just wondering if anyone knows a good way to remove all the stems of harvested chiles. For large hot sauce companies like Sriracha that go through millions of peppers, they must have a better way. I'm using Aji's which are particularly tough because the stem will snap off easy but the green cap wants to be a pain in the butt. Wondering if i should try a batch with green caps still on..... hmmmm
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stem removal
- Thread starter FROG DOG
- Start date
salsalady
Business Member
I use a paring knife and cut right below the cap. Every single one......I also cut every pepper open to look for bad spots or black seeds.
Sriracha actually cuts the stems off and leaves the caps on. They have a pre-processing facility out in the fields where the chiles are grown. But i've not seen if they have a chopping line or just conveyor belts with workers. I've also seen another small batch sriracha sauce maker leave the caps on the habaneros. Personally, I would not want the stems in anything made with habs, scorps or the like just for the flavor. I would think the green caps would have a green flavor that wouldn't go well with red chiles, let alone anything yellow. Maybe a sauce with green jalapenos, but even then....I'd probably still feel compelled to cut open every chile.
yea, it sucks when looking at 200 pounds of 7 Pot chiles....but the difference was noticable. The first batch I didn't open every chile and when making the sauce, I kept picking out little black seeds. It drove me nuts! (well, maybe I was nuts before that...) After that, I opened every pod and picked out or threw out bad bits and black seeds. The sauce was a beautiful perfectly red/orange sauce with no dark seeds.
Sriracha actually cuts the stems off and leaves the caps on. They have a pre-processing facility out in the fields where the chiles are grown. But i've not seen if they have a chopping line or just conveyor belts with workers. I've also seen another small batch sriracha sauce maker leave the caps on the habaneros. Personally, I would not want the stems in anything made with habs, scorps or the like just for the flavor. I would think the green caps would have a green flavor that wouldn't go well with red chiles, let alone anything yellow. Maybe a sauce with green jalapenos, but even then....I'd probably still feel compelled to cut open every chile.
yea, it sucks when looking at 200 pounds of 7 Pot chiles....but the difference was noticable. The first batch I didn't open every chile and when making the sauce, I kept picking out little black seeds. It drove me nuts! (well, maybe I was nuts before that...) After that, I opened every pod and picked out or threw out bad bits and black seeds. The sauce was a beautiful perfectly red/orange sauce with no dark seeds.
Yeah I do like Salsa Lady, it's worth the extra time to cut the tops off and slit down the middle just to be sure you don't have any black seeds or anything else that might cause bitterness. It's a pain in the ass (or any place else if you don't wear gloves and wash your hands 
) but this way you are sure you have quality pods going into your batch for fermenting or sauce making. It's also what I do for freezing or drying them too.
) but this way you are sure you have quality pods going into your batch for fermenting or sauce making. It's also what I do for freezing or drying them too.