skip to main content

omg these anaheim peppers are SOOOO hot!

16 years ago

Arrrghhh, I'm so mad! I made chile rellenos with anaheims, which are of course, about as low as you can go on the scoville scale. They are so hot, nobody would eat them! (I ate one just because I wanted one so bad and the more I ate, the hotter I got ~ literally, lol!!)

These definitely were anaheim . . . did somebody post something here about a pepper's stem being curved or something, as a tell-tale sign of its heat level?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (12)

kathleenca
16 years ago
I haven't seen anything about stems curving, but I make sure all the seeds are out of whatever chile/pepper I use; they are where a lot of the heat comes from.
triciae
16 years ago
Do you know where they were grown?

In New Mexico, Anaheims can range from 4,500 to 5,000 on the Scoville scale. Those grown outside New Mexico are usually in the 500 to 2,500 range.

I always taste test all chilis before using them...don't like the type surprise you've experienced. Sorry they were hotter than you expected.

/tricia
Related Discussions
How Did You Get Started Growing Peppers?
Q
Comments (47)
I started out by helping Grampa with his garden. As I was growing up Mom had a garden as well. I helped out with that as well. Several years ago when I lived in the eastern part of the state I was working for a cattle ranch. I mentioned my love of gardening to the owner's wife. The next day I was given orders to make her the nicest garden in the county. I did just that. It took two weeks of work to the get the 1 acre fenced garden for row crops done. As well as the 12 raised beds near the house done. A landscape company did the work for installing the irrigation system with timers for everything. I planted lots of different things throughout all of the beds. Two were for peppers. One bed of sweet peppers, one bad of hot peppers. I also did 6 large planters (Half wine barrels on rollers that could be taken into the garage for cold snaps.) The large planters were planted with jalapeno, pablano, bell, gypsy, and one habanero.) The ones in planters lived for 4 years. The hab plant wound up looking like a tree. They said they had to use a t post to support it when it started setting fruit. Fast forward a couple of years to the house I moved into, and still live in. Two years ago my wife wanted a garden. Her attempts just were no working so I stepped in to help out. I then added one for myself. The next season I go to have it all for me. She just helps out with harvesting. This past season I had a way better than expected harvest of everything. Last year my heat level for growing was Mexibell, jalapeno, and pablano. I picked up a couple of super hots at grocery store that I stumbled into. They are inside now. And have pods ripening now. I was in on the holiday seed swap here. I now have a heat mat, and thermostat with 20 seeds started. As those sprout they will be taken off of the heat, and others placed there to replace them. I will continue with this as long as I have room. I am bad enough I have even given thought to renting a community garden plot from the city to have a little more space to plant some more peppers.
...See More
Pepper in the eye relief... Aloe Vera
Q
Comments (17)
Thank you for all of the tips. My husband was going to play a trick on our adult son and grabbed a bottle of 'Insanity Sauce' as he was going to put it in his taco. Our son came in too soon so the trick was 'mission aborted' for my husband. A few minutes later he began screaming covering his eye saying he thought he was going to be blind!!! He got just a little bit of the sauce from the outside of the bottle on his finger and then later rubbed his eye. Between the rushing to the sink for water, searching for soap and asking for baking soda I remembered something. An old remedy for a bee sting is to apply breast milk to the affected area. At this point we were approaching the possibility of a trip to A&E (ER) so I thought - what do we have to lose. Milk in the eye...success. The stinging subsided on the eyelid straight away and the more he blinked his eye the quicker the pain subsided in his eye also. So glad to have seen this thread...although a bit late for my husband (perhaps next time!!! ;)
...See More
OMG have to share: Clay pot cooking (pic heavy)
Q
Comments (21)
It was good. I'm going to add it to our monthly rotation and keep an eye out for other recipes as easy and tasty to make in my clay pot. Nancy any suggestions? I hate cleaning the thing though. Chase if you're lookig, see if you can find one that's glazed on the inside bottom. I don't think it effects the way it cooks but it sure makes it easier to clean. Compumom, DH bought the brown rice flour. I wasn't with him but it either comes from Trader Joe's or Whole foods and is about 1/2 a pound. I'm going to try it on the Chicken picatta for dinner tonight Shellm, what's BSCB?
...See More
Tamale/Chili help needed....Lars? Anyone?
Q
Comments (7)
Here is a recipe I wrote for basic chili sauce and posted here eight years ago: Basic Chili Sauce 8 whole, dried chilies (Ancho, Pasilla, Guajillo combination*) 2 cups water 3 cloves garlic 1 tsp dried or fresh oregano 1 tsp red wine or balsamic vinegar (optional) Remove the stems from the chilies and slit open to remove seeds and membranes. Place the chilies in a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients (except the vinegar) and simmer covered for 20-30 minutes, or microwave for about 2-1/2 minutes and let stand for 20 minutes, microwave for one minute more and let stand another 10 minutes. Blend coarsely with a stick blender (or pulse in a blender), and strain the mixture through a coarse sieve (or food mill) to remove chili skins. Store in glass jar in refrigerator until ready to use. If you plan to store it very long, add 1 tsp of vinegar - I normally use it within 2-3 days, if not immediately, however. For two cups of water, I would use 3 Ancho chilies, 2 Pasilla chiles and 3 Guajillo chilies, all of which are dried, but you can vary the amounts. Using 4 Anchos and 4 Guajillos is also good. For the last chili sauce I made, I used fresh Poblano chilies (in place of Pasilla chilies) and smoked them, but you could roast them over a gas flame instead. I do not use any raw fresh chilies in chili sauce, and some people fire roast the dried ones before making sauce, but I have not found that to be necessary. I make a Habanero chili sauce with chilies from my back yard, and I grill them (in a grill pan) over mesquite charcoal/wood with some red bell peppers to make a Habanero sauce that is very potent, which is why I add the red bell peppers. I add quite a bit of vinegar and salt to my Habanero sauce so that it will keep longer, as it takes me a while to use it up. True chili sauce does not have tomato in it - if it does, it is then what I know as Adobo sauce, which I also make but use differently. Chilies have a very distinctive flavor that is best appreciated in a pure form to start with, and then you can combine them with other ingredients, but it is best to start with a pure chili sauce, and then it will be more versatile, and you will appreciate the true flavor of the chilies. The chilies I listed for the basic chili sauce are all very mild (by my standards), and so I generally add habanero sauce as needed for heat. If you want to use Arbol chilies, make a sauce with them by themselves - they do not blend well with other chilies. They are good in Adobo sauce and benefit by being diluted with tomato, but their flavor is so complex that I find them difficult to utilize. Where I grew up, you could order one alarm, two alarm, or three alarm chili (made with beef), and I never went beyond two alarm. I think in Minnesota, the one alarm chili in Texas would have been way too hot! I eat chili sauce every day, in one form or another, whereas I seldom use black pepper, although I do like it. I find the flavor of the various chilies to be more complex and interesting. Lars
...See More
pixistix
Original Author
16 years ago
LOL, well obviously these were born 'n bred in New Mexico! There were no stickers on them - or markings on the box I bought them from; just assumed they were mild like every other anaheim I've ever had . . . and I always take the seeds out of every pepper.

(thanks, so next time I'll discreetly nibble before I buy :)
triciae
16 years ago
I was not trying to be funny. New Mexico Anaheim's are hotter. And, I don't "nibble" in the store, geesh. I taste them before serving to my family. I was trying to be helpful here as to why your Anaheims were hotter than expected. Ya know, so that next time you might ask the vendor where they were grown since you seemed to be asking about clues of how hot they might be. Guess I wasn't helpful.

/t

Here is a link that might be useful: Anaheim - Grown in New Mexico
pixistix
Original Author
16 years ago
I was laughing at myself . . . not you!!! You were very helpful - I've never heard that info about New Mexico-grown peppers. Really, I'm sorry you took offense; I would never be intentionally mean to anyone!! And I was joking about ME nibbling on them at the store, not you!
triciae
16 years ago
Thanks for the clarification, pixistix. I'm out of sorts. We're in the New England flood area & it's been a really lousy week. Sorry I took it out on you.

BTW, I love chili rellenos!

/tricia
pixistix
Original Author
16 years ago
wow, so sorry to hear that, tricia - I'm a couple hours from the areas of the Red River that flood in the Dakotas and I've seen how awful that is . . . but I can't imagine the horror of living through it - I hope things improve for you very soon!

(I love chile rellenos too - just not the ones that make me cry!)
Marigene
16 years ago
Pixistix, it is the membranes that carry the heat, not the seeds, as most people believe. Scrape them out and it will lessen the heat, somewhat.
carol_in_california
16 years ago
I grew some Anaheims last summer and they were really, really hot.....unusual for here but the jalapenos were extra hot, too.
rachelellen
16 years ago
At the restaurant where I used to work, we had a chile relleno appetizer on the menu. It was not the battered, deep fried dish we are mostly familiar with here, but a lightly roasted (just to remove the skin, while leaving the chile with a bit of crunch)poblano chile, stuffed with room temp cotija cheese and shrimp, dressed with a light vinaigrette and pickled red onions. A very tasty, different salad course.

The chef used poblanos as they are generally mild. One day, I had a customer come up to the desk to complain bitterly about how hot the chile was, after her waitress had promised it to be mild.

I'd eaten dozens of these, as it was one of my favorite light lunch items and had never had one I would have the least worry suggesting to a blue-haired grandma...but, I went into the kitchen and sampled one.

GOOD LORD it was spicy!!! Let me point out that I am the sort who has to be very, very careful about the amounts of chiles I use in my dishes when cooking for friends because if I can taste the heat, most of them cannot eat it without tears.

The chef (who was Mexican) and I figured that this particular batch of poblanos must have cross pollinated with some habaneros or something.

Moral of the story is....ALWAYS taste your peppers before you serve them!
pixistix
Original Author
16 years ago
hmmmmm, you're right - I guess the only way to know is to taste them first. But that's a pain: do you buy one, take it home and taste it, go back to the store to get more (or not), yadayada. I always just trusted the scoville scale, but from the sounds of it, that's not foolproof. (Love the story, rachelellen, LOL!) And I did take the membranes out, marigene . . . I guess they were just hot little buggers, no way around it :)

Darn, I was hoping someone would remember the curved stem thing - and that it would be true!
pixistix
Original Author
16 years ago
Here's the post I was trying to find. Interesting, but who knows . . . maybe I'll have to try making chile rellenos from green bell peppers :D

Here is a link that might be useful: bent stems

Related Stories

HOUZZ TOURS My Houzz: Cozy Country Meets Bohemian Artistic in Australia

By Luci.D Interiors

Healthy helpings of salvage and rustic art give a pastureland home free-spirited style

KITCHEN STORAGE 13 Popular Kitchen Storage Ideas and What They Cost

By Karen Egly-Thompson

Corner drawers, appliance garages, platter storage and in-counter knife slots are a few details you may not want to leave out

MOST POPULAR 7 Ways to Design Your Kitchen to Help You Lose Weight

By Mitchell Parker

In his new book, Slim by Design, eating-behavior expert Brian Wansink shows us how to get our kitchens working better

MOST POPULAR Heads-Up Hues: 10 Bold Ceiling Colors

By Jennifer Ott Design

Visually raise or lower a ceiling, or just add an eyeful of interest, with paint from splashy to soothing

KITCHEN DESIGN What to Do if Your Kitchen Is Simply Too White for You

By Becky Harris

Does your all-white kitchen have you craving a little color? Here are some ways to introduce it

Sponsored

More Discussions

Pros and Cons of Switching from Gas to Induction Cooking

25

Using/Storing Extra Pumpkin Puree

8

Thinking ahead--do yu have a favorite new inexpensive kitchen tool?

22

Anyone know how to make crunchy thin insect legs?

6

American Chestnuts and Black Walnuts

5