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chinense Interest in Reaper

Ok so plain and simple, I am interested in possibly growing Reapers next year. I don't do much with the peppers as my ability to withstand spicy foods isn't as great as I would like. I have only ever really eaten jalapenos for the most part. Although I am stepping up to thai peppers this year (plant in progress and fruiting now. Yay).

I LOVE making chili. Normally end up with store bought ones since my attempts last year at my first jalapeno plant where ruined by selling a house and moving in with in-laws. I have been experimenting with my own chili recipe and I think next year the addition of a reaper would be awesome.

I live in New Jersey, and would be starting plants indoors in early March. I'm looking for what type of reaper would suit me best.
I would love to get my tolerance level up and really enjoy the flavor of the Reapers to.

Open to any and all suggestions. Or ask away with your questions to help narrow the pool of right choices.

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maybe buy a small mixed box of peppers from one of the members here and get a taste for peppers of different flavor/heat profiles...
It will probably save you a lot of time, and your odds of getting real Reapers is increased.
Jumping from Jalapenos and Thai's straight to reapers might hurt too...
my 2cp
 
Here is a great link to learn about chillies and the different varieties of species and cultivars:

http://www.fatalii.net/Chile_Peppers

The 'Carolina Reaper' is a cultivar/variety of the chilli species known as Capsicum Chinense. There are many different varieties within this species and the Reaper is only one of those varieties. Habaneros, Scotch Bonnets and 7pots are also C. Chinense with many strains of each available.

The Jalepeno on the other hand is a variety of chilli in the species known as Capsicum Annum. There is also a huge range of chilli varieties from C. Anuum also.

Other members will be able to give you more info in regards to different flavours, heat levels and cooking methods for any variety you are interested in. Btw there are many species with hundreds if not thousands of varieties to choose from.

Good luck
 
Definatley work on your tolerance , you might surprise yourself at what kinda heat you can handle once you build a tolerance,  but remember that tolerance will drop fast if you go for a short time of not eating heat.  it doesnt take much, just start eating things like slices of fresh Jals on sandwiches etc, and work your way up
 
Hopefully with the addition of growing all these peppers this year I'll be more consistent with eating hot things. Time to stop home on lunch and eat a thai pepper lol

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captainsander said:
Hopefully with the addition of growing all these peppers this year I'll be more consistent with eating hot things. Time to stop home on lunch and eat a thai pepper lol

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lol i've got a runty choc hab with my lunch today!  :cheers:
 
TNKS said:
You never actually tolerate super ranked peppers.
You do learn to endure them.
Big difference.
I do enjoy the spice. And the burn.... And the tears.... Guess I'm I chili head minus the massive selection that most of you have

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Habs would be nice next year to.... Guess it's time to start planning a giant pepper garden for next year

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If you decide to grow carolina reapers, get them from the source. 3 years of trying "reapers" from various sources who all rank very highly here on the forums. Ended up with everything except reapers. This year I went straight to Puckerbutt pepper company for my seeds and finally got proper reapers. Save yourself the trouble
 
BTW Reapers are not the end all be all, just a hybrid, I prefer flavor and heat from the more traditional strains , Scorps , 7 Pots  and Bhuts have a really unique flavor and more than enough heat, hell I almost guarantee that I have Nagas that are just hot as reapers, just sayin' lol
 
LordHill said:
If you decide to grow carolina reapers, get them from the source. 3 years of trying "reapers" from various sources who all rank very highly here on the forums. Ended up with everything except reapers. This year I went straight to Puckerbutt pepper company for my seeds and finally got proper reapers. Save yourself the trouble
 
That kinda sucks. I got true reapers first go seed wise. I got mine from someone giving away seeds on the forum. And with a "Not isolated, so might be crossed" warning.
 
If you're going for chilli con carne (or even sin carne), the Trinidad Scorpion would be my big name superhot of choice. Something with a deaper, earthier flavour would also work but then we're getting into the stuff you have to grow yourself. I get that that's not a problem for you but I haven't tried enough to reccomend, I'm fairly new to growing myself.
 
The Ghost would also go in chilli but it tends to go with everything and is a significant step down from the Reaper, unlike Moruga strain Trinidad Scorpions which are so similar in strength that you have to eat them neat to really discern which is hotter. Reapers and Scorps hit very differently though and have very different flavours. Scorps have a throaty, sometimes glandular burn IMO, whereas Reapers are more searing mouth heat. Reapers are an almost mellow pepper flavour, occassionally described as having cinnamon notes, deceptively gentle in taste. Scorpions are a fruity flavour kind of reminiscent of a Habanero or Scotch Bonnet but also somewhat aciding, to the point of seeming nearly orangey to me.
 
Reapers make a delicious salsa but anything with them in will be unpleasantly sour unless you counterbalance it with sugar.
 
spicefreak said:
If you're going for chilli con carne (or even sin carne), the Trinidad Scorpion would be my big name superhot of choice. Something with a deaper, earthier flavour would also work but then we're getting into the stuff you have to grow yourself. I get that that's not a problem for you but I haven't tried enough to reccomend, I'm fairly new to growing myself.
 
The Ghost would also go in chilli but it tends to go with everything and is a significant step down from the Reaper, unlike Moruga strain Trinidad Scorpions which are so similar in strength that you have to eat them neat to really discern which is hotter. Reapers and Scorps hit very differently though and have very different flavours. Scorps have a throaty, sometimes glandular burn IMO, whereas Reapers are more searing mouth heat. Reapers are an almost mellow pepper flavour, occassionally described as having cinnamon notes, deceptively gentle in taste. Scorpions are a fruity flavour kind of reminiscent of a Habanero or Scotch Bonnet but also somewhat aciding, to the point of seeming nearly orangey to me.
 
Reapers make a delicious salsa but anything with them in will be unpleasantly sour unless you counterbalance it with sugar.
I'm open to all suggestions, maybe a plant or 2 of both. Aside from my chili I'm not sure what else I would use them for, gonna try my hand maybe this week at a sweet thai chili glaze/dip for a party I'm having this weekend

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Malarky said:
lol i've got a runty choc hab with my lunch today!  :cheers:
4 thai peppers cut up on top of 2 slices of leftover buffalo chicken pizza lol that was my lunch

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Im pretty sure your not completely understanding just HOW hot supers are LOL.
High cap levels do crazy things to the human system.

Just wade right in :)
Wicked Mike sells some of the best mixed boxs around.
Priced reasonable,his rep here is solid.

captainsander said:
I do enjoy the spice. And the burn.... And the tears.... Guess I'm I chili head minus the massive selection that most of you have
Sent from my SM-G930V using TapatalkHabs would be nice next year to.... Guess it's time to start planning a giant pepper garden for next year
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TNKS said:
Im pretty sure your not completely understanding just HOW hot supers are LOL.
High cap levels do crazy things to the human system.

Just wade right in :)
Wicked Mike sells some of the best mixed boxs around.
Priced reasonable,his rep here is solid.
no I get that they are crazy hot hot. I will NEVER be eating just straight supers. I would be just adding one individual pepper to each batch of chili or other dishes I make. I like very hot chili.

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I get the idea you are using the term 'reaper' generically.  If not, or if you mean it as any super hot, I have an idea for you.  Clean, cut in half and get rid of the placenta and seeds, and then flush with cold water before you cook with it.  The hot is in the middle around those seeds, but the flavor is in the pepper walls.  Then add a bit and taste, add a bit and taste, until you get to a comfortable heat level.  This way, you can include more of the flavor before it becomes uncomfortable.

I did this with Carolina Reaper when making pepper jelly.  In the end, it tasted like it had been made with a bit of liquid smoke.  I really didn't expect it at all.  Tasted great.
 
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