Yeah Mike wasn't the one who got me into hot peppers but he sure as hell solidified my relationship with them.
Mike was one of a kind. Called it like he saw it, like it or not.
He epitomized the term "chilihead", and "pepper people."
Love you bro.
I think that habaneros are great peppers. Nice creeping burn. Hot enough for chili heads to appreciate but yet also not too too hot for non chili heads if used appropriately.
I'd dehydrate a lot of them and make pure hab powder and other spice blends as well.
+1 for lemon drops. Great flavor, nice bright citrusy heat and oh my god more than enough pods. They throw so many damn pods you dont know what to do with them.
I remember many years ago when I first started making sauce, I was making a habanero peach sauce that I put too many peppers in. I put a pound of habs in and was boiling then simmering. Stuck my big ole forehead right over that pot and kept it there for a min and burned the bejesus out of my...
Frogs and toads that live in my front yard are free to live a prosperous life. If they make it to the back yard though...I keep an eye out for two types.
Cuban Tree Frog which is poisonous and the invasive Cuban Tree Frog.
The terrier instinct of my American Staffordshire's come out and if they...
I set up my dehydrator inside. Anything over hab level I'll usually move it outside though. It's tough with 90-100% humidity in FL though. I dehydrate low and slow though, peppers retain their color better that way.
I know some old grannies use to do that with carrots too. To get the sugar and flavor into a red sauce without adding the carrots. They'd use a cheesecloth with some twine to make a sachet bag and add herbs/spices/carrots etc and fish the bag out of the pot at the end.
This is right up my alley. I make a lot of sweet sauces. Just finished a strawberry kiwi. Did a cherry dragon fruit last week.
I use 3 supers per liter (roughly) of sauce to get a decent burn. Won't kill most people but you surely know it's there. This is also dependent upon the pepper as well...
I don't process many things without seeds. But it's def best to slice in half before vac sealing. Ive had seemingly perfect looking peppers from the exterior have black spots and other nasties inside.
Aji Lemon drops. Really citrusy. One of my faves. Especially a lemon drop x bhut cross. You'd expect it to be super hot but it isn't.
Datils would be good. Datil will surprise you with heat level though.
As with any test sauce/batch/new endeavour-research and start small (batch wise). You got this!!!
Edit: I also imagine that any of the beers that have chocolatey notes would pair well with pepper. Kind of reminiscent of mexican hot chocolate.