Ghost peppers

[patriot15joe]

This is my first year growing ghost peppers and Carolina reapers. Looking for ideas of what to use them for now that they are starting to turn. I like spicy salsas. Also wondered about drying them to grind into powder.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Well, the folks in India use them to keep elephants out of their fields instead of eating. I love spicy food, but anything that hot is useless, IMO. And literally dangerous.

 

[tr21]

man if your going to grind them be sure to use a respirator. I used to grow and grind habaneros to put on our beef jerky, you wont do it but once without one !

 

[mizzippi jb]

Anything above jalapeño or cerrano is a miserable experience to me.

 

[Batjack]

Wear disposable rubber gloves every time you go to touch one.

 

[GeorgiaBob]

Your use will depend on how you react to the burn. I am not really fond of the taste of Ghost peppers. They have an earthy herb like taste to me. But if I use the skins (without the seeds) chopped fine, in lieu of thyme or oregano, in stews or sauces it adds a real snap to the flavor.

Reapers have an almost sweet taste to me. I can't eat more than one at a time (anymore). They are a lot to take in. If you like spicy additions to Italian and TexMex, dry the NC Reaper seeds and mix them in with the dried pepper seeds you sprinkle on pizza. I wouldn't mix stronger than 10% reaper and even then expect a ZZZZIIIINNNGGGG. Including Reapers with Jalapenos in salsas and pico is a good way to bump the wow. I use very little NC Reaper maybe one or two in a pint of salsa, along with 20 or more Jalapenos. I absolutely warn people before serving!

 

[slow motion]

You could use em for fire starters, home made pepper spray, ant killer, the options are endless.
Seriously though, good luck with em. Too hot for me.

 

[capnjames]

I’ve been making homemade hot sauce

 

[Geffellz18]

Don’t think I’d be up for anything anywhere near that hot!
Just took a taste of scotch bonnet sauce last week and that was a tolerable heat, but noticeably hotter than habanero’s.
Anything hotter than those would definitely be overkill IMO.

 

[Nicodemus]

Cayennes are about as hot as I go. Them and jalapenos are a staple here.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Don’t think I’d be up for anything anywhere near that hot!
Just took a taste of scotch bonnet sauce last week and that was a tolerable heat, but noticeably hotter than habanero’s.
Anything hotter than those would definitely be overkill IMO.

I like them with Jamaican jerk marinades. That's as hot as I go though. I want to taste my food, not be beaten and slapped by it.

 

[hawkeye123]

Love ghost pepper hot sauce..wear gloves , masks & goggles when boiling it..start with apple cidar vinegar , boil with ghost peppers..I take out seeds & rinds & puree em..cut with red bell peppers & brown sugar..add garlic & onion powder & puree a Vidalia in there to cut heat a lil mo..put in my bbq sauce also

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

I grew both Ghost and Trinidad Scorpions a few years back. I love hot spice, but they are overkill. I did make a good apricot pepper jelly with Scorpion pepper. 1 pepper diced into about a gallon of jelly was actually just right.

 

[patriot15joe]

I have been playing with the deer jerky recipe and I think I have dialed it in to near perfection. I used to use 5-6 jalapeños but I have switched to half a ghost pepper and it is spot on. There is a nice heat, but not over powering. To prep my peppers, I have pulled the seeds out, halved the peppers, and dehydrated them.

2 cups dr. Pepper
2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 ghost pepper

Boil the mix for 10-15 minutes. Then strain into a Tupperware. Marinade over night and dehydrate the following day.

I haven’t got the nerve up yet to try the Carolina reapers.

 

[WaltL1]

I grew a ghost plant last year. Took the tiniest taste and gave the rest away.
Beyond hot!

 

[pjciii]

I grew a ghost plant last year. Took the tiniest taste and gave the rest away.
Beyond hot!
View attachment 1247119

Doesn't look like any bugs bothered the plant.

 

[John Cooper]

I worked my way up to Reapers, started out just eating a small bit, till it didn't bother me.

Then I would go a little bigger, after a couple of several months I could bite one and it not bother me. That's was just a self experiment.

Now when we grow Ghost and Reapers we normally run them through a juicer to mix in chilly and to really mix with anything you want to add heat to.

A little goes along way when you juice them.

 

[blood on the ground]

I hop off the pain train at the Jalapeño pepper …. Me no like the AFTER burn!

 

[WaltL1]

Doesn't look like any bugs bothered the plant.

Pretty much no bugs at all. Just an occasional june bug (I guess they were) and I crushed them right quick.

 

[bullethead]

This is my first year growing ghost peppers and Carolina reapers. Looking for ideas of what to use them for now that they are starting to turn. I like spicy salsas. Also wondered about drying them to grind into powder.

That joker looks like it would detonate if it fell off of the vine.