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Uses for green pods?

HeirloomChef

HeirloomChef

It got down to 37 here last night, forecast is for 36 tonight. I'm tired of carrying 60 5 and 7 gallon grow bags in and out of the garage at night, so I started stripping them and pruning them back for overwintering this morning.

Looking at my buckets of pods so far, I think I'm likely to end up with 10-15 gallons of superhot greenies. I can make up a batch of hot green tomato salsa with some, dehydrate a batch for some green powder and possibly experiment with a 'whatchagot green sauce', but I'm still going to have tons more than I need. If I try stuffing that many in the freezer there won't be any room for ducks or venison, but it pains me to think of dumping them in the compost bin. I guess I could pickle them...

What do you do with your green pods this time of year?
 
If they are remotely close to turning, try putting them in brown paper bags, fold down the tops and leave them on the counter, they will ripen. It might take a week or more, and I've heard that putting a ripe banana in the bag will also hasten the ripening. I'm trying the banana trick right now for the first time with some green Super Chiles. It does seem to ripen them quicker.

Check the pods every day and pick out the ripe ones or any that get a bad spot. I put the ripe ones in one of those VeggieFresh produce bags in the fridge until there are enough ripe ones to do something with. Pods can keep fresh in the produce bags in the refer for a few weeks as the other pods are ripening.

Then you have the same choices of what to do with the ripe pods- dry, pickle, sauce, freeze a few, canned salsa......

Got any pics of the haul? It's always nice to see people's harvests.
 
salsalady said:
If they are remotely close to turning, try putting them in brown paper bags, fold down the tops and leave them on the counter, they will ripen. It might take a week or more, and I've heard that putting a ripe banana in the bag will also hasten the ripening. I'm trying the banana trick right now for the first time with some green Super Chiles. It does seem to ripen them quicker.

Check the pods every day and pick out the ripe ones or any that get a bad spot. I put the ripe ones in one of those VeggieFresh produce bags in the fridge until there are enough ripe ones to do something with. Pods can keep fresh in the produce bags in the refer for a few weeks as the other pods are ripening.

Then you have the same choices of what to do with the ripe pods- dry, pickle, sauce, freeze a few, canned salsa......

Got any pics of the haul? It's always nice to see people's harvests.
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Thanks, I'll see if I have enough starting to turn to give that a try. After a while I started leaving anything that wasn't close to full size on the branches I was tossing, and there were actually more ripe than I thought. Unfortunately with kids in soccer and football today I've only gotten a little less than halfway through stripping them with their schedule. I'm home between games now so I'll carry the remaining potted ones in again, cover the ones in the ground and hit it again tomorrow. I'll get pictures, I should be able to fill the patio table completely this time...
 
Frost got one plant in a pot that I'd forgotten about, I'll have to dig one out of the dirt and try putting it in a pot. The ones in the garden did fine, the frost was fairly light.

I got all the hot ones harvested today, by the end I was a lot more selective. If it wasn't really good sized it or at least starting to turn color it went into the compost pile for the main garden.

Now to decide what to do with all of them. I'm not sure I want to split and seed all of these before freezing them for sauce and I certainly can't fit this many in the dehydrator... First year I've had the problem of too many peppers.:cool:

Here is the picture, this is mostly just the hot table. I did notice one baccatum got in the picture though. It's not all neat and organized like I would normally make it, but the game is coming on...


2012%20Final%20Harvest%20Day.jpg
 
pepperfever said:
Oh I would love to come over and help you with that pepper problem lol.
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I'm thinking of either selling them or offering one of my nephews a third of them if he'll come split and seed the rest for the dehydrator or freezer. He loves the heat but lives in an apartment with nowhere to grow.
 
Nicely done! Someday I will have that problem. Don't panic, just let them dry and weigh your options as you enjoy the ambiance. In the middle of winter, pull out a few coals from your amazing chile bounty and warm up.... :cool:

Also, post up your overwintering procedures, as you get around to it.
 
Shaughn said:
im drooooling over your yield....not fair lol
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Every year I get better, but it's definately a challenge in this climate. That's part of what draws me to it. I don't grow in soil any more, make my own potting mix, grow in black plastic so that the roots are warmer than ground temperature here, etc.

My wife puts it somewhat differently: I'm obsessed, but at least I'm in the garden and not the bar.
 
papadaca said:
those 7 pots are as big as bell peppers! oO
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They're one of the plants that started falling over this year from the weight of the peppers. Incredible yield per plant. If I can overwinter and clone the best of what I grew this year I'm going to be very happy next year...
 
Justaguy made some double cherry smoked flakes out of green bhuts and scorpions. It tastes amazing and is surprisingly hot. You could easily mix that in with a rub or something. It's worth a shot if you still have the green pod issue. Smoke em if you got em. :mouthonfire:
 
Sethsquatch said:
Justaguy made some double cherry smoked flakes out of green bhuts and scorpions. It tastes amazing and is surprisingly hot. You could easily mix that in with a rub or something. It's worth a shot if you still have the green pod issue. Smoke em if you got em. :mouthonfire:
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When you smoke them, do most people seed them? That's the part that's getting to me, and I've still got 10 pounds or so doing the paper bag ripening thing.

I always seed for sauce because I think the seeds add a bitter character if they're cooked with them and strained out.
 
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