chinense Ate my first Scotch Bonnet

Tybo · Jun 27, 2019

Yep, I had 2 yellow MOA's on a plant last night so I picked 'em and gave one a try along with a sandwich (on the side to chase down the heat).

I have been getting Datil peppers already and really do like them a lot. I have even made 2 different sauces so far and love the heat, fruity flavor and to me just the right amount of sweetness.

Back to the MOA. And this is just my opinion but the MOA seemed to have a more chinense taste. Heat wise it was about the same as the Datil's, maybe not as hot. I have to admit that it had my nose running and my face and head were definitely feeling it. Granted, I won't be eating them this way as a rule. Probably a hot sauce if I can come up with a decent recipe. I think the walls seemed too thick to make powder. Let me know if anyone has made powder with these.

I think the MOA's will be in the growing list for next year and definitely Datil's.

I also have Freeport Orange, Foodarama and TFM's growing but not yet anywhere near ripe. I look forward to trying these also. Can anyone enlighten me as to the flavor and heat of these as compared to the MOA's? I know Bicycle808 is a big fan of yellow bonnets

Chewi · Jun 27, 2019

All your others I have tasted and like them all. Freeport Orange is close to tasting like Bahamian Goat which is stellar. Datil to me are like a crisp bite of Florida sunshine and can't be beat for fresh eating.
Yes, all of those bonnets are good for powder. A little smoke doesn't hurt either. They are all better powdered to me than fresh with the exception of the Datil. Just too many damn seeds.

Masher · Jun 27, 2019

Excellent for powders.

:cheers:

Tybo · Jun 27, 2019

Chewi said:
All your others I have tasted and like them all. Freeport Orange is close to tasting like Bahamian Goat which is stellar. Datil to me are like a crisp bite of Florida sunshine and can't be beat for fresh eating.
Yes, all of those bonnets are good for powder. A little smoke doesn't hurt either. They are all better powdered to me than fresh with the exception of the Datil. Just too many damn seeds.

Never had a Bahamian Goat so I'm not sure what that means. Is the FO as chinensee tasting as the MOA? Hotter/milder?

Masher said:
Excellent for powders.

Will try it out. I had always heard the thicker walled peppers weren't as easy to dehydrate and this MOA had walls quite a bit thicker than the Thai's and Cayenne's I grew last year and the Datil's that I have this year.

I will say though that for now I don't think I would want any peppers that were much hotter. Maybe my tolerance will increase. I hope so! I have yellow scorpions almost ripe and some Jay's chocolate crosses of some sort that have small fruit developing. Sorry, I don't remember the cross right now. My brain does that sometimes! :shh:

Other peppers I have that are coming along are some Aji Mango's, Sugar Rush Peach, Tabasco and Fresno's and already getting Shishito and Fushimi's but the last two aren't hot. Taste good though.

Bicycle808 · Jun 27, 2019

In my experience, the three yellow Bonnets your growing (TFM, MOA, Foodarama) are very close on trends of heat. I'd rank them just like that, too... TFM>MOA>Foodarama, hottest to least. The Freeport Orange is at least as hot as the TFMs. Incidentally, the Freeports also produce the largest pods, which might throw off my perception of the heat.

The Freeport Oranges do taste a lot like Bahama Goats, which doesn't mean much to you if you ain't had them, either... But it's definitely a good thing. I feel like the Goats and Freeports taste like a Bhut Orange Copenhagen with about 1/3 of the heat. When I first grew the Freeports, I expected them to be more like Orange Habs, but the flavor is different. Freeports are more fruity whereas the Habs got a lot of floral notes going on...

This year, I'm growing most of these, except the MOAs. Definitely got Goats, Freeports, TFMs, and Foodaramas... Plus the Bhut Orange Copenhagen but I'm not sure those will grow true for me.

And yes, I've made tons of smoked Bonnet Powder. It's delicious with garlic and salt on French fries, eggs, cheesesteaks... Basically any food that would be otherwise boring

Tybo · Jun 27, 2019

Bicycle808 said:
In my experience, the three yellow Bonnets your growing (TFM, MOA, Foodarama) are very close on trends of heat. I'd rank them just like that, too... TFM>MOA>Foodarama, hottest to least. The Freeport Orange is at least as hot as the TFMs. Incidentally, the Freeports also produce the largest pods, which might throw off my perception of the heat.

The Freeport Oranges do taste a lot like Bahama Goats, which doesn't mean much to you if you ain't had them, either... But it's definitely a good thing. I feel like the Goats and Freeports taste like a Bhut Orange Copenhagen with about 1/3 of the heat. When I first grew the Freeports, I expected them to be more like Orange Habs, but the flavor is different. Freeports are more fruity whereas the Habs got a lot of floral notes going on...

This year, I'm growing most of these, except the MOAs. Definitely got Goats, Freeports, TFMs, and Foodaramas... Plus the Bhut Orange Copenhagen but I'm not sure those will grow true for me.

And yes, I've made tons of smoked Bonnet Powder. It's delicious with garlic and salt on French fries, eggs, cheesesteaks... Basically any food that would be otherwise boring

How do you smoke the peppers? Can it be done on a charcoal grill with wood chips. Sorry, I guess I could have googled it.

Chewi · Jun 27, 2019

I get what you are saying. I don't like the really chinense flavor either. FO is less. It is really good. You can sure smoke em on the grill. Foil pouch full of chips with holes poked in the foil. Peppers stemed and halfed on a foil tray with holes along the bottom. Can get those anywhere. Just need a cheap dehydrator and a coffee grinder from walmart. Easy and cheap.

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Chewi · Jun 27, 2019

And +1 to everything bicycle said as well.

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Bicycle808 · Jun 27, 2019

Chewi said:
I get what you are saying. I don't like the really chinense flavor either.

Just to be clear: I love standard Orange Habs. I'm growing those as well as BGoats, Freeports, and a few other Bonnet-type things in Chocolate and Red colorways. But I'm growing far more Yellow Bonnets than anything else.

Tybo said:
How do you smoke the peppers? Can it be done on a charcoal grill with wood chips. Sorry, I guess I could have googled it.

Yeah, you can smoke then on a grill, from what I understand. More than likely, if you go the route that Chewi described, you'll be able to get the smoke flavor in there, but you'll probably need to finish them off in a dehydrator.

I've been dreaming about making a DIY smoker out of an oil drum and some pipes, but that's probably outside the scope of my immediate plans. And there's a good chance I'd get some shitty results into i figured out the process.

For now, the way I smoke my chiles is, I drop off like 1000 pods at this place: https://smokebbqnj.com/ -- and then a few days later, I go back to get some brisket, and take like 500 beautifully smoked pods home with me. That's probably not an option for most ppl, and it probably wouldn't work for me if I weren't into growing far more peppers than I'd ever need on a year anyway...

Chewi said:
And +1 to everything bicycle said as well.

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