in, they are about as hot as a serrano pepper - perhaps a bit more. The skins are fairly thin. I've tried them roasted, fried, steamed, baked, and barbecued, and the bottom line is that they are not that special. The sweet pickling brine they are sold in makes the taste you are thinking about.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by ContainerTed

The store bought Peppadews are pickled in a sugary brine. The raw peppers are not sweet at any point in their growth and ripening. If you leave the seeds in, they are about as hot as a serrano pepper - perhaps a bit more. The skins are fairly thin. I've tried them roasted, fried, steamed, baked, and barbecued, and the bottom line is that they are not that special. The sweet pickling brine they are sold in makes the taste you are thinking about.

Ted, I hate to disagree but they are special to me because when they are cooked down in vinegar and ground up and made into hot sauce it is spectacular. I have tried lots of peppers and none of the others even come close. Of course my hot sauce has a bit of sugar and molasses which may really bring out the flavor. It will make a mildly hot sauce that can be used heavily which is another plus. My brother in law absolutely loves the flavor of the raw ripe Pappadew peppers. Every time he is over in the fall he will be walking around munching on a couple of Pappadews. I'm not a big fan of the raw peppers myself and was amazed at how the flavor developed when making them into hot sauce. I didn't have enough Cayenne once when making sauce, so I just threw in a gallon of Pappadews and the resulting sauce was much better. After that I tried half and half which was even better, so naturally I went on to try pure Pappadew hot sauce. If I want it hotter I can always throw in some Malaguetas or some other really hot pepper.
The biggest problem with Pappadews is how long it takes them to finally make good ripe peppers. They don't even have any decent peppers on them til September or later. For some reason they will not ripen well in the heat of August and early September down here even though the peppers start turning color. They get this leathery soft feel to them during the really hot times so I just pull them and toss em til the weather cools off some. If you can get the plant large enough by mid fall down here then it will start pumping out beautiful firm red peppers til a very hard freeze kills it.

[austinnhanasmom]

Mine have never been sweet.

When I pickled them, they stayed hot.

Awesome!

The first year that I grew them, I maybe got a few pods before the freeze. I dug them up and planted into a container, and overwintered.

The second year, they produced like mad! There was maybe two or three plants in the container. 3-4' tall plants. I overwintered only one plant that year.

The lone plant did well last year and then I forgot it outside.

here's the recipe that I followed:
Peppadew Pickled Peppers

Cut off stem and deseed unless you want burning hot peppers. It's best to use surgical gloves, as the peppers can make your fingers burn. Cut off the stem end and scrape out the seeds with a small teaspoon. Try to remove all the seeds. Dissolve about 4 T sea salt in just over 2 c water.

Leave overnight in a brine consisting of 2 oz kosher/coarse salt and about 2 1/3 c water). Drop peppers into brine after deseeding, and leave them in for a few hours or overnight. (Increase brine mixture according to volume of peppers!) Put a plate or other weight on top if necessary, to stop them from bobbing on top.

Before continuing, be sure your jars, caps and rings are very clean and sterilized in boiling water. Leave in the hot water until ready to fill the jars.

Syrup ingredients:

1-1/2 cups good vinegar, grape or wine or malt (5% acetic acid)

1-1/4 cup sugar

1 cup water

a few pieces sliced fresh ginger

some fresh garlic cloves

2 tablespoons crushed peppercorns (the mixed peppercorns are nice)

some bay or lemon leaves

a little sea salt

2 whole green chili peppers, reserved, optional extra small whole green chili peppers for garnish

Combine the syrup ingredients in a non-reactive pot that is large enough to hold the peppers. Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Then bring to a rolling boil. Take care, as the mixture does foam up a bit.

In the meantime, rinse the brined peppers. Place in a colander or sieve and shake to remove as much moisture as possible. Add the peppers along with the green chili peppers to the boiling syrup. Boil for a minute or two. Use a slotted spoon to fill the jars with the peppers. Push them in; you want to fill the bottles nicely! Then pour over the boiling hot mixture. Use a small rubber spatula along with gentle tapping and rotation of the jars in to fill the pepper hollows with the syrup. You can add a green chili to each jar for decorative purposes if you like. Final filling should be to 1/2-inch of the top.

Wipe the rims of the jars. Cap the jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes at altitudes up to 1000 feet, 15 minutes from altitudes of 1000 to 6000 feet, and 20 minutes above 6000 feet. Leave for about 2 - 3 weeks before use.

This recipe fills about 1 1/2 cups. Don't work with huge quantities -- rather make in smaller batches, it's easier and safer. * I use white grape vinegar because it's pure white. I dislike the cheaper spirit vinegar. Use whatever is available to you. Cider vinegar is also fine, except that it's slightly colored

I sliced the peppers the second time I did this, since it seems that I ended up slicing the first year's batch after removing from the jar. Worked will both years, but this recipe is not sweet.

[ContainerTed]

Originally Posted by b54red

Of course my hot sauce has a bit of sugar and molasses which may really bring out the flavor.

B54Red, maybe you disagree with me because you are growing PAPPADEW peppers and we are talking about PEPPADEW peppers.

Actually, the question above seemed to me to be whether the raw peppers on the plant were sweet like the store-bought jar. I said that they were not sweet at any time during the growing or ripening cycle.

So as not to confuse Boborillo, I'll repeat again.

"Peppadew Peppers are not sweet like those found in the store-bought jar until they are put into a sweet sauce or brine!"

Now, to be clear, I am a self-professed pepper wimp. I don't like super-hot peppers. But, your sauce sounds interesting. How about posting it???

[lakelady]

oh I should have clarified my initial post, to me they are fruity (sweet was the wrong word) and HOT. Definately Hot. If you want them to taste like the ones in jars or sold at the salad bars and deli's, you definately need to jar them in a very sweet brine.

Last year I just made a sweet pickle brine and put several types of small peppers in a few jars. You know, they were not really that hot when I initially made them. However, I opened one yesterday and omg, it was totally hot. I'd say use LOTS of sugar if you want them sweet

[FILMNET]

What!!!!! stuff them with any cheese come on!!! Greek chess is wonderful, By far the best pepper i have grown, I even got 3 jars from store this Xmass from friends i gave seed to.

[lakelady]

Originally Posted by FILMNET

What!!!!! stuff them with any cheese come on!!! Greek chess is wonderful, By far the best pepper i have grown, I even got 3 jars from store this Xmass from friends i gave seed to.

LOL...I didn't say they were "bad", just a bit hotter than they were when they were fresh! I guess the pickling and aging process made them into little fireballs ha! Could have been the lemon drop peppers that were also in the jars to make them pretty and colorful, didn't think about that.