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shopping Why do store bought peppers suck?
- Thread starter Geist
- Start date
Im not sure where you are in Illinois but I was surprised when I went right down the street to find a family owned store called Hubingers landscape have Naga Jolokia. So I guess its really where you look. I know what you mean though. I thought last year the hottest pepper I could find was a Habs but SURPRISE. Just keep looking you never know what your going to find. +1 mmcdermott1. Just saw your post and yep that is where I found it - local nursery.
I just ate 1/4 of a habanero with dinner. Habaneros are too hot for my taste, but my local supermarket only has Bell Peppers, Jalapenos (Can't stand em) and habaneros. I need some heat, so I dealt with the hab. I like the capsicum residue on the room of my mouth. Still have the feeling. I ate a big oily Bluefish for dinner. It appears that the oil is prolonging the sensation of heat.
I live close to EIU in east central IL. Selection is pretty limited here unless there are some hidden stores I don't know about.
I have noticed that the one pepper that is NOT worth buying in stores is the jalapeno. The problem with the jalapeno is that there are varieties and hybrids that have been produced specifically to reduce the heat to be as low as possible and produce more peppers per plant. I have had some that felt like I might as well have ate a banana pepper. You expect heat... but what you get is a pale, cheap imitation of a jalapeno at best. On the other hand, orange habaneros almost always seem to be alright, though sometimes disappointing in heat level, but never to quite the same extent as jalapenos... luckily, it doesn't seem that they've been able to produce something with the appearance and taste of an orange habanero but the heat of an apple so far, so they can't quite fool consumers on a large scale and dumb them down for the masses just yet. Hopefully this doesn't happen any time soon, but it probably will eventually.
I wouldn't mind it if the peppers were clearly labeled "reduced heat" or better yet, the specific cultivar... but the problem is, that's never the case. At least any "mild" chinense species that I've ever seen seem to be clearly distinguishable in appearance to traditional, hot, orange habaneros, but give it time... they'll probably find some way to butcher the habanero name as well.
I wouldn't mind it if the peppers were clearly labeled "reduced heat" or better yet, the specific cultivar... but the problem is, that's never the case. At least any "mild" chinense species that I've ever seen seem to be clearly distinguishable in appearance to traditional, hot, orange habaneros, but give it time... they'll probably find some way to butcher the habanero name as well.
That is certainly the case here too (on the very rare occasions I actually find fresh Jalapenos at a supermarket). You may as well just buy a bell pepper and at least get more for your buck!
A couple years back I actually found some beauties at the local organic markets we have here and they were absolute rippers! At the time I thought they must have been an extra extra hot variety, but now that I look back at it, it seems more likely that they were just a regular old Jalapeno but I had never had a "real" one to compare it to...
I saved seeds from them and grew them out this last season, and to this day, they are still the hottest Jalapeno I've ever had. Of course, I've got a feeling that might change once I get my Biker Billy's going....
Oh man... I know what you mean. I "thought" jalapenos were supposed to have some decent heat. And to be fair, I had some that did have a nice zing to them. But imagine my reaction when I got my ass handed to me, literally, with the Jalapeno M (Mexican gold standard, AFAIK) and Biker Billy (hybrid made for size and heat). I got my plants last year from ChilePlants.com, and I'm getting one of each this year too. Let me just say... I have no idea how... but slices of those on a pizza kick my ass more than three to five C. chinense peppers cut fine and cooked into my tacos. I liked them both, although I preferred the brighter red and overall flavor of the Jalapeno M, but the Biker Billy is damn good too. I honestly couldn't tell the difference, heat-wise, between the two--they both blow away anything I've ever bought in stores or ordered on pizza. The BB might have a very slight edge, that's all. I think you'll be impressed.That is certainly the case here too (on the very rare occasions I actually find fresh Jalapenos at a supermarket). You may as well just buy a bell pepper and at least get more for your buck!
A couple years back I actually found some beauties at the local organic markets we have here and they were absolute rippers! At the time I thought they must have been an extra extra hot variety, but now that I look back at it, it seems more likely that they were just a regular old Jalapeno but I had never had a "real" one to compare it to...
I saved seeds from them and grew them out this last season, and to this day, they are still the hottest Jalapeno I've ever had. Of course, I've got a feeling that might change once I get my Biker Billy's going....
I was so shocked, I actually posted a topic or two about it. The consensus was... the "real" jalapeno varieties are surprisingly hot, and what gets sold on the supermarket is so pathetic that "weak" doesn't even begin describe it... it's a serious understatement.
Yeah, um, I worked in produce for about three years. I don't know if this is true of all stores, but upper management didn't ever listen to the department managers. Orders were placed for what was needed, and what we were sent rarely coincided with what was ordered. With the hot peppers, we were always throwing out more than we could sell. Our manager wanted to stop stocking most of the varieties (which, admittedly, for a grocery store we carried quite a few- jalapenos, cayennes, habaneros, poblanos, thai, cherry peppers, serranos, various "frying" peppers, banana peppers, and many more dried), but management insisted that the key to selling produce was keeping a nice looking display, and that we just weren't doing a good enough job picking out the bad ones, so they started sending us *more* boxes, which just led to us throwing out entire boxes. Then they said we just needed to expand upon the display and work on color coordinating better. Well, that just lead to throwing out more boxes even faster. You can't create a demand for peppers. Ignoring the chilehead population, reducing the price on your habaneros doesn't have quite the same effect as reducing the price on, say, strawberries. They aren't exactly impulse buys for the average consumer.
But alas, neither a manager, and certainly not a lowly part-time worker with an associate's degree (at the time) know anything about running a business. No, sir.
EDIT: Especially when said part-time worker had better math and reading skills than both the manager and the supervisor at the time.
I think they write off the produce on their taxes as a loss. Or the prices are so high, the difference is made up across the board. Supermarket produce departments are like the Luftwaffe's disasterous Stalingrad airlift. The German army was begging for food, winter clothes, and ammo, so the Luftwaffe shipped in a couple hundred pounds of dried marjoram, sunburn cream, and a bunch of summer hats.
I'm not surprised that upper management thought the key to selling more hot peppers was a nice looking display. I mean, seriously, what planet are these people from? What, they think people are going to say, "I can't eat them, but they look so nice, I can't resist buying them..."?! I thought that was what the floral department was for. What's sad is the amount of waste. People starving, here we are throwing food away.
I'm not surprised that upper management thought the key to selling more hot peppers was a nice looking display. I mean, seriously, what planet are these people from? What, they think people are going to say, "I can't eat them, but they look so nice, I can't resist buying them..."?! I thought that was what the floral department was for. What's sad is the amount of waste. People starving, here we are throwing food away.
The local markets here are pretty bad too. They sell unripe, uncorked jalapenos that are sometimes hot, and sometimes short, fat, and mild (that look like they're crossed with a bell pepper). They sell unripe serranos, although these are occasionally in the color changing stage with some orange-reddish color. They sell orange habaneros, the worst tasting chinense I've ever had, and even these are mushy and half rotten about half the time. I'm guessing they throw out at least half of these. They also sell a long, large, red, pointy sweet pepper that they mislabel as "pasilla". Then there are the horribly overpriced bell peppers at $2 each for the colored ones. Sometimes they sell "finger hot" chiles which are also sold unripe, have almost zero heat, and taste like grass. They sometimes sell very unripe anaheim or hungarian wax peppers too. They do have nice tomatillos most of the time at least. A lot of stuff is mislabeled actually, the consistently have bundles of parsley sitting in the cilantro bin. I bet of ton of people don't know any better and end up making Mexican food with parsley...
The big Mexican markets in Indianapolis aren't much better. They sell unripe jalapenos and serranos, bell peppers, and the same no flavor orange habaneros. They do carry orange manzanos, but they're sold in packages that are about half green and half orange. At least they do have a very good selection of dried chiles though.
I thought Jalapeno M was supposed to be mild? I started a few but I threw them out when I realized they're a Monsanto product...
The big Mexican markets in Indianapolis aren't much better. They sell unripe jalapenos and serranos, bell peppers, and the same no flavor orange habaneros. They do carry orange manzanos, but they're sold in packages that are about half green and half orange. At least they do have a very good selection of dried chiles though.
I thought Jalapeno M was supposed to be mild? I started a few but I threw them out when I realized they're a Monsanto product...
Nothing to do with supermaket peppers, but in 2009 I had 2 jalapeno plants in my garden loaded with peppers.
Lots of corking, I thought something was wrong with them. I was use to the smooth looking jalapeno's. What did
I do, I threw them all away. What a waste. Now I know the corking is good from this forum.
Lots of corking, I thought something was wrong with them. I was use to the smooth looking jalapeno's. What did
I do, I threw them all away. What a waste. Now I know the corking is good from this forum.
The local Wally world here keeps the large smooth jalapenos year round for $.68 a lb, year round. They do sell a lot of them (about a 1/3 of the price of everyone else) and they usually are fresh looking. I buy them & use in place of bell peppers due the price being cheaper and lack of heat. I can find poblanos, anihiems, Serrano's, jalapeno's, cayenne, and habanero's most of the time here and roccottos will show up in some of the specialty stores occasional ($7.99 lb)
The jalapenos at the grocery store near my house sold hot jalapenos for many years. All of a sudden, a couple of years ago I noticed they switched to extra mild jalapenos. I don't even bother with the grocery store jalapenos anymore and have switched to the red fresnos instead. Sometimes they have a little heat. I am hoping the vaquero and billy biker plants will come through for me this year.