The freeze froze my plants last night. The ones I harvested were small and squishy but they smell really good. Are they worth keeping ?

Had a buddy bring a bunch out of his raised boxes for a dove hunt, we eat everything after the hunts, I had never had one. Many were eating them as is and I was worried we wouldn't have enough for poppers.
When he had more on the vine he brought some so I could make salsa. It was the best I had ever made and have never been able to repeat. Not super hot but had a good kick. Perfect for eating alongside fried chicken.

The freeze will hurt them for longevity but my fresh jalopenoes will stay freah for 2-3 weeks if no freeze damage

In the fridge

southernboy1 said:

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Use them. There's a few hot ones in that batch.

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Not if they're TAM.

Candy them or make a relish.

Good idea. I have a pickled jar from the store and I cut my garden japs and them to marinate.

Seems like I always have lots of peppers right before an early freeze. I pick them before or after and run them through the food processor. Not smooth, just fine chop. Freeze them in ice cube trays. Pop them out the next day or so and then keep them in ziplock bags in the freezer. Use the "cubes" the next few months for cooking chili, soups, or whatever really.

Ate several with Sausage tonight. Measured a 7 on the Richter scale. That's hot enough for me.

You could also cut and bread them but its alot of work

I just did 6 trays over the last two days and mine are super hot

Planted ghost peppers beside mine and I think the bees pollinated my jalapenoes with ghost peppers

Gonna plant my ghost elsewhere next year. Ha

Is the cross pollination a legit thing that causes heat in mild pepper? I have stopped growing my Poblanos because the damn things are so hot we simply cannot eat them. I assumed it was because of my growing conditions, but maybe that's not the issue.

My poblanoes were not hot last year and they are hot this year. In the same row with my jalapenoes

So I dont really know only thing I can think of but I have banana peppers on that row and I do not think my banana are hot but had somebody ask me why they were so hot when I gave them some

Jason_Roofer said:

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Is the cross pollination a legit thing that causes heat in mild pepper? I have stopped growing my Poblanos because the damn things are so hot we simply cannot eat them. I assumed it was because of my growing conditions, but maybe that's not the issue.

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Not in this years crop. The seed from the cross pollinated sweet peppers will be hot next year, but the fruit this year will not.

maddiedou said:

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You could also cut and bread them but its alot of work

I just did 6 trays over the last two days and mine are super hot

Planted ghost peppers beside mine and I think the bees pollinated my jalapenoes with ghost peppers

Gonna plant my ghost elsewhere next year. Ha

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Get yourself a mandolin slicer and you'll knock this out in no time.

Agree. Something like this retails under $20. We use it all the time.

https://www.oxo.com/oxo-good-grips-hand-held-mandoline-slicer.html

It was not the cutting that took forever but the dipping and breading

But I understand the slicing but have you tried using the mandolin with a hand slicing jalapenoes Yes it works but also drags if you dont get a good slice. If that makes sense

My opinion. All those fancy kitchen tools just do a very limited function. If I ever bought all these I would run out of kitchen space.

I sharp knife and good cutting board does the job just fine.

That's not how cross pollination works unless you were harvesting seeds from last year to plant the resulting hybrid this year.

Okay. Thanks I did not comenup with this theory a plant person told me

The reason my pepper were so hot because the bees were pollinating the peppers from the ghost peppers

Next time I see her I will tell her

Here in ANC, we harvest, chop in a food processor, and freeze in half cup chunks. Peppers freeze pretty good. Retain their heat and flavor. Use them all year following last harvest early Sept. Cheers -

I've seen folks use small cup cake containers to fill add just a bit a water to freeze. Then have ice cubes of whatever like fruit and peppers