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shopping Store-bought peppers

Has anyone ever noticed some peppers bought from the store that seem really different from what you've grown? I bought a few habaneros at a Cooke's grocery store and, well, they're different than what I've had. They don't have the nice fruity flavor, they seem hotter, and the smell reminds me of a superhot I've had (maybe ghost?). I'd save seeds if they had a nice taste, but tbh I'd rather eat superhots. Anyone else ever come across something like this?
 
Stores around here carry jalapeno, Serrano, bell and orange habs sometimes. Being able to order the good stuff is a Godsend.

I don't get why shitty orange habs are the standard hab. Why not peach?
 
dragonsfire said:
Yub, generally their fast grown so they don't have taste, like most stuff in the stores.
I can eat a homegrown hab whole and be absolutely fine with it. The flavor is enough to distract me from the heat. These just taste like heat.
 
Where I am, the place of origin will dictate what kind of pepper you're gonna get. The majority of jalapenos sold here for example are either from Mexico or from here in California and the ones grown in Mexico are much hotter than the locally grown ones. Same thing with the anaheims. I'm sure they're unripe too when harvested so they don't spoil before being sold. That's part of why growing your own is the way to go. You can harvest and consume when they're at their peak.
 
Ghaleon said:
I don't get why shitty orange habs are the standard hab. Why not peach?
The problem is more with the "shitty" part than the "orange" part. When I buy Orange Habs at the supermarket, they aren't that great. Usually, they're less hot than I expect from a Hab, and while the classic Hab flavor is there, it is far fainter. Worst case, there is a faint cardboard/ wet woodchip flavor present. When I grew shitty generic Orange Habs last year, they were as hot as the hottest market Habs and very flavorful. I love how Orange Habs taste, unless it's a cardboard supermarket one. I know a lot of ppl say they don't like it...

But yes, I have found that store bought Habs, Jalapeños, and Serranos are different from homegrown. NEVER in a better way. Jalapeños tend to be less hot, far less flavor, and sending corked. Same goes for Serranos. Before I grew my own Serranos, I didn't even know that they could show corking.

Edmick, I took note of what you said about the origins making a big difference in flavor. I'd noticed that store bought Chiles could be hit or miss, but never paid attention to where they shipped from. I'll definitely look for that in the future.

To summarize, my experience last year with Orange Habs, Jalapeños, and Serranos was so eye opening, this year I'm growing even more of the pedestrian supermarket varieties. Habs, Jalapeños, Serranos again plus Poblanos, Guajillos, Thais, Tien Tsins...
 
I love the "shitty" orange store bought habs. They dont have that strong floral flavor. One of my favorite go to snacks are the shitty orange habs and doritos
 
I can get a few good store bought peppers but the vast majority are duds. Fresh Thyme Market gets a really good orange hab hybrid and most of the time their jalapenos are decent. My Asian market gets a few super hots, good Fresnos and excellent Anaheims during the harvest season. Off season they suck. No heat no flavor just bland filler duds. Most likely from a commercial grower who is getting paid by the pound or bushel. Rushing their product to market and ripening it in transport...Ive still never seen a ripe jalapeno, Anaheim, Aji Dulce or serrano at any local market.
 
When the Hatch harvest is in full swing i do get some really outstanding Anaheims locally. Last year they were good but the year before they were top shelf. Just delicious.
 
What i hate even more though is mislabeling. Ive seen bonnets that were just habs and some mystery pepper they had labeled as a lemon drop. It was nothing remotely like a lemon drop.
 
I am very grateful to have the shitty supermarket pods in the dead of winter, for obvious reasons.  But right now, i have these tiny pods showing up on some of my plants, so spending money on these bland chiles.  I feel a little more confidence when i´m at the dirtier produce shops; the cash-only spots where half the tie, the habs are better than the whiteguy market (but the other half the time, they are the exact same product) and they sometimes even have ripe Jalapeños.   (I feel like a kid on Christmas, hoping to get a particular gift, when i sprint over to the pepper section, hoping to see some red among the sea of green....)  But, yeah, i´m happy as hell to buy some dirt-habs in the winter, b/c that´s my only hope for getting some of that fresh chinense stank.  (Powders and frozen pods help, but it just ain´t the same....)
 
This thread is making me wonder if those supermarket habs taste like woodchips due to farming/harvesting/shipping practices, or genetics, or a combo of both.  Maybe i´ll save seeds at some point, to find out....but that already seems like a waste of effort and gardenspace...
 
I had great germination from the store bought Fresno seeds i saved. The specialty market has them quite often but the price is rather high. Around 4-5 times the price of jalapeno. Ive got 6 plants growing now. :D
 
dragonsfire said:
I have used supermarket peppers for growing, they end up with a far better taste, others are sterile like many other products.
Yeah, the danged mule effect.  I guess some have been genetically scrambled to be sterile, while others have been irradiated.  Those are some extreme measures to take, in my opinion, just to keep folks from saving seeds.
 
My supermarket Organic Sweet Potato (PC) dont sprout like they used to, used to sprout like a weed, suspicious. Lots of stuff is GMO now and they dont have to tell us.
 
By the way, just because it says "Organic" , does not mean its non GMO, they can legaly grow "Organic" GMO and sell it as wholesome Organic food.
 
I had some good habaneros from Walmart once, but that's it. I grew out the seeds of those and they were even better.
 
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