Good food shouldn't hurt.

Making super hots into hotsauce calms them down a bit. I can handle Ghost chili sauce but a Reaper is just way too hot even for hot sauce. A ghost is hotter than Trinidad Scorpion peppers so a sauce should be good and tolerable use of the peppers.

Dry them and add them to milder powders so you can get your preferred amount of heat. Had a bunch of reapers a couple years ago I did this with.

Hot sauces, candies, salsas, jellies... have fun and experiment.

Sorry to hear that you lost your veggies and especially the 100 matured trees. The weather was ridiculous.

Re the trinidads, my friend makes a hot sauce out of them. I've tasted the hot sauce. Its hot enough to make your brain tingly, but not to make you lie down. I'll get the recipe for you if you want.

Just because a Pepper is a"Super Hot" doesn't mean you have to use a whole Pepper at 1 time.

I like smoke drying first.

Some people dry them,add a touch of liquid smoke to water,spray them down,then dry and grind them up as ADDITIONS to sauces,rubs etc.

Always remember,as soon as adding Supers to anything can be tasted,STOP adding them.

It's Very Easy to have to make a pint of Salsa into a gallon. LOL

Especially if you made "THE just RIGHT whatever and had leftovers.

You set yourself up for at least a weeks worth of leftovers...That need thinning out.

I LOVE my Supers,it did take a BIG learning curve to know how to use the many different varieties-in something edible at all times.

I do think different supers taste different.Some are hotter than others BUT used in the right proportions,they all need you to learn how to use them for what you eat-Rubs,Powders etc.

PS.Check out the older Alton Brown's older shows.

He mad a smoker/dryer using a cardboard box and a hot plate.

For just smoke drying peppers IT IS REALLY a good way to go.

No wood chunks etc.

PPPS.

Been sick a while,Hello to ALL!

hands don't work so good anymore lately...

Good to see you back Smokemaster. Looking forward to reading your posts

I use just a little of my super hots for culinary. I use most of them for pest control- we got lots of critters, and they tend to stay away from my gardens and bird feeders after I apply the hot stuff around.

I've often wondered the same thing. After a certain point, I find no possible usage in cooking, and all I need is one jar pickled, to torture friends with one sliver of a bite for my own personal entertainment when they come over. But it's no longer fun when some folks are on the ground sobbing.... not quite what was intended.

I just started pepper seeds but of the crazy-spicy ones, I only planted Trinidad Scorpion just for kicks. I doubt I'll use any for cooking but they're interesting to look at, and at least I can say I grew them, haha.

Grace - Im in agreement with you - once the novelty wears off its really just about saying your grew them. I have some friends who at least claim they are into super hot peppers so I always give pods and sauces and dried chilis to them. But the percentage that actually gets used by me is zero to nil. The fermented hot sauce I made is very good tasting but its just too damn hot to use any more than a couple drips.

I did make up some habanero jelly last year that a couple ghost chilis may or may not have been snuck in. I have a bag of frozen ghost chilis that I plan on using exclusively to make another batch of jelly - will probably dial the pepper ingredient back by 1/3 or 1/4.

Mix and melt cheese into your dishes that use the peppers. That should cool them down a lot (like 30 to 70%). I've done this with chiles lots of times.

You could make a capsaicin cream, maybe.

Hey Kevin,

I lived close to this place that claims to serve the world's hottest burger: Swingin Door - Man Sues Over Burnt Esophagus. Well, they gave me one of their hot sauces about 3-4 YEARS AGO, and I am just now over halfway through because I, who can eat extremely spicy food, can handle one drop on an entire meal. Thing isn't even spoiling because no bacteria is crazy enough to enter this bottle. Even then, I'm jumping in my seat, huffing and puffing, needing breaks between bites. And while "spicy," it's not a pleasant spicy like chomping on a Serrano is....it's just FIRE, like drinking lighter fluid and putting a lit match in your mouth for kicks. This sauce is apparently a mix of habanero, scotch bonnet, and ghost peppers, according to the article. It's ridiculous.

I'm guessing if made into a sweeter jelly, these hot peppers could tone down the sensation of being as spicy? I always welcome a habanero-level of spicy, but it seems anything more than that, and not only is it torture, but more importantly, I can't discern actual pepper flavors anymore.

What is your fermented hot sauce recipe?

Grace - that sure does look like a fire breather!

I use a recipe similar to this one although admittedly I am a newbie to fermented hot sauces after hearing about it from isgen here on Houzz.

https://www.fermentedfoodlab.com/easy-lacto-fermented-hot-sauce/

I usually make up batches in those 1/2 gallon mason jars. Let them sit on the counter for a week to two weeks, then blend and transfer to smaller jars or hot sauce containers.

I play around with lots of different blends based on what I have excess of at the time - the most well raved sauces (according to family and friends) were a green jalepeno/poblano and garlic mix and a hotter red sauce with red doux d'espagne sweet peppers, a good bit of habs, thai chilis, and maybe one ghost pepper. I put in a generous amount of tomato paste to increase the redness. Garlic seems to make the sauces really pop so don't skimp there especially if you're a fan. Carrots make a good filler too.

You can get creative with different fruits and veggies - you can probably throw just about anything in and you'll be surprised how great the lacto makes it taste - just make sure to get the right brine concentration - too little salt will let other bacteria/yeast thrive and too much wont let anything grow. I'm excited to try some sort of mango or pineapple blends this year.

I also like to drain a good bit of the liquid brine out and replace it with a mix of vinegar and lemon/lime juice - I think it helps the shelf life and also gives it a little extra tang/flavor.

Thanks for the link! It sounds like making kimchi, but with peppers instead of cabbage. I'll be sure to give it a try, if any of my peppers seeds ever decide to come up.

Your "most well-raved hot sauce" sounds fabulous, Kevin. Makes me think I should have bought some sweet peppers seeds. Is that the seed you'd recommend to grow? I'm not into sweet peppers, but it does sound like a good inclusion in hot sauce.

Eh I wouldn’t recommend it over any other sweet necessarily, but it does have some nice flavor and was very productive.

I don’t think anyone could tell the difference between a doux despagne and a save-a-lot Monsanto green pepper with all the garlic, tomato paste, and hot chili’s in that sauce!