Hot Chili Pepper: Jalapeno: When Ripe?

Hi Sven,

Jalapenos usually grow to about 2" in length - which yours seem to have reached.

They can be used green but will be milder at that stage. They will eventually ripen to red if you leave them on the plant and gradually get hotter as they ripen. That is similar to the way sweet peppers go.

The flesh of the green ones will have a slightly fresher flavour.

so the answer is:
they can be harvested when they are about 2" long but can also be left on the plant to ripen through the different shades and mixtures of green and red. You eat them when they are at the strength and flavour you like. If you want to dry them as chipotles you need to let them get red.

 

Hi Sven really you could probably harvest from now on.. Depends on your taste really... There are two times when I harvest. If I want green jalapenos at their peak (hotness) I start picking them when they start to "cork"(brown light surface cracks) otherwise I let jalapenos ripen red since I prefer the sweeter flavor of a red ripe jalapeno which also lacks the "green" flavor. The only down side to picking red jalapenos is that they take forever to ripen here. :dh: Both sweet and hot peppers can be eaten at all stages of growth but are most flavorful when mature and fully ripe.
Hot peppers are typically green in early maturity but quickly turn colors including yellow, orange, purple, red, or chocolate brown depending on the cultivar. The different cultivars vary drastically in size and shape. Although they can be picked when green, their heat and flavor increases as they are allowed to mature and ripen to colors.
Mind you Sven, I do know though that in Jamaican cooking they like to use scotch bonnets mainly when green for the flavour rather than the heat..... :dh: They can add the heat afterwards...!!!! :lollol:Boy do they sometimes too...!!! :rotfl:

 

:lollol: What..!!! You mean you don't like them Hot then Sven...!!! :rotfl: