Bhut Jolokia or Ghost Peppers

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crustyo44
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Bhut Jolokia or Ghost Peppers

Post by crustyo44 » Wed May 07, 2014 07:54

I have been given a bag full of the above extremely hot peppers by a friend of mine.
He knows I like hot food but after reading up about them I am a bit weary about using them.
Are there any members that have experience with these little handgranates in any sort of dish. I like lots of sambal oelek, badjak etc but these have got me wondering about
the dangers.
Thank you,
Jan.
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Chuckwagon
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Post by Chuckwagon » Wed May 07, 2014 21:01

Crusty, ol` pal...

The chile pepper is yet another of the nightshade family, along with the potato, tomato, eggplant, and the beautiful petunia, with its cousin the tobacco plant. The Greeks named the species capsicum, meaning, "to bite". Most cooks are familiar with the effects of the chile pepper`s eye-stinging oil capsaicin and often joke about the stuff although its vapors habitually cause a cook to sneeze, cough, and curse! In some parts of the country, male "pepperheads" even seem to evaluate their level of testosterone using the Scoville Heat Unit scale, and the ingestion of habaneros and serranos seems to have become some sort of entertaining test of manhood. The truth is, methyl vanillyl nonenamide can destroy human tissue and cause blindness! A single drop of the substance combined with 100,000 parts water is still noticeably spicy.

A chile`s veins and seeds contain up to 80 percent of its capsaicin and they`re about sixteen times hotter than the rest of the pepper. Yet, the seeds are not the hottest part of a chile pepper as the highest concentration of capsaicin is found where the seeds attach to the white membrane inside. Since neither cooking nor freezing diminishes capsicum`s intensity, removing a chile's seeds and veins is the only way to reduce its heat. Using gloves, most cooks slice a chile in half (lengthwise) having removed the stem and top. Seeds and veins are stripped quickly using a sharp knife. In recipes specifying chiles must remain whole for stuffing, seeds and membranes may be easily removed using a small measuring spoon. Capsaicin is found in no other plant than the chile pepper, yet the common sweet green bell pepper, though of the species capsicum, contains none.

People add heat to their recipes with jalapenos, serranos, or even habaneros. But rest assured, even the habanero - even at only 325,000 scoville units - can still damage human tissue! In comparison, the Bhut Jolokia or "Ghost Pepper" contains over a million scovill heat units! People use it by "touching" their food with the pepper. Until 2007, it was the world`s hottest pepper! From then until 2013, the hottest was a newly developed "Trinidad Maruga Scorpion". It held the trophy until only 5 months ago, in December 2013 when the "Carolina Reaper" took over as the hottest in the world, surpassing 1,532,310 Scoville heat units! Make no mistake, this much heat will destroy tissue. It can cause blindness! If you get it on your hands, it will inevitably get into your eyes. Do yourself a favor and dig a deep hole and bury it. It has no practical use whatsoever!

On the other hand, be sure to try chipotles - mesquite-smoked jalapeno peppers used in sausage, chili, and barbecue. Usually found in the grocery with their skins removed and packed inside cans, the little peppers become a perfect seasoning for many recipes. If you would like to keep abreast of new chile recipes, find old ones, access good information about any chile or barbecue products, keep up with current chile events, and become a fellow "chilehead", check in with Dave at: http://www.fiery-foods.com. You will most probably become as burnt out as I am.


Sweet Bell Pepper 0
Pimento 0
Cherry Pepper 500
Pepperoncini 500
Espanola 1,000
Poblano 2,000
Ancho 2,000
Pasilla 2,000
Anaheim 2,500
New Mexico 2,500
Jalapeno 8,000
Hidalgo 17,000
Serrano 22,000
DeArbol 30,000
Tabasco 50,000
Cayenne 50,000
Thai 100,000
Kumataka 150,000
Habanero * 325,000
Scotch Bonnet * 325,000
Red Savina Habanero * 577,000
Dorset Naga* 923,000
Bhut Jolokia or "Ghost Pepper"*1,000,000
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion* 1,532,310
Carolina Reaper* OVER....1,532,310!


* (Will damage human tissue)

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! :D
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Post by ssorllih » Wed May 07, 2014 22:23

I have found that the taste of chilis is variable and pleasing from the poblano up to the Jalapeno and the heat is tolerable. I like 2 or 3 Serrano's in a large pot of split pea soup but I won't fool with any that are hotter than those.
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Dave Zac
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Post by Dave Zac » Thu May 08, 2014 01:07

A buddy gave me some ghost chili seeds. They are now about 4" tall and ready to move to the garden in a few weeks.

Not sure what I will do with them but I bet the deer only try them once :mrgreen:
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Those peppers are HOT!

Post by Tasso » Thu May 08, 2014 02:00

You never know exactly how hot a pepper is going to be. The individual plant or the growing conditions may influence the level of heat, and it can vary quite a lot from one plant to the next, or from one season to the next. I say pickle them, and use them sparingly. That's what I did with some that I grew three years ago.

I don't know if the ones I grew would break any records, but they were definitely HOT. I like hot peppers, but even a sliver of those peppers were too hot for me to enjoy when eaten fresh or roasted or added to most foods. I would never consider popping a whole one into my mouth like I've seen people do in videos.

I'll finely chop one of them and add it to a large pot of chili or red beans. That's about the only use I have found for them that doesn't make the dish disagreeably hot for other people.
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Post by sambal badjak » Fri May 09, 2014 07:10

I do love chili's and don't seem to have a problem handling them up to about the scotch bonnet, but if I clean more than 1 or 2 I will wear gloves.

I make sambal of most chili's by frying them with garlic, some sweet soy, onion and vinegar to make something similar to sambal brandal. You can always increase the amount of onions if you want it milder, or add tomatoes.

If you have nice and fragrant chili's (I do not know the ghost chili), you could leave it whole and add when boiling rice. The flavour goes in the rice, but not much of the heat.

I wouldn't throw them!
You could look at drying them as well, so they keep for a long time and you just use a little bit at the time
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Post by Blackriver » Sun May 11, 2014 03:17

Very good info on peppers! Thanks Chuckwagon!
crustyo44
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Post by crustyo44 » Sun May 11, 2014 04:01

Thanks to all the members for their opinions and to CW for that list of ratings.
I have the gloves, so shortly I will chop and fry them with onions, ketjap manis, etc to make some sort of sambal.
I start to feel like the Japanese and their puffer fish fillets already.
This will happen when all the grandkids have left.
Cheers,
Jan.
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Post by Chuckwagon » Sun May 11, 2014 04:46

You are most welcome guys! I've got a photo somewhere, of a guy holding a Dorset Naga on a wire and "touching it" against his food. Craaaazy man! :shock:
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! :D
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