I've felt that store bought jalapeños just aren't as hot as they used to be. I've had friends state the same.

Interesting article about it.

https://www.dmagazine.com/food-drink/2023/05/why-jalapeno-peppers-less-spicy-blame-aggies/

I didn't need an article to tell me that.

I've noticed they aren't as hot, and the heat is inconsistent. I use serrano peppers now instead.

Great read...I've started being more picky when buying jalapeños especially since starting to grow my own. I've been growing "early" varietals and after testing a few things out last year, I definitely let mine stress out and ripen on the vine till they start shading deeper green into purple or red and without fail, a pepper with stress marks and turning a bit red (or fully red) is gonna be hotter than the prettiest green ones.

I've noticed the ones from El Rancho or Fiesta are still hot. Kroger or Tom Thumb, not so much.

I bought some at HEB yesterday and thought this exact thing.

"Yes, Aggies took the spice out of life."

Yankees move to Texas
Complain the salsa is too spicy
Restaurants ask suppliers for less heat
Suppliers tell farmers they only want mild
Farmers go to A&M and ask for mild so they won't go broke.

That was kinda funny to me. We created something to see if it could be done. Why blame us for providing something the market asked for and adopted so quickly and thoroughly?

The mild/medium/hot solution in the article was kind of mind-blowing. I believe most massive milk producers do something similar to come up with 1%, 2% reduced fat milk.

10% the capsaicin level? boo that man

Sumlin's lost control of the Jalapeno industry.

Bruce Almighty said:

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Sumlin's lost control of the Jalapeno industry.

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Are you over 60? Honest question.

Know Your Enemy said:

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Bruce Almighty said:

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Sumlin's lost control of the Jalapeno industry.

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Are you over 60? Honest question.

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No, why?

Bruce Almighty said:

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Know Your Enemy said:

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Bruce Almighty said:

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Sumlin's lost control of the Jalapeno industry.

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Are you over 60? Honest question.

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No, why?

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Just trying to understand what demographic still thinks that joke is funny.

Know Your Enemy said:

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Bruce Almighty said:

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Know Your Enemy said:

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Bruce Almighty said:

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Sumlin's lost control of the Jalapeno industry.

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Are you over 60? Honest question.

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No, why?

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Just trying to understand what demographic still thinks that joke is funny.

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Just ignore it and move on. You don't have to be a dick and insult me.

superunknown said:

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Great read...I've started being more picky when buying jalapeños especially since starting to grow my own. I've been growing "early" varietals and after testing a few things out last year, I definitely let mine stress out and ripen on the vine till they start shading deeper green into purple or red and without fail, a pepper with stress marks and turning a bit red (or fully red) is gonna be hotter than the prettiest green ones.

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Interesting. I started growing some recently. I was going to pick them, but I'll let them stay on the plant a little longer.

From a food production standpoint it makes complete sense, control as much about the process, include heat level, as possible to increase consistency.

The part about heirloom tomatoes is interesting as well. Hopefully something similar will happen with jalapenos

The Celebrity tomato variety is now considered and heirloom variety by some. I remember when that variety was still an experimental, and I'm not that old. My dad got some to plant, and they were a game-changer at the time.

For what it's worth, I grow mine in 5 gal containers and I water them a couple times a week. There's always that time frame where I want to pick them to get the plants to put more out but I also want to let them get a decent size/ripeness

When you really want to step it up, I get my seeds from this place.

https://thehippyseedcompany.com/

They video review almost all of their strains. I don't know how they are still alive.

superunknown said:

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Great read...I've started being more picky when buying jalapeños especially since starting to grow my own. I've been growing "early" varietals and after testing a few things out last year, I definitely let mine stress out and ripen on the vine till they start shading deeper green into purple or red and without fail, a pepper with stress marks and turning a bit red (or fully red) is gonna be hotter than the prettiest green ones.

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i almost always let my jalapenos turn red, and never (rarely) de-seed or remove membrane.

but i also have serranos (also let those get red), habaneros, and chile pequins to make sure there's plenty of heat.

Bought a pack of Chile pequin seeds but haven't planted them. Any tips? We had these bushes all over the place when I was growing up but I was just thinking of putting them in buckets like I do everything else.

It varies throughout the year. I bought some jalapeños a month ago that I could barely eat one or two bites of without my mouth, blowing up on fire!

superunknown said:

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Bought a pack of Chile pequin seeds but haven't planted them. Any tips? We had these bushes all over the place when I was growing up but I was just thinking of putting them in buckets like I do everything else.

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I didn't grow from seed. But it's in the garden next to my other pepper plants. I don't treat it any different. If anything, it should be the easiest to take care of since it's native.

I actually think it's more than just jalapenos that are milder now. I don't think the serranos are as hot either anymore.

That could also be as you get older, you start losing taste buds. It's partly why old dudes can do well in chile-eating contests: they have fewer taste buds to tell them that what they're eating is hot and you shouldn't do that.

HTownAg98 said:

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That could also be as you get older, you start losing taste buds. It's partly why old dudes can do well in chile-eating contests: they have fewer taste buds to tell them that what they're eating is hot and you shouldn't do that.

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it's the other side of the equation that is the wake up call fer us older types… but I still love eating them.

My recollection is that it was fast food chain, I believe Church's Fried Chicken, that paid A&M to develop the milder pepper.

HTownAg98 said:

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That could also be as you get older, you start losing taste buds. It's partly why old dudes can do well in chile-eating contests: they have fewer taste buds to tell them that what they're eating is hot and you shouldn't do that.

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Know Your Enemy said:

---

Bruce Almighty said:

---

Know Your Enemy said:

---

Bruce Almighty said:

---

Sumlin's lost control of the Jalapeno industry.

---

Are you over 60? Honest question.

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No, why?

---

Just trying to understand what demographic still thinks that joke is funny.

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Sumlin's lost control of the "sumlin's lost control" joke