First ripe cayenne, Opinions on peak ripeness?

Casper

Casper

Finally got my first ripe cayenne.
 
I have been eating green ones but finally got a red one.  Please share your opinion on the best time to eat these very hot cayennes, and why.
 
 
The skin is definitely softening up already so I feel maybe I should have picked it 1 day earlier.
 
I am pretty tolerant to heat and this cayenne is as hot as some habeneros, surprisingly hot!
 
That's a pretty cayenne.  Somehow I saw it as the smile of a smiley face---you need a couple of chiltepins and a Congo or something for the nose! :-)  No scale---is it the thin or thick kind?
 
My limited experience is that they're pretty stable once red.  For fresh use I pull them when I need them, for drying I pull them as soon as they turn fully red.
 
-NT
 
 
cayennes are sneaky little bastards.  I haven't had superhot pods yet but have had powders sent to me and some ghost flakes. Couple cayennes I grew this year were just as hot it seemed.

as for ripeness.  I find them awful unless completely red
 
I would never eat them green, or even with a hint of green.  Mine ripen through green to red to almost a deep burgundy wine shade.  I find that the heat doesn't seem to change much once they are fully red (and no darker areas up near the calyx) but they can increase in sweetness a bit; which is how I like them.  Once they start to rumple on the vine you are getting close to overripe/rot.
 
Unless the weight of them is straining branches then I leave them on the plant until the flesh ever so slightly starts to get softer, then leave them inside for a week or so till I eat 'em, freeze 'em, or whichever.  They seem to increase a bit in sweetness by waiting for them to soften a little, but then so does roasting them.
 
Maybe I misinterpreted the question.  The best time to eat them is breakfast.   It'll wake you up without as much shock as eating superhots. ;)
 
Dave2000 said:
Unless the weight of them is straining branches then I leave them on the plant until the flesh ever so slightly starts to get softer, then leave them inside for a week or so till I eat 'em, freeze 'em, or whichever.  They seem to increase a bit in sweetness by waiting for them to soften a little, but then so does roasting them.
 
Maybe I misinterpreted the question.  The best time to eat them is breakfast.   It'll wake you up without as much shock as eating superhots. ;)
Click to expand...
Love it. Thanks.  
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top