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This has got to be the funniest responses to the problem at hand: peppers not spicy enough? grow your own..

tptacek 3y ago
Have you never grown peppers? It really is absurdly easy. The point though really isn't that everyone's just going to grow their own peppers; rather, it's that it's very easy to introduce an alternate supply of highly-variable jalapenos, because there aren't many barriers to producing them. There are urban garden companies in Chicago that produce lettuce right now and could probably produce jalapenos if anybody really cared enough.
- resolutebat 3y ago
  I don't think anybody wants highly-variable jalapenos though? Industrial processors want reliably mild, chileheads want reliably spicy.
  - tptacek 3y ago
    Reliably spicy jalapenos have never been a thing, but you can optimize growing conditions for heat and produce a spicy cultivar if you want to go into business serving chileheads who want, like, hot, but not that hot? (I get it, jalapenos have a particularly useful form factor; you can't really do a serrano relleno).
  - quantified 3y ago
    Replying to a peer respondent: Chile lovers definitely want reliably spicy. Quite a few in my family and friends.
    - lupusreal 3y ago
      Wanting reliably spicy and being able to produce it are two different things.
    - OJFord 3y ago
      > Replying to a peer respondent: If the 'reply' button doesn't appear (happens for some reason when comment is recent, possibly 'flamewar' control) just click the '0 minutes ago' or whatever relative timestamp.
- eichin 3y ago
  Yeah, I've seen boston-area college students successfully grow szechuan peppers on a south facing (outdoor but sheltered) balcony - with exactly as much neglect as you'd expect from undergrads in a shared apartment. "Absurdly easy" is not an exaggeration.
  - ethbr1 3y ago
    Seriously. I think it's the relatively dry fruit output + innate waxy toughness, but of all the bearing plants, peppers can take the most "Oops, I forgot to water you for days... weeks?"
    - tptacek 3y ago
      As luck would have it: watering peppers generously makes them less spicy.
  - coffeebeqn 3y ago
    That’s pretty good! Peppercorns are a bit harder they’re not from the nightshade family like peppers are. But I guess the end product is dried so maybe it’s fairly forgiving
  - barrkel 3y ago
    To be clear, szechuan peppercorns are from various species of trees and shrubs, and are not related to chili peppers (or black pepper). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan_pepper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan_pepper When combined with chili pepper it's amazing, but quite hard to find in Western Chinese restaurants unfortunately.
  - bregma 3y ago
    Sichuan peppers are the fruits of a citrus tree, also known as prickly ash, not peppers at all. Also not ash, but also not something you'd grow on your balcony because they're covered in nasty thorns and second only to blackberries (brambles) in scratch-your-eyes-outness.
- barrkel 3y ago
  I cook with peppers maybe once every couple of months, and the lead time to a decision is between 2 hours and 2 days. I also have two housecats who will eat almost anything leaf-like if the cat grass runs low. Does it make sense for me to grow peppers? I don't think it does.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
progmetaldev 3y ago
As someone that loves hot sauce, including fermenting my own, it's unfortunate that it does actually require growing your own if you want a lot of heat along with flavor. Using capsaicin extracts will give you heat, but often little flavor (or no flavor if you go hot enough).
- tptacek 3y ago
  If you're just making a fermented hot sauce, why not just use serranos? The serrano is basically the consistently hot jalapeno you're looking from; it's just less plump and so less useful as a popper or whatever. And, of course, if you really wanted heat, you'd be using scotch bonnets anyways.
  - aegypti 3y ago
    Each of these chiles have very different flavors friend. Serranos and jalapeños are much closer than habaneros but still cleanly separated by bitterness, brightness and acridity. Eg a grandmother’s salsa ranchera with jalapeño only is a much sweeter affair than when supplemented with serranos, and equally much less fruity than when pequins are used.
    - ohthatsnotright 3y ago
      I think this is the biggest point a lot of people who aren't used to consistently spicy/hot food miss. Yes, the peppers will be hot but the flavors will be wildly different between them and that's the more interesting/important thing. The right pepper can really make a dish amazing, but just adding heat won't.
      - tptacek 3y ago
        I don't know that jalapenos and serranos are different enough to say this about. Serranos are more vegetal, I guess? But jalapenos are pretty variable, especially depending on ripeness, and I would claim right now (without being able to back it up) that serranos fit into the spectrum of possible jalapenos (like: there is a jalapeno somewhere that tastes just like the median serrano), minus the capsaicin. Which is what people are saying they want from a non-industrial jalapeno. The boy has a rotavap in the basement, I just need to convince him to let me run up some peppers in it to do the comparison. :)
nkozyra 3y ago
A specific type of pepper. There are many other peppers with more heat and variability. But I'd argue peppers are the easiest non-herb vegetable/fruit to grow, so it's a fair suggestion.
- bobthepanda 3y ago
  there are green onions which IMO are even easier.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    Garlic sprouts must be up there too, you just need a container of water they can sit in without being fully submerge, like a plastic water bottle.
TulliusCicero 3y ago
I mean the other obvious option is to use one of the other varieties of peppers that are known to be hotter: serranos, Thai bird chilis, habaneros, etc.
madeofpalk 3y ago
Why is that funny? "Commercial mass-produced product isnt to your own liking? Here's how you can easily make something better!"
coffeebeqn 3y ago
Or go to any farmers market / specialty grocery. There are more varieties and more micro farmers of peppers than probably ever in humanity’s history. From not at all spicy to unheard new levels of spice. PuckerButt Pepper company is at the frontier of breeding new species for example

Have you never grown peppers? It really is absurdly easy. The point though really isn't that everyone's just going to grow their own peppers; rather, it's that it's very easy to introduce an alternate supply of highly-variable jalapenos, because there aren't many barriers to producing them. There are urban garden companies in Chicago that produce lettuce right now and could probably produce jalapenos if anybody really cared enough.

resolutebat 3y ago
I don't think anybody wants highly-variable jalapenos though? Industrial processors want reliably mild, chileheads want reliably spicy.
- tptacek 3y ago
  Reliably spicy jalapenos have never been a thing, but you can optimize growing conditions for heat and produce a spicy cultivar if you want to go into business serving chileheads who want, like, hot, but not that hot? (I get it, jalapenos have a particularly useful form factor; you can't really do a serrano relleno).
- quantified 3y ago
  Replying to a peer respondent: Chile lovers definitely want reliably spicy. Quite a few in my family and friends.
  - lupusreal 3y ago
    Wanting reliably spicy and being able to produce it are two different things.
  - OJFord 3y ago
    > Replying to a peer respondent: If the 'reply' button doesn't appear (happens for some reason when comment is recent, possibly 'flamewar' control) just click the '0 minutes ago' or whatever relative timestamp.
eichin 3y ago
Yeah, I've seen boston-area college students successfully grow szechuan peppers on a south facing (outdoor but sheltered) balcony - with exactly as much neglect as you'd expect from undergrads in a shared apartment. "Absurdly easy" is not an exaggeration.
- ethbr1 3y ago
  Seriously. I think it's the relatively dry fruit output + innate waxy toughness, but of all the bearing plants, peppers can take the most "Oops, I forgot to water you for days... weeks?"
  - tptacek 3y ago
    As luck would have it: watering peppers generously makes them less spicy.
- coffeebeqn 3y ago
  That’s pretty good! Peppercorns are a bit harder they’re not from the nightshade family like peppers are. But I guess the end product is dried so maybe it’s fairly forgiving
- barrkel 3y ago
  To be clear, szechuan peppercorns are from various species of trees and shrubs, and are not related to chili peppers (or black pepper). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan_pepper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan_pepper When combined with chili pepper it's amazing, but quite hard to find in Western Chinese restaurants unfortunately.
- bregma 3y ago
  Sichuan peppers are the fruits of a citrus tree, also known as prickly ash, not peppers at all. Also not ash, but also not something you'd grow on your balcony because they're covered in nasty thorns and second only to blackberries (brambles) in scratch-your-eyes-outness.
barrkel 3y ago
I cook with peppers maybe once every couple of months, and the lead time to a decision is between 2 hours and 2 days. I also have two housecats who will eat almost anything leaf-like if the cat grass runs low. Does it make sense for me to grow peppers? I don't think it does.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

progmetaldev 3y ago

As someone that loves hot sauce, including fermenting my own, it's unfortunate that it does actually require growing your own if you want a lot of heat along with flavor. Using capsaicin extracts will give you heat, but often little flavor (or no flavor if you go hot enough).

tptacek 3y ago
If you're just making a fermented hot sauce, why not just use serranos? The serrano is basically the consistently hot jalapeno you're looking from; it's just less plump and so less useful as a popper or whatever. And, of course, if you really wanted heat, you'd be using scotch bonnets anyways.
- aegypti 3y ago
  Each of these chiles have very different flavors friend. Serranos and jalapeños are much closer than habaneros but still cleanly separated by bitterness, brightness and acridity. Eg a grandmother’s salsa ranchera with jalapeño only is a much sweeter affair than when supplemented with serranos, and equally much less fruity than when pequins are used.
  - ohthatsnotright 3y ago
    I think this is the biggest point a lot of people who aren't used to consistently spicy/hot food miss. Yes, the peppers will be hot but the flavors will be wildly different between them and that's the more interesting/important thing. The right pepper can really make a dish amazing, but just adding heat won't.
    - tptacek 3y ago
      I don't know that jalapenos and serranos are different enough to say this about. Serranos are more vegetal, I guess? But jalapenos are pretty variable, especially depending on ripeness, and I would claim right now (without being able to back it up) that serranos fit into the spectrum of possible jalapenos (like: there is a jalapeno somewhere that tastes just like the median serrano), minus the capsaicin. Which is what people are saying they want from a non-industrial jalapeno. The boy has a rotavap in the basement, I just need to convince him to let me run up some peppers in it to do the comparison. :)

nkozyra 3y ago

A specific type of pepper. There are many other peppers with more heat and variability. But I'd argue peppers are the easiest non-herb vegetable/fruit to grow, so it's a fair suggestion.

bobthepanda 3y ago
there are green onions which IMO are even easier.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  Garlic sprouts must be up there too, you just need a container of water they can sit in without being fully submerge, like a plastic water bottle.

TulliusCicero 3y ago

I mean the other obvious option is to use one of the other varieties of peppers that are known to be hotter: serranos, Thai bird chilis, habaneros, etc.

madeofpalk 3y ago

Why is that funny? "Commercial mass-produced product isnt to your own liking? Here's how you can easily make something better!"

coffeebeqn 3y ago

Or go to any farmers market / specialty grocery. There are more varieties and more micro farmers of peppers than probably ever in humanity’s history. From not at all spicy to unheard new levels of spice. PuckerButt Pepper company is at the frontier of breeding new species for example