Try Turbo-1's Habanero Sauce - Hot Stuff!

[rhody]

I'm going to try raising ghosts in the garden this summer, right alongside the Savinas. I have had a couple of crappy years in a row, but that was not always the case. There were years when I had bumper crops of ripe habaneros from just a few plants.

BTW, this is the very basic set of ingredients for a batch of habanero relish. Ripe peppers, fresh hard-neck garlic, and chopped dill florets. The flowering heads of dill are far more flavorful than the weed (leaves).

Turbo,

If I have success with the trinidad scorpions (TS), and God knows something even hotter that hits the market, I am going to venture to guess that you will meet your limit with the TS peppers. The video's I have seen of people attempting to eat them are very scary.

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

Turbo,

If I have success with the trinidad scorpions (TS), and God knows something even hotter that hits the market, I am going to venture to guess that you will meet your limit with the TS peppers. The video's I have seen of people attempting to eat them are very scary.

Rhody...

We'll see, rhody. I like the ghosts. They are rich and sweet, along with the heat. I made my shrimp marinade/basting sauce with one of them (flesh only, because I wanted to save the seeds), and my wife said the shrimp weren't spicy enough. The next time I made them, I used 3 ghosts instead of 1. When I served them, she said they were real hot, then she and my father proceeded to make those shrimp disappear. I had to scramble to get my share. You've never seen a pound of grilled jumbo shrimp evaporate like that. 3 ghosts basted onto one pound of shrimp seems like just about the right proportions. My father used to like to eat chili peppers until he turned about 70 or so, and said that the heat was bothering him. He didn't seem phased by the heat when he was wolfing down the shrimp.

 

[rhody]

We'll see, rhody. I like the ghosts. They are rich and sweet, along with the heat. I made my shrimp marinade/basting sauce with one of them (flesh only, because I wanted to save the seeds), and my wife said the shrimp weren't spicy enough. The next time I made them, I used 3 ghosts instead of 1. When I served them, she said they were real hot, then she and my father proceeded to make those shrimp disappear. I had to scramble to get my share. You've never seen a pound of grilled jumbo shrimp evaporate like that. 3 ghosts basted onto one pound of shrimp seems like just about the right proportions. My father used to like to eat chili peppers until he turned about 70 or so, and said that the heat was bothering him. He didn't seem phased by the heat when he was wolfing down the shrimp.

God, Turbo...

I have come to the conclusion that you and your family are HEAT FREAKS. If four out of five people who try the trinidad's puke from them and you are your brood don't and like them, then you are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt4xlYXh0Fw".

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

God, Turbo...

I have come to the conclusion that you and your family are HEAT FREAKS. If four out of five people who try the trinidad's puke from them and you are your brood don't and like them, then you are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt4xlYXh0Fw".

Rhody...

Not really, rhody. My wife likes my habanero relish, but only in moderation. I'll load up my hot dogs with that relish and hot mustard and chow down, but I always save the last bite for her. She never asks, but she'd be quite disappointed if I didn't.

She made a nice soup yesterday with hamburg, black beans, corn, carrots, and a very spicy tomato sauce that we had made up (that's where the last of the ghosts ended up), and it's delicious. I wouldn't sell it at a lunch-wagon without offering customers a trial taste, because it would be a bit over-the-top for people who are intolerant of hot food. Still, it is a wonderful soup and I'm nuking some up for my lunch right now.

 

[rhody]

I have proof that my trimmed pepper plants like the heat mat, and it makes them grow at a more rapid pace. I picked one of my cut back plants and put a heat mat under it. After a week there is at least two times the growth (areas that are sprouting) and leaves that are twice as large as my other two plants. All three plants got the same amount of water and sun. I fertilize weekly as well. That leaves little doubt that the heat mats are doing their job and the plant is very sensitive to temperature, even if only at the root level. Questions, comments ?

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

That goes along with my seat-of-the-pants evaluation, rhody. The soil temperature in the garden has a lot to do with growth rate. Chilies like Sun, warm soil, and not too much nitrogen. Nitrogen promotes leafy growth and suppresses fruiting and ripening. The last 2-3 years, I have had cool, cloudy weather for much of the growing season, so I have had to make do with unripe habanero chilies for my relishes. Quite disappointing. This year, I barely got any ripe Hungarian Wax (paprika) chilies, and they are usually as dependable as can be.

 

[rhody]

That goes along with my seat-of-the-pants evaluation, rhody. The soil temperature in the garden has a lot to do with growth rate. Chilies like Sun, warm soil, and not too much nitrogen. Nitrogen promotes leafy growth and suppresses fruiting and ripening. The last 2-3 years, I have had cool, cloudy weather for much of the growing season, so I have had to make do with unripe habanero chilies for my relishes. Quite disappointing. This year, I barely got any ripe Hungarian Wax (paprika) chilies, and they are usually as dependable as can be.

Find a way to heat the Earth near your plants turbo, too bad we didn't live in Iceland. We could take advantage of the geothermal vents everywhere and pump naturally hot water in radiant plastic pipes near the root systems of the plants. I am convinced it would work like a charm. Hard to imagine an economical answer without outlaying some serious cash for an outdoor spring/summer/fall application. A green house is the way to go, possibly solar powered with inverters and batteries as well.

I will switch the mat to the other two plants this week so they can start to catch up with the other one.

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

I have considered using black plastic sheeting on the beds, and planting right through the plastic when my seedlings are growing well. I'm not a big fan of using plastic, though. Also, if you have to water, plastic sheeting makes it tough to give the soil a good soaking, unless you want to invest in a drip system/perforated hose under the sheeting. I always mulch my garlic with oat straw, but even that mulch provides good cover for slugs. Gardening organically has its challenges.

 

[dlgoff]

I have considered using black plastic sheeting on the beds, and planting right through the plastic when my seedlings are growing well. I'm not a big fan of using plastic, though. Also, if you have to water, plastic sheeting makes it tough to give the soil a good soaking, unless you want to invest in a drip system/perforated hose under the sheeting. I always mulch my garlic with oat straw, but even that mulch provides good cover for slugs. Gardening organically has its challenges.

A friend of mid planted 5K tomato plants through black plastic (me too for a few melons), and he used a long thin hose (with pump) with a drip tube on each plant from his pond/damned creak. He made tones on money selling at farmers markets; hiring several people to pick them.

 

[dlgoff]

God, Turbo...

I have come to the conclusion that you and your family are HEAT FREAKS...
Rhody...

I think I'm one too. I am getting low on the ghost but I had one (seeds and all) today with my left-over Thanks Giving ham, g-beans, and mashed potatoes. Outstanding.

Thanks

 

[rhody]

Turbo, Don,

Watch this: How to grow the hottest chilli in the world part 4

The Chilli Factory, Morisset NSW, Australia.



He is experimenting with different growing methods and fertilizers in a process of elimination run off, smart, but time consuming.
He claims the temps inside the greenhouse can reach 40 Celsius which is 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
I have been led to believe that they won't produce peppers above 95 degrees Fahrenheit. See what you think.

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

I need a light for my ghost, it's dropped a blossom.

 

[rhody]

I need a light for my ghost, it's dropped a blossom.

A light will help, and if the temperature is not above say 75 degrees, you will get small peppers at best, if any at all. During the summer in the 80's my peppers were full sized, once it dropped they were small, about the size of a nickel or a quarter. As I mentioned before, a heat mat under the pot helps too, at least with new leaves sprouting.

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

A light will help, and if the temperature is not above say 75 degrees, you will get small peppers at best, if any at all. During the summer in the 80's my peppers were full sized, once it dropped they were small, about the size of a nickel or a quarter. As I mentioned before, a heat mat under the pot helps too, at least with new leaves sprouting.

Rhody...

It's below 65F in my bedroom, I like it cold. I need to set up an environment for my ghost

 

[rhody]

I think you might find this interesting: from TED this month: Open Source Project:

Britta Riley: A garden in my apartment

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

Turbo,

What do you think about this recipe ? http://soramelo.hubpages.com/hub/Hottest-Pepper-Recipes-with-Bhut-Jolokia-and-Trinidad-Scorpion-Chile-Peppers

Marinade Ingredients:

· 1 Teaspoon mixed white and brown mustard seed

· 1 Teaspoon ground cumin seed

· 1 Whole clove

· 1 Bhut Jolokia or Trinidad Scorpion peppers (or more)

Grind marinade ingredients with a pestle and mortar and put aside.

Paste Ingredients:

· 1 Large onion, chopped

· 3 to 4 Cloves fresh garlic (5 ½ teaspoons)

· 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger

· 1 Tablespoon lemon juice

· 2 Teaspoon paprika

· 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

· 1 Tablespoon water

· Salt & pepper

Blend paste ingredients in food processor or blender until smooth and set aside.

Curry Ingredients:

· 2 Tablespoons oil

· 1 Onion, sliced thinly and cut into half rings

· 3 Chicken breasts, cubed

· 15-20 Curry leaves, or if unavailable fresh basil or Keffir lime leaves

· 2 Teaspoons cayenne pepper

· ½ Cup (125ml) cider vinegar

· Pinch of salt

· ½ Teaspoon sugar

Garnish Ingredients:

· Fresh coriander and halved chilies

Method:

· Cover chicken cubes well with marinade and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

· Heat oil and saute onion on medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes.

· Add chicken and all of the marinade to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the chicken has slightly browned.

· Add paste, stir and cook for a few minutes.

· Sprinkle chicken with curry leaves and cayenne pepper. Stir and cover the pan, and cook for 5 minutes.

· Add cider vinegar and bring to a boil.

· Add salt and sugar.

· Simmer, covered, on a low heat for 25 minutes.

· Stir for a few minutes until vindaloo reaches the desired thickness.

· Garnish with fresh coriander and chillies.

Serve with rice or flatbread.

Recipe by David Tidmarsh of the UK's Project Spice: projectspice.co.uk

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

I spoke about peeling or trimming the second tier of leaves stalks from some of my ghost seedling to encourage the stalks to grow taller. The strategy seemed to work, but the structure of the plant was compromised somehow. Many of the leaves from the four plants I did this to are now a mottled green, light green, grey and white. See picture below. Does anyone have any idea what is going on here ? I am at a loss. My best guess is that somehow peeling the second layer of stalks off, has weakened or changed the structure of the plant somehow, and the leaves are reflecting the damage to the skin of the stalk. Weird, huh ?

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/917/speckledghosts.jpg

The next picture is innocent looking, isn't it ? What you are seeing is four very healthy trinidad scorpion peppers, and these things are absolutely EVIL. They don't look that different from the ghosts, but the leaves are wider and the veins in them more pronounced. When these babies produce peppers next summer, watch out. Every single video I have watched to date on consuming these is troubling to watch, some people who eat them have spent much time eating ghosts and are used to them, but this is in a whole different league. The people who eat them have all kinds of issues, hiccups, lots of saliva, tears, flushed cheeks and for that matter their entire head above their shoulders is affected.

My growing technique is I have a heat mat, a large plastic container with a tall lid that is clear and vented. I water twice daily, morning and evening, spritzing the roots till barely moist, and I fertilize with a weak miracle grow solution weekly. The temps in the green house are between 75 -79 F and humidity is kept at 90% of above. No aphids, fungus, or other maladies so far too, which I am pleased to report. I keep the blue frequency grow light about 5 inches from the top of the clear box top. This formula works folks. If the temps in the box could somehow be upped to mid 80's I would have even faster growth.

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/8822/trinidadscorpions.jpg Rhody...

 

[lisab]

If the temps in the box could somehow be upped to mid 80's I would have even faster growth.

Too bad Luna has taken up residence on your plant heating pads!

 

[Evo]

I spoke about peeling or trimming the second tier of leaves stalks from some of my ghost seedling to encourage the stalks to grow taller. The strategy seemed to work, but the structure of the plant was compromised somehow. Many of the leaves from the four plants I did this to are now a mottled green, light green, grey and white. See picture below. Does anyone have any idea what is going on here ? I am at a loss. My best guess is that somehow peeling the second layer of stalks off, has weakened or changed the structure of the plant somehow, and the leaves are reflecting the damage to the skin of the stalk. Weird, huh ?

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/917/speckledghosts.jpg

Those look awesome. So what exactly did you do? You didn't pinch out the growth, so I'm not clear what you mean by peeling or trimming.

The next picture is innocent looking, isn't it ? What you are seeing is four very healthy trinidad scorpion peppers, and these things are absolutely EVIL. They don't look that different from the ghosts, but the leaves are wider and the veins in them more pronounced. When these babies produce peppers next summer, watch out. Every single video I have watched to date on consuming these is troubling to watch, some people who eat them have spent much time eating ghosts and are used to them, but this is in a whole different league. The people who eat them have all kinds of issues, hiccups, lots of saliva, tears, flushed cheeks and for that matter their entire head above their shoulders is affected.

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/8822/trinidadscorpions.jpg

Those are beautiful.

 

[turbo]

Turbo,

What do you think about this recipe ? http://soramelo.hubpages.com/hub/Hottest-Pepper-Recipes-with-Bhut-Jolokia-and-Trinidad-Scorpion-Chile-PeppersRhody...

Just one pepper? My wife would say that the dish wasn't hot enough. I can guarantee it. The additional paste/seasonings are interesting, though. I like to grill, and I like to keep preparations fast and simple, but this might be fun to try.

(And if you think grill? I like to do all kinds of cooking on the grill - you can get wonderful variations in heat with wood/charcoal, etc, and when you preheat a pan on the hot side, it is hot!)

 

[rhody]

Too bad Luna has taken up residence on your plant heating pads!

Lisa,

Luna has no room now that the box sits on top of the heating pad. I guess a plant heat mat would be a good cat Christmas gift, no ? Flex, are you reading this, Pixel needs one too, and bad.

Those look awesome. So what exactly did you do? You didn't pinch out the growth, so I'm not clear what you mean by peeling or trimming.

Those are beautiful.

Evo,

Thanks. No, what I did was when the second layer of leaves sprouted from the stalk, I tried (unsuccessfully I might add) to pull them off, instead they peeled away like you would a celery stalk, exposing some of the flesh of the main stalk in the process. Do you note how the leaves kind of look like a monotone coleus ? I am convinced my rough removal of the second layer of leaves caused the leaves to look this way. I did this to four plants to observe the results and now am at a loss to explain it. I know that the color of the leaves is NOT normal.

Now, I have a new problem, soon, all my plants will be too big for my 7 inch high plastic plant box. I may put them in a 12 or 15 inch box, again with the heat mat underneath to keep the heat in and the grow light above. I don't want them to grow too fast, but am convinced they will not produce maximum flowers and decent sized peppers till the temperatures hit the mid 80's next summer.

I am also thinking of trying to graft these plants to a cut back mature bamboo stalks. I have no idea if the ghost plant will take to the bamboo or not. It may be a big failure, if not, I am pretty sure I will be the first person to succeed at it. I need to bone up on grafting techniques. I know that more than one type of apple type can be grafted onto another apple tree, but never cross species like this. OMG, what if I create some of the fastest growing hot peppers in the world ! I may go down in flames too, but I am prepared for that. I am a bit crazy, but I don't mind trying things no one has ever thought of before. Bamboo by nature is fast growing, and these peppers are very slow growing, so we will wait and see what happens.

Rhody...

 

[dlgoff]

Rhody. "Turbo's HOT STUFF" is the right place to post this IMO. I love these ghost peppers. I steamed my last ones with bells, onions, tomatoes, and broccoli. I can't wait until spring to get my seeds in the cold-frame.

Thanks Road Island man.

 

[turbo]

Rhody. "Turbo's HOT STUFF" is the right place to post this IMO. I love these ghost peppers. I steamed my last ones with bells, onions, tomatoes, and broccoli. I can't wait until spring to get my seeds in the cold-frame.

Thanks Road Island man.

I've got my seeds saved up! Got to see if I can get the greenhouse boys to start some for me.

I got a call yesterday from a pretty young lady that I got started in the garlic-growing business, and she wanted more garlic to plant. Unfortunately, my wife has started baking two loaves of herb bread every week, and she bakes a whole head of garlic to mix with the herbs for each loaf. I prefer the plain French provincial loaves, but she takes the herb loaves to a neighbor, and they are gone in a day or two. He slices them to make crusts for home-made pizzas...

 

[dlgoff]

I've got my seeds saved up! Got to see if I can get the greenhouse boys to start some for me.

I wish you the best of luck. Between you and rhody...inspiration. You guys...Yes.

 

[turbo]

I wish you the best of luck. Between you and rhody...inspiration. You guys...Yes.

Move up here, Don. You might have to re calibrate when walking/working on side-hills, but at least the torrential rains flow off pretty readily. I can get you started in growing garlic, and give you tips (worthless as they might be) for growing chilies when the gods are against you.

 

[dlgoff]

Move up here, Don. You might have to re calibrate when walking/working on side-hills, but at least the torrential rains flow off pretty readily. I can get you started in growing garlic, and give you tips (worthless as they might be) for growing chilies when the gods are against you.

Considering. But I'm trying to recover from the steaming process. Evidently this molecule doesn't break down at 100°C.

 

[rhody]

AAAARGHHH! Will that throw them into shock?

Evo,

No, it didn't. Check the results about 2 weeks later. I have to get a clear plastic box because my starter plants are going to exceed my little greenhouse's space soon.

They need room to grow. I plan to put the heat mat inside and line it with aluminum foil, and if possible put the grow light inside as well. It will be funky, not pretty but the plants don't care. When I have it set up I will post pictures.

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/7510/ghostcutback.jpg

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

I transplanted all my peppers today, 4 scorpions, a bunch of ghosts, 3 chocolate ghosts, 4 tri color ornimental's, and some mixed, I don't even know what kind they are. The reason I put in the second picture is that is put them in two cups, the inside one has three holes in the bottom (drill) that allow watering from the bottom. I have a few tiny one's started from those white spongy thingies. The tall skinny plants on the far left and right are the tri color orimental's and I believe that's why the leaves are different, it is because of the 3 color peppers, the leaves are different too. Something funky I noticed when transplanting them, the roots of one ghost, snaked across the seed starter bin to the adjacent one and created a root ball, (a creeper) never seen that before and amazingly I had another one just with roots and no plant. I found that odd. I am going to start 4 more scorpions tomorrow. The goal is to get two batches going to produce 4 months apart, outside of the the normal August - October harvest time frame.

That way I will have peppers when no one else does, at least at northern latitudes in the northern hemisphere. I guess grafting research and experimentation is next. My pother three plants should produce peppers like last summer again this summer, I would say 150 + possibly 200+ from all three. I know the secret (if there is one) of hotness as well, thanks to Astro for the hint by stressing the plants (withholding water), but not killing them. Sort of revenge on them for stressing those who consumer them, eh ? Do you like my color coded labels, that way I can't mix them up, it will be interesting to see if the roots get more vigorous search for the damp soil at the bottom of the cups, after what I saw the roots do with the starter containers I suspect the roots will sense the water and go for it. I also have a heat mat (80% F) and aluminum foil under the cups and my normal grow light above.

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/9439/peppercollection.jpg

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/443/peppercollection1.jpg

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

Evo,

No, it didn't. Check the results about 2 weeks later. I have to get a clear plastic box because my starter plants are going to exceed my little greenhouse's space soon.

They need room to grow. I plan to put the heat mat inside and line it with aluminum foil, and if possible put the grow light inside as well. It will be funky, not pretty but the plants don't care. When I have it set up I will post pictures.

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/7510/ghostcutback.jpg

Rhody...

Wow, it's like when I used to watch Crockett's Victory Garden on PBS, Jim Crockett used to hack apart perfectly healthy plants cruely chopping the branches and roots to pieces. You'd be sure these poor plants would never make it, a few episodes later he'd bring tha plant out and it would be gigantic. They had to be stunt doubles, if I ever tried that, the plant would be compost material.

 

[turbo]

Wow, it's like when I used to watch Crockett's Victory Garden on PBS, Jim Crockett used to hack apart perfectly healthy plants cruely chopping the branches and roots to pieces. You'd be sure these poor plants would never make it, a few episodes later he'd bring tha plant out and it would be gigantic. They had to be stunt doubles, if I ever tried that, the plant would be compost material.

If there is a good root system, it would be hard to prune a plant badly enough to kill it. They WILL come back. Many plants will do pretty well.

I should mention that I am a huge fan of pruning apple trees and other fruit trees. Crop the hell out of those rascals, and watch what happens. It doesn't take more than a single growing season to get great results, usually. I aggressively pruned my peach tree and black cherry tree this year after getting some pretty robust fruiting (during a really crappy growing season) and hope to stimulate some decent fruiting for this year. I used a neighbor's book on fruit trees, and found out that peach trees should be pruned into an "open wineglass" shape to avoid mildew and rot. We'll see...