Let's say I use a bunch of ghost peppers to make a pepper extract. What do I do with the remains? I'm stuck with a bunch of peppers which are no longer hot peppers. They don't have the heat and they are probably missing a good amount of their flavor. Is this how they make commercial ghost pepper products like the cheesy fries from Wendy's or the Taco Bell burritos with ghost peppers? Do they use leftovers from making pepper extract just so they can use the name ghost pepper?
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leftovers from making pepper extract
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salsalady
Business Member
According to this post, from an intrepid person who dug through all the stuff to find out...
Wendy's sauce contains "ghost peppers (dried)" at the very bottom of a very long list of other ingredients.
http://www.bustle.com/articles/77773-do-wendys-ghost-pepper-fries-have-actual-ghost-peppers-in-them-heres-everything-you-need-to
From the Taco Bell website-
Fiery Ghost Pepper Sauce-Soybean oil, water, jalapeno pepper, vinegar, maltodextrin, egg yolk, chili powder (including ghost chilis) contains 1% or less of cayenne red pepper, dried garlic, spice, sugar, salt, beet juice (C), xanthan gum, oleoresin paprika, propylene glycol alginate, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate (P), calcium disodium EDTA (PF). Contains: Egg
Commercial food ventures, whether chips or fast food chains, can't be bothered with making extract or dealing with tailiings. They either use readily available extract or dried pepper powders.
Back to your original, there are a few threads around here about making extract. It's not easy, there's a thread about using a soxhlet to make extract. It can be a fun project if someone wants to spend the time to do it, but for most, it's easier to buy pepper extract.
Side note- most people who have tasted pepper extract (or any number of it's other names, but it's all the same) do not care for the flavor of extract, It has a distinctive metallic nasty taste and a lot of people say it gives them a bad gut ache.
Wendy's sauce contains "ghost peppers (dried)" at the very bottom of a very long list of other ingredients.
http://www.bustle.com/articles/77773-do-wendys-ghost-pepper-fries-have-actual-ghost-peppers-in-them-heres-everything-you-need-to
From the Taco Bell website-
Fiery Ghost Pepper Sauce-Soybean oil, water, jalapeno pepper, vinegar, maltodextrin, egg yolk, chili powder (including ghost chilis) contains 1% or less of cayenne red pepper, dried garlic, spice, sugar, salt, beet juice (C), xanthan gum, oleoresin paprika, propylene glycol alginate, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate (P), calcium disodium EDTA (PF). Contains: Egg
Commercial food ventures, whether chips or fast food chains, can't be bothered with making extract or dealing with tailiings. They either use readily available extract or dried pepper powders.
Back to your original, there are a few threads around here about making extract. It's not easy, there's a thread about using a soxhlet to make extract. It can be a fun project if someone wants to spend the time to do it, but for most, it's easier to buy pepper extract.
Side note- most people who have tasted pepper extract (or any number of it's other names, but it's all the same) do not care for the flavor of extract, It has a distinctive metallic nasty taste and a lot of people say it gives them a bad gut ache.
What I mean is that a ghost pepper is still a ghost pepper even after all the good stuff has been taken away. Legally speaking, why can't I just take someone's garbage and buy it up cheaply and add it to commercial products? It would explain why their products taste so weak and lack flavor.
salsalady
Business Member
I wouldn't call it a ghost pepper after the capsaicin has been extracted, and I have a feeling the "powers that be" wouldn't allow extract tailings to be listed as ghost peppers. It's a by-product at that point. An altered product. I suppose someone could use those tailings, but I have no idea how the PTB would require that to be listed.
I'm thinking of stuff in pet food listed as "chicken by-product". It's not chicken meat, it's not chicken bones, it's a little bit of everything else that's leftover after every other usable part has been salvaged.
Dried ghost peppers are really cheap now. They are readily available in many forms. For the small percentage of ghost peppers included in the fast food recipe, I don't see a reason for them to try and use leftovers.
The reason the commercial products are so weak is they are selling to the masses and the masses have a heat tolerance of about 2. From having sold fresh salsa for almost 20 years, 3/4 of what I sell is mild and medium which have heats of zero and 3. Only about 1-2% of spicy food consumers are legitimate hardcore chileheads, like many you will meet here on THP and other chilehead websites. But even here on THP, there are a great majority of people who like a little Zing but don't really go for the face-melting stuff.
I'm thinking of stuff in pet food listed as "chicken by-product". It's not chicken meat, it's not chicken bones, it's a little bit of everything else that's leftover after every other usable part has been salvaged.
Dried ghost peppers are really cheap now. They are readily available in many forms. For the small percentage of ghost peppers included in the fast food recipe, I don't see a reason for them to try and use leftovers.
The reason the commercial products are so weak is they are selling to the masses and the masses have a heat tolerance of about 2. From having sold fresh salsa for almost 20 years, 3/4 of what I sell is mild and medium which have heats of zero and 3. Only about 1-2% of spicy food consumers are legitimate hardcore chileheads, like many you will meet here on THP and other chilehead websites. But even here on THP, there are a great majority of people who like a little Zing but don't really go for the face-melting stuff.
All you really need is alcohol. 190 proof like Everclear works really well. Dried peppers are good; you just add alcohol to cover them and soak for several days before filtering out the solids and keeping the liquid. Ideally, you would use a hot water bath at 180 to 190 F to cook off the alcohol, but your neighbors will kill you. I only wish I had practical experience beyond looking it up. But it got me thinking, do I just put the used peppers in the trash? What else?
I've done thos a few times. Tincture, I think it is called when done with alcohol.
I used Everclear. Bought 1/5th, cheesecloth, non-metallic funnel, a couple widemouth Bell jars.
Filled first far with crushed /flaked peppers, covered with Everclear, put on lid, tighten, tighten again, shake like crazy, put on a shelf in the fridge and forget for 3-5 days.
Three to 5 days later take it out and shake it like crazy again. Return to fridge. In another 3-5 days do this again.
After a good 2 weeks of this, cut up a square or 2 of cheesecloth to fill your funnel. Put the funnel in the 2nd Bell jar, secure it and start pouring the alcohol from the first into the cheesecloth funnel. If you are careful, you can use a spoon to hold the flake back in the first jar while pouring off the alcohol. I did that, saving most of the pepper solids to add more flake to, more alcohol and more fridge time.
Anyway, take what liquid strained through the cheesecloth and hopefully is clear but a nice red color with no particulates. From what I understand, it is the particulates that remain in this that can "go bad" and leave you with nasties in your tincture.
So, take the liquid and find your favorite way of evaporating it. I have used a fan blowing over it (takes forever). I have used a candlewarmer and fan (not too bad if you don't mind the smell. Carefully place in an oven warming drawer for a while.etc.
The one way I do not recommend is to put it in a microwave. I don%t care how careful you think you'll be. Yes, you can get it evaporated really quickly, but you WILL definately wind up gassing you and anyone else in the house. Yes, I did this!
When the alcohol evaporates away, you are left with a thick dark purplish red liquid. Liquid heat. It's no joke hot, like toothpick dipped it, inserted into a hotdog and give to your nemesis "no joke" hot! Rofl
Good luck with it.
And to actually, finally answer the original question: I rather reluctantly tossed them in the trash after runing the flakes through the tincure a couple times. I just wasn't sure what else to do with them.
I used Everclear. Bought 1/5th, cheesecloth, non-metallic funnel, a couple widemouth Bell jars.
Filled first far with crushed /flaked peppers, covered with Everclear, put on lid, tighten, tighten again, shake like crazy, put on a shelf in the fridge and forget for 3-5 days.
Three to 5 days later take it out and shake it like crazy again. Return to fridge. In another 3-5 days do this again.
After a good 2 weeks of this, cut up a square or 2 of cheesecloth to fill your funnel. Put the funnel in the 2nd Bell jar, secure it and start pouring the alcohol from the first into the cheesecloth funnel. If you are careful, you can use a spoon to hold the flake back in the first jar while pouring off the alcohol. I did that, saving most of the pepper solids to add more flake to, more alcohol and more fridge time.
Anyway, take what liquid strained through the cheesecloth and hopefully is clear but a nice red color with no particulates. From what I understand, it is the particulates that remain in this that can "go bad" and leave you with nasties in your tincture.
So, take the liquid and find your favorite way of evaporating it. I have used a fan blowing over it (takes forever). I have used a candlewarmer and fan (not too bad if you don't mind the smell. Carefully place in an oven warming drawer for a while.etc.
The one way I do not recommend is to put it in a microwave. I don%t care how careful you think you'll be. Yes, you can get it evaporated really quickly, but you WILL definately wind up gassing you and anyone else in the house. Yes, I did this!
When the alcohol evaporates away, you are left with a thick dark purplish red liquid. Liquid heat. It's no joke hot, like toothpick dipped it, inserted into a hotdog and give to your nemesis "no joke" hot! Rofl
Good luck with it.
And to actually, finally answer the original question: I rather reluctantly tossed them in the trash after runing the flakes through the tincure a couple times. I just wasn't sure what else to do with them.