When shopping at a supermarket or a farmers market, how can I tell which jalapeños to take home? I want them hot and ready rock that very day. Do they get hotter off the vine? Is a ripe jalapeño a hot jalapeño? Does shape affect hotness (or the other way around)?
How to choose fresh, ripe (hot) jalapeños
ingredient-selectionjalapenospicy-hot
Related Topic
- How does one tell if a jalapeno is spicy
- How to dehydrate hot peppers in the oven
- Spice – How to increase spiciness without abusing hot spices
- How to know whether a coconut is ripe or rancid before buying
- Fruit – How to pick ripe plantains for maduros
- Spice – Does lime juice make jalapeños less spicy
- When freezing jalapeños, can I leave the seeds in
- Chocolate – How to thicken a hot chocolate microwave recipe
Best Answer
First, Jalapenos do not ripen once picked. No pepper does.
Red jalapenos are actually ripe and have more flavor, although they are not, in my experience, any hotter than the standard green, slightly-less-than-ripe, jalapenos.
There is no relationship between shape and capsaicin content that I know of. So, mostly you're just trying to get jalapenos which are as freshly-picked as possible: no bruised spots, no spots or mold, stems not shriveled, etc.
Also, note that the seeds and membrane inside the jalapeno contain most of its capsaicin, so if you're looking for hot, do not remove those.