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Biker Billy - No cracking No corking ???

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

I really love Biker Billy jalapeno because I like heat but jalaeno just seems right on top of nachos.  The stuff you get from the gas station is kind of mild.  Biker Billy has a wee bit of a kick when it is red, but still has that great jalapeno taste.  Nothing else seems right on nachos with the melted cheese sauce.  So was kind of surprised to think that what I grow might not be Biker Billy.  Now here is the weird thing, when I look at photos on sites dedicated to peppers what I grow is right on.  But when I look at major seed places like Burpee, there is no cracking / corking in the photos.

Is it possible Burpee decided the cracking / corking is undesirable?  Could they have bred it out and created their own jalapeno and called it Biker Billy?  Do yours get that cool cracking / corking on them by the time they are red?

http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/peppers/pepper-hot-biker-billy-hybrid-prod000802.html
 
I never grew Billy Bikers, but Jalapeños are among the very few varieties of chiles that i´ve grown multiple years,  Most all of the seed packets i have seen, for most varieties, do not show corking.  Most (but not all, from what i understand) varieties of Jalas will cork, given enough time and the proper conditions.
 
I suspect you are right that the big seed companies have decided that the corking s undesirable; more than likely, there´s been a tiny amount of market reseach, which may have shown that a larger proportion of regular ppl prefer the pic without the corking.  Do i think it´s possible that Burpee et al jave either further selected the Biker Jalas to lose the corking, or used another non-corked strain but kept the Billy Biker moniker for the name recognition?  Sure, that´s possible, but probably not all that likely.
 
I´d think it´s far more likely that the seeds are either really Biker Jalas, or possibly generic Jalas, and in either case, they´ll likely grow out corked.  What seems most likely to me is that the marketing dept retouched the photos to visually eliminate the corking on the packaging, which would be a lot more cost-effective than trying to select for smooth pods. 
 
The only Jalas i grew this year are Earlies.  Most of´m corked up pretty good.  I had quite a few small plants; some plants put out much better pods, in terms of shape, size. and texture. But all were highly delicious....  
 
The general public in the U.S. view corking as an undesirable trait. Thats why when you go to the supermarkets, the jalapenos are always green smooth and glossy, unless it is a specialty store or farmers market. I actually saw a produce manager at my local supermarket tossing the corked peppers away, when I asked him why he said they were old! So course I had to educate him little on that but his response was they still wont sell. Its what people have been conditioned to believe and marketing.
 
As an avid consumer of jalapenos most of my entire life, I have to say corking ruins the mouth feel and therefore the appeal.  Now it might look nice....but who wants that crap rollin round on the pallete?   
 
Burpee probably bred the trait out. I think the true variety has corking.
 
AJ is taking about the Burpee packaging, and not neccessarily the pods produced....
 
I´ve heard a few mojones talkin´ bout how they dislike corked Jalas.  On the one hand, I´m like ¨different folks, different folks.¨ On the other hand, i´m like ¨whatever, dude... you´re just wrong.¨ Personally, i´m happy to eat smooth Jalas, but the corked ones are better.  
 
Bicycle808 said:
AJ is taking about the Burpee packaging, and not neccessarily the pods produced....
 
Click to expand...
 
Yep.  I am starting to think it might just be advertising / marketing like everything else.  Maybe Burpee stuff corks as it should but they dont show that so they can sell more seeds.  What someone said about corking being a sign of quality in Mexico makes me remember living in Germany.  A live bug in a salad at a restaurant just meant it was fresh produce.  Not a get up and dance moment but nothing to fret about, just flick it aside and enjoy the fresh salad.  Americans would wig.  How dare you serve me non irradiated non pesticide food.  I think we Americans have a few things to learn.  In this case, about jalapeno and from Mexico.

Oh damn, I am becoming a pepper snob.
 
 
I´m pretty sure you´re a confirmed, long-term pepper snob, AJ.  You´re just not snobby enough to let it permeate your life.
 
I would think that they put uncorked pods on the bag b/c customers prefer it.  And, if enough customers grow´m and do not like the corking, they´ll probably just toss seeds from Goliath or some other less-corked strain, and put those seeds in the same packet, with the same ¨Billy Biker¨ name on it.  They´re going to want to keep it as cost-effective as possible.
 
Click the right arrow on the burpee pic, and the next pic, they are all corked. ;)
 
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