WalkGood 2013, 2014 and Beyond

WalkGood · Jun 14, 2013

RocketMan said:
I have a propane and an electric smoker and while I can get the electric one down into the 100 to 110 range, and it's the one i use now for peppers, i have used the propane one too. You have to get them down as low as you can and really keep an eye on how long you have them in there for. While I can get 4 really good hours of smoke off the electric one, I could get about 2 hours of smoke off the propane one and sometimes up to 3 hours on a cold or rainy day when the smoker would run cooler.

Also yeah, you need to stay to the less intense smokes. Hickory and Mesquite would be a little too intense alone while mix of say Apple or Cherry and Mesquite or Pecan will give you a really good smoke. I mostly use Apple when I smoke peppers.

Just my 2 centavo Brethren, have a great weekend

Bill a great 2 centavo’s brethren I’ve never used an electric one but from what I’ve read and what you say here those are the best. That said, I’ve used a coal burning one so many years that I’m very comfortable with it. As always thank you for sharing your knowledge

Devv said:
Well she looks good! I agree limit the sun, I'm sure that applies to any oil based treatment. Thing is most of my grow is a dirt grow...but I have an idea..

So it’s working good for you too? Shade cloth? What I’ve been doing is when I’m sure it’s going to rain I spray them hard both top and bottom before it rains and if it stays cloudy out I might hit the tops a little more because the rain washes it off.

Devv said:
Ramon, I smoked the peppers for a short while, like an hour and then threw them in the dehydrator. I used well aged Mesquite which IHMO is rather mild and gives a sweet taste to anything I smoke, but I pulled them as soon as they showed the slightest color...can always add more, can't take it away...hopefully they won't be too strong. If so I'll add more un-smoked product...using an electric smoker.

I also use Mesquite but for some meats only, IMHO what your pallet likes the best & you enjoy the most is the way to go. I have a good link that describes the wood tastes if you have not tried all these Click Here. I mainly use oak, pecan and mangrove wood but have tried most of the ones listed. BTW I like your idea to smoke for a little while and then dehydrate, I’ll have to give that one a shot too.

Closing out dis Friday with mi Jamaican Habanero babies, here’s 7 of them in 2.5 gallon nursery pots. Hard to just show the babies without throwing in a few shots of their Mama, hehehe (the blue pot in far back is a Chocolate Hab)

Can’t just show the babies without featuring at least one of da Mama JA Hab’s. This is the one with the variegated pods, she’s full up now.

That’s it from me for today, hope you enjoyed the pictures ^_^

stickman · Jun 14, 2013

Boy Ramon, every time I look in here it seems like I've got to look through at least 3 pages of great photos. As the folks in eastern Mass. say... You're doin' wicked good! Have a great weekend!

Devv · Jun 14, 2013

Whoooo hoooooo!

What you have secret stashes??

Every time you post I see more of the hidden treasures.

Rock on my friend!

So where's the rest? hahahha

KiNGDeNNiZ · Jun 14, 2013

WalkGood said:
Can’t just show the babies without featuring at least one of da Mama JA Hab’s. This is the one with the variegated pods, she’s full up now.

That’s it from me for today, hope you enjoyed the pictures ^_^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IMub9essVA

nice looking JA habs mon...

Trippa · Jun 14, 2013

looking nice bro ... tell me whats the blue/green spots on top of the soil of some of the pots??

WalkGood · Jun 15, 2013

stickman said:
Boy Ramon, every time I look in here it seems like I've got to look through at least 3 pages of great photos. As the folks in eastern Mass. say... You're doin' wicked good! Have a great weekend!

Rick thanks for the photo compliments, I still need improvement and a few were out of focus so you are too kind my friend ^_^

Devv said:
Whoooo hoooooo!

What you have secret stashes??

Every time you post I see more of the hidden treasures.

Rock on my friend!

So where's the rest? hahahha

I try to always have a dozen seeds germinating in an egg tray, you never know when you’ll need back ups or you can always gift them. Thanks for the kudos Scott and hope you have an awesome day mon!

KiNGDeNNiZ said:
… … nice looking JA habs mon …

Thanks Denniz, I’m trying … hope yours are also doing well, have any of them podded for you yet?
... Hope you have a great day mon!

Trippa said:
looking nice bro ... tell me whats the blue/green spots on top of the soil of some of the pots??

Thanks Trippa, I can’t wait to see what you will have going this season, I have a feeling that you are going to blow mids here \o/

Ah the bluish/green stuff … top secret formula from a mad scientist friend of mine that will grow huge bean stalks like in the story of Jack. I could tell you but I’d have to kill you, hahaha, only joking my friend

… A pepper & mater growing friend from Palm Bch gave me a bag full of this fert (probably just under 10lbs). He said it’s similar to this stuff which I’m trying on a few plants VS the chicken poop and other stuff I normally use. He told me its NPK 12-12-17 for vegetables that he can get super cheap if I’m interested. But so far I can’t tell any differences but I am seriously not qualified to analyze this other than what I can see.

Have a great day mon!

WalkGood · Jun 15, 2013

Small harvest this morning ...

DocNrock · Jun 15, 2013

Wow, took a couple of pages to get caught up!

Your powder had a great color to it! Looked fantastic. So did that infused salt. I am so making some of that (one of these days...).

Those plants are going to get massive in 15 gallon pants! Mine are in 5 gallon and are plenty big.

So the Death by Rosemary works, eh? I just cut back a mite-infested Jamaican Yellow Mushroom. No worries, I have two more.

Nice harvest for a weekend morning. Gotta love it. Going to be exponential at this point!

Keep up da grow!

annie57 · Jun 15, 2013

DAYum, Ramon! Go through remnant of el derecho, get my hair trimmed, start some compost tea, and look at ya! Pods looking beautiful, hon!!!! (And lots of 'em!)

Powder rocks! 60/40, huh?

I agree about the temps, although I'm with Bill on preference for apple, fruit woods--got ton of pecan on left "lower 40 wood pile"--need to puck up, aka take chainsaw make pucks, from dried limbs--and wish had shredder for some of it to make chips, although ~~rarely~~ never use them. Could gift them to brothers who use nothing but propane. I just prefer the milder wood flavors or fruit flavors for most stuff. Also, threw a ton of dried allspice berries on for some that Carib Red Sauce: smoking pods before hit dehydrator. Not real a-spice berries but the kind ya grind; they kinda helped. Maybe.

Am in the charcoal camp as well, mi hermano: got to find some purpose for the El Cheapo Brinkmann--only a couple of coals in early fall (when still hot) even gets ECB at temps above what I'd like if don't watch how many, aka hand-count coals. I really want to try some smoked sea salt this year to go with blends. Like the idea of garlic and/or onion--you'd be drying that too, I take it?

And then, I got to thinking, "What goes in sauce, could go in powder." I always roast garlic, onion, and/or smoke a little then roast in oven for sauces. So, what say you about a few dried mango, I mean dried to brittle, slowly--I've not tried this--to go with fruity tasting peppers--pineapple really dried then ground--to make "specialty" powders? Just thoughts about blends. I never dry any fruit that dry.

Beautiful stuff, Ramon! I rely on powders a lot to get me through winter or just for quick fix. Need to get some more spice glasses with lids/shakers. FWIW, I really like the hot clean taste of green jal powder. Nice stuff here and so great, generous of you to explain your processes, "clear as water" :party:

Like the look of that choc bhut!!! Thank you! And what do you think about drying fruit--would any flavor be salvaged if got dry enough to grind? Peace mi hermano!

GA Growhead · Jun 15, 2013

I see a choc hab in there! :party:

WalkGood · Jun 15, 2013

DocNrock said:
Wow, took a couple of pages to get caught up!

Your powder had a great color to it! Looked fantastic. So did that infused salt. I am so making some of that (one of these days...).

Those plants are going to get massive in 15 gallon pants! Mine are in 5 gallon and are plenty big.

So the Death by Rosemary works, eh? I just cut back a mite-infested Jamaican Yellow Mushroom. No worries, I have two more.

Nice harvest for a weekend morning. Gotta love it. Going to be exponential at this point!

Keep up da grow!

Thanks Doc Brent

I love the salt a must do and it’s super easy so you should make some soon. I do hope they get big in the 15s too, yea yours look great but aren’t some in bigger pots? I posted over in your glog about the “death by rosemary,” you should make some up, if not get some good neem and spray once every 5 days or more if it washes off with rain for the first 3 weeks, then cut back to every other week. It’s working for me and I’ve not cut much off them. Thanks for the kudos on mi harvest mon but yours was awesome … love the beautiful colors you have

annie57 said:
DAYum, Ramon! Go through remnant of el derecho, get my hair trimmed, start some compost tea, and look at ya! Pods looking beautiful, hon!!!! (And lots of 'em!)

Powder rocks! 60/40, huh?

I agree about the temps, although I'm with Bill on preference for apple, fruit woods--got ton of pecan on left "lower 40 wood pile"--need to puck up, aka take chainsaw make pucks, from dried limbs--and wish had shredder for some of it to make chips, although ~~rarely~~ never use them. Could gift them to brothers who use nothing but propane. I just prefer the milder wood flavors or fruit flavors for most stuff. Also, threw a ton of dried allspice berries on for some that Carib Red Sauce: smoking pods before hit dehydrator. Not real a-spice berries but the kind ya grind; they kinda helped. Maybe.

Am in the charcoal camp as well, mi hermano: got to find some purpose for the El Cheapo Brinkmann--only a couple of coals in early fall (when still hot) even gets ECB at temps above what I'd like if don't watch how many, aka hand-count coals. I really want to try some smoked sea salt this year to go with blends. Like the idea of garlic and/or onion--you'd be drying that too, I take it?

And then, I got to thinking, "What goes in sauce, could go in powder." I always roast garlic, onion, and/or smoke a little then roast in oven for sauces. So, what say you about a few dried mango, I mean dried to brittle, slowly--I've not tried this--to go with fruity tasting peppers--pineapple really dried then ground--to make "specialty" powders? Just thoughts about blends. I never dry any fruit that dry.

Beautiful stuff, Ramon! I rely on powders a lot to get me through winter or just for quick fix. Need to get some more spice glasses with lids/shakers. FWIW, I really like the hot clean taste of green jal powder. Nice stuff here and so great, generous of you to explain your processes, "clear as water" Like the look of that choc bhut!!! Thank you! And what do you think about drying fruit--would any flavor be salvaged if got dry enough to grind? Peace mi hermano!

Wow I don’t know where to begin, you are awesome muchacha! Yes mixing in garlic, maters and other stuff is great but I like a batch of pure to start out with. I've never dried fruit to the point of crunchy but I'll give it a go. It had been a while since I had enough pods so I made pure and the salts only. Glad to hear you like the coals too, I do the same as you count by hand only 6 to start and add as needed. When it comes to woods, I prefer the chunks rather than chips as the latter burns up too quick. I posted this link before but you might want to look at this for some of the one's you haven't tried. Thanks for the kudos muchacha, did you, family and everything come out fine from the storms? Hope you have an awesome day!!!!

GA Growhead said:
I see a choc hab in there!

Yea that's it, I'm going to chow that down with dinner tonight, can’t wait

Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for da pepper love \o/

stc3248 · Jun 15, 2013

The salts look perfect! Plants look...PERFECTer! Pods look PERFECTEST! :rofl:

WalkGood · Jun 15, 2013

stc3248 said:
The salts look perfect! Plants look...PERFECTer! Pods look PERFECTEST!

Thanks brethren

Now let's break bread mon ...
Bistec, Yuca Frita, Congri y ensalada de pepino

There was a method to my madness in making infused salts, I love salt on my Yuca Frita and there’s no better way to make it picante other than infused salt. I tried both the Jalapeño infused salt and the Jamaican Habanero infused salt. I like them both but the JA Hab one is definitely much more picante and very tasty, so in the end I used more of it. Any questions feel free to ask

Boiledd & cut cassava root right side (before) and fried left side (after)

Thanks for looking, have a great one ^_^

stickman · Jun 15, 2013

annie57 said:
And then, I got to thinking, "What goes in sauce, could go in powder." I always roast garlic, onion, and/or smoke a little then roast in oven for sauces. So, what say you about a few dried mango, I mean dried to brittle, slowly--I've not tried this--to go with fruity tasting peppers--pineapple really dried then ground--to make "specialty" powders? Just thoughts about blends. I never dry any fruit that dry.

Beautiful stuff, Ramon! I rely on powders a lot to get me through winter or just for quick fix. Need to get some more spice glasses with lids/shakers. FWIW, I really like the hot clean taste of green jal powder. Nice stuff here and so great, generous of you to explain your processes, "clear as water" Like the look of that choc bhut!!! Thank you! And what do you think about drying fruit--would any flavor be salvaged if got dry enough to grind? Peace mi hermano!

I don't know about ripe Mango powder, but if you go the Indian markets you can easily find dried, ground, green (unripe) Mango powder called Amchoor. It's used to give the foods cooked with it a tang the same way they also use Tamarind or citrus.

Stefan_W · Jun 15, 2013

Wow, that is one nice looking dish! Are those sweet pickles on the side? I think the combo of sweet and hot would be really tasty.

stc3248 · Jun 16, 2013

Great looking dish Ramon! Never had Cassava...made me google it! Anything that could cause partial paralysis if not prepared correctly is high on my list! Hmmm...going to the reunion with the inlaws...maybe some Fugu fish tacos with a side of Cassava is just the ticket for the BBQ! None for me...I am on a diet, but you guys eat up! :rofl:

Devv · Jun 16, 2013

I had to google the Cassava as well, very interesting dish!

As usual your foodies look great! I bet that powder added the finishing touch!

DocNrock · Jun 16, 2013

Dude, that dish looked to die for... :rofl:

In all seriousness, though, it looked great! I'd heard of Cassava melons but not the root. Most excellent.

In answer to your question, my OW'd Carribean Red is in a 7 gallon, but everything else is in 5 gallon, with the exception of a few runts in 2 gallons.

Happy Father's Day!

WalkGood · Jun 16, 2013

stickman said:
I don't know about ripe Mango powder, but if you go the Indian markets you can easily find dried, ground, green (unripe) Mango powder called Amchoor. It's used to give the foods cooked with it a tang the same way they also use Tamarind or citrus.

Rick & Annie, first off Happy Fathers Day Rick & to your hubby Annie! You can dehydrate ripe mango too. You need to skin the ripe mango, cut in slices about 1/4 inch thick and run it in the dehydrator and they come out like yellow chips (115 degrees for around 24 hrs), taste yummy mon! You can grind them up too! I don’t do the green but use it for green mango salsa, you can read about my method by Clicking Here.

Stefan_W said:
Wow, that is one nice looking dish! Are those sweet pickles on the side? I think the combo of sweet and hot would be really tasty.

Thank you Stefan & Happy Fathers Day mon! Yea mon it’s a super tasty dish … the pickles are skinned, sliced raw and soaked in an Italian type salad dressing that is on the sweet side but I hit them with Hab salt for mine.

stc3248 said:
Great looking dish Ramon! Never had Cassava...made me google it! Anything that could cause partial paralysis if not prepared correctly is high on my list! Hmmm...going to the reunion with the inlaws...maybe some Fugu fish tacos with a side of Cassava is just the ticket for the BBQ! None for me...I am on a diet, but you guys eat up!

Shane thanks for thumbs up on da dish and Happy Fathers Day! You are right Cassava or better know to our families as Yuca can cause ataxia or partial paralysis if not processed correctly (only needs cooking). That said, societies that traditionally eat cassava understand that some processing (soaking, cooking, fermentation, etc.) is necessary to avoid getting sick. I’ve been eating it since I was a young child and have never had any problems as long as it’s cooked and this specific process they are cooked twice (Click Here to read about Food use processing and toxicity).

We skin the root like a potato and boil till it gets soft, throw the water away and either broil it with home made mojo or fry it. If you don’t like the fat from frying, we don’t, you cut them up like fries and freeze them till they get hard as a rock. The next day if you go from freezer to fryer they will not absorb the grease and I’m sure you know the trick to keep the grease from boiling over by hitting with a little salt. When you pull them and throw them on a napkin it gets rid of what little did stick to them. IMHO I’d rather have these than fries, they are tastier and absorb very little grease when home made the way I described. I can not say the same if you have them at a restaurant as they don’t care about serving them greasy. That said the broiled method is super tasty as well and you don’t have to worry about any grease. I’ll try to post some pics one day that we make them that way if I remember, hehehe.

Devv said:
I had to google the Cassava as well, very interesting dish!

As usual your foodies look great! I bet that powder added the finishing touch!

Scott first off Happy Fathers Day! Yes the infused salt on them was awesome tasting, remember I had a plan

Dis is a must try side IMHO and I enjoy Yuca fries better than FF’s. Thanks for the kudos brethren ^_^

DocNrock said:
Dude, that dish looked to die for...

In all seriousness, though, it looked great! I'd heard of Cassava melons but not the root. Most excellent.

In answer to your question, my OW'd Carribean Red is in a 7 gallon, but everything else is in 5 gallon, with the exception of a few runts in 2 gallons.

Happy Father's Day!

Thanks Doc Brent, Yuca is awesome and not dangerous at all, I have some friends that are the pickiest eaters in the world and when they’ve tried it, they were blown away how good it taste. Wow you certainly produce a lot of pods for 5 gallon pots, great job mon! I’m thinking that Caribbean Red would be awesome as powder and Happy Fathers Day back at ya!

I’ve been out all day and I came home to 2 Jamaican MoA Scotch Bonnets starting to ripen \o/

Thanks everyone for reading, commenting and providing your invaluable advice

To all the dads out there Happy Fathers Day!

Devv · Jun 16, 2013

Pods are beautiful!

So to garnish food? Hot sauce? or powder?