56
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Confused about cayenne pepper, chili powder and paprika
Cayenne pepper powder comes from the cayenne pepper. It is hot/spicy, registering 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville units.
Chilli powder, depending where you live, can mean anything between pure powdered ...
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52
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Does chilli get milder with cooking?
You'll sometimes hear television cooking show hosts describe what they're doing as "cooking out" the paste. What they're actually doing is altering the flavor of the chili itself, not manipulating the ...
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40
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What do American chefs mean by "Red pepper flakes"?
Per commentary by the OP, apparently what's needed in the answers here is a catalog.
American Red Pepper Flakes: Dried and crumbled flakes of cayenne peppers per other answers. Used extensively in ...
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38
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Mold on homemade sriracha
Do NOT eat this. You figured out right that the stuff on top is mold. The thing that makes mold dangerous is the mycotoxins produced by it and these will likely remain in the sauce even if you scrape ...
- 2,104
35
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Is there a Scoville scale for "coldness" (e.g. mint)?
There are thermal sensation scales, and they are applied in food research too, although their primary use tends to be focused on clothing or environment. They tend to be categorical rather than ratio ...
- 135k
33
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What do American chefs mean by "Red pepper flakes"?
The Crushed Red Pepper (flakes) that I usually get at US grocery stores is often made by McCormick (there are other brands, some possibly more common in other areas).
Currently it does not ...
- 1,286
24
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Confused about cayenne pepper, chili powder and paprika
They give a similar range of flavours, but in quite different proportions. They’re all made from ground roasted or dried red peppers of some kind, so all of them involve some amounts of spiciness (...
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Could you smoke a sauce?
What you're describing isn't all that different from how they make various products like Liquid Smoke (make smoke along with steam, then condense that steam). You will need to make sure that some ...
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21
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How to tell if preserved chillis are still good?
Alcohol is a disinfectant, so any bacteria sitting around for a month in vodka have been thoroughly killed...
The only thing to worry about is that if some of the chillies were not completely ...
- 5,827
18
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How to tell if preserved chillis are still good?
As Fabby notes in their answer, alcohol is an excellent preservative. As long as your peppers are fully submerged, it's extremely unlikely that they could rot or spoil in any way. (If they aren't, ...
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17
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Do fresh chilli peppers have properties that ground chilli peppers do not?
The main property that is different is that fresh chili peppers contain water. That means a significant difference in the kinds of flavors that are perceived when you consume them. Probably, most ...
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17
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Mild chili powder?
As you have found, often the generic chili powders that are sold in the US by the major brands like Schwarz aren't pure chili powder, they have other additives like oregano, salt and garlic. The best ...
- 74.2k
16
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Is there a way to experience pepper's endorphins effects without the burning sensation?
According to my research, the effect of capsaicin that causes the burning sensation is indirectly responsible for the pleasurable release of endorphins, which are the brain's way of counter-acting the ...
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16
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What was Indian food like before the arrival of the chili pepper from the Americas?
Hardly - pepper was exported from India before chillis were introduced. Some linguistic subgroups still use it in preference to chillis, and certain dishes use it in preference to (or in addition to) ...
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Does peppers (capsaicin) actually burn?
The "heat" associated with capsaicin isn't something that would show up in thermal imaging. Spicy foods will not be warmer on your plate or in your mouth than a non-spicy item exposed to the ...
- 8,987
15
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Are shrivelled chilis safe to eat and process into chili flakes?
I've certainly done this with no ill effects, including on flavour - in fact when freezing some and drying some I tend to dry the ones like this, and freeze the juicier ones. One thing to watch out ...
- 43.1k
14
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is Doubanjiang (sezhuan hot bean paste) an acceptable substitute in recipes calling for gochujang (Korean hot sauce)?
Both are mildly spicy, but the similarities end there. Gochujang is tangy and slightly sweet, whereas doubanjiang is more salty, savory and fermented-tasting. Even the textures don't match up: ...
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14
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Do dried poblano/ancho chili have an expiration date?
Dried hot peppers lose flavor and heat over time. At ten years old, your poblano peppers are probably fairly bland. Smell them. If they don't smell bad, taste them. (Taste them cautiously; they may ...
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What do American chefs mean by "Red pepper flakes"?
As a general rule, whether flakes or ground, when an American recipe calls for ‘red pepper’ as a spice, it means the Cayenne cultivar of Capsicum annuum. This is a moderately hot pepper, typically in ...
- 1,687
12
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Mild chili powder?
You could look for chili powders online. Alternatively, you can buy (mild) dried chillies and grind them to a powder yourself, using a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. This way, you can even ...
- 4,881
12
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Adding chili powder to a dish makes it dark black
I make my own chili powder by drying (already dried) chilies in the oven till crispy. I then add them to a food processor and grind them to a rough powder.
The result is a very dark chili powder that ...
- 1,286
11
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What was Indian food like before the arrival of the chili pepper from the Americas?
The recipe 'thevasam' in the link is authentic ( but regional ) pre-columbian exchange cuisine, made with ingredients from species largely native to the indo-malayan ecoregion, and is pretty much ...
11
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How to add bourbon flavor?
What we think of as "bourbon flavor" is due to a combination of things.
Bourbon is aged in a new oak barrel that has been charred on the inside. The important thing is not so much the layer ...
10
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Does chilli get milder with cooking?
From long cooking, the capsaicin could distribute throughout the food in a way that will make it more palatable, but the capsaicin content will not drastically change.
If this does not suffice: In a ...
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10
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How to add bourbon flavor?
Heating to remove alcohol isn't as effective as you might think, and igniting the vapour is of no benefit. Once it's evaporated it's gone from the liquid anyway, and imagine trying to get a flame from ...
- 43.1k
9
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Can I use 3 jalapenos in place of 1 habanero?
Yes, you can usually make that substitution without a problem. The key thing in substituting peppers is that you like the substitution. So, experimentation is necessary to find what is ideal for you.
...
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9
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Can I rehydrate dried chillies in bulk?
You can refrigerate your paste, however your quality will degrade and it won't last more than a few days in the fridge. When I make pastes I usually blend 4 times what I need and freeze the leftover ...
- 74.2k
8
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Can I use 3 jalapenos in place of 1 habanero?
My general advice is just to taste your food as you cook it. Start with a little hot pepper and figure out the "heat level" you like, with whatever peppers you use, and then you can add more to ...
- 32k
8
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What is the difference between red pepper and cayenne pepper?
The entire world is confused by what type of 'pepper' anything generally called a chilli actually is.
Farmers may know exactly what cultivar they are growing; supermarket or food production/...
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8
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Does the size of chilli pieces affect the hotness
It really does depend how you're cooking them.
Logically, smaller pieces would expose a greater surface area, however, I have experienced greater heat from a dish when using larger pieces.
The ...
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