33
votes
Why is black pepper both grey and black?
Here is a photo of a peppercorn. You can see why a ground one might contain both black and grey bits.
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31
votes
Accepted
Would there be a difference between boiling whole black peppercorns or fine ground black pepper in a stew?
Well, I've never had whole black peppercorns dissolve. In very long cooking, and depending on the variety and age of the peppercorn, they can soften somewhat. But when adding whole peppercorns to a ...
- 32.1k
28
votes
How can I remove whole peppercorns from a sauce after cooking?
Strain it, or put the peppercorns in cheesecloth which you can easily remove. Obviously both ideas would work better if the sauce was thin then thickened after the peppercorns were removed.
- 2,669
24
votes
Is seeding peppers a must when making hot sauce
The seeds of all peppers are bitter, you won't notice this when you are using a single pepper in a large dish of food, but if you make hot sauce without removing the seeds you will have a noticeable, ...
- 75.4k
22
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 5,683
20
votes
Accepted
How can I remove whole peppercorns from a sauce after cooking?
One way to steep peppercorns in a sauce is to put them in a tea ball or a tied up piece of cloth which is submerged into the sauce and then removed before serving. If they are just dropped into the ...
- 75.4k
19
votes
Would there be a difference between boiling whole black peppercorns or fine ground black pepper in a stew?
Peppcorns don't dissolve.
They soften, and they give up a lot of their flavour, but they don't dissolve. Neither does ground pepper but that's pieces too small to spot. I'm not sure why you're not ...
- 43.8k
16
votes
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 ...
- 14.9k
15
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 9,047
13
votes
What makes black pepper strong or mild?
There are really only two main varieties of black pepper, Tellicherry and Malabar. They are processed the same, and in general (though you might tell a difference in a side by side comparison) have ...
- 73.8k
13
votes
Is seeding peppers a must when making hot sauce
First, the most capsaicin (heat) is in the pith of the peppers. You'll find it to a lesser extent in the seeds. Keeping the seeds will definitely change the texture of the sauce, but if you like that ...
- 4,694
11
votes
How to make black peppercorns extremely fine?
Better grinding and sieving
If you think about it - spice powders are essentially flour. Pop it in a good blender. Blend, let it settle and sieve to required consistency. Repeat with oversized ...
- 2,307
10
votes
Is salty tongue effect normal after eating sichuan peppercorns?
Yes. This happens to me. Some scientists are investigating the possibility of using the peppercorns as a means of reducing people's salt intake.
Potential of Szechuan pepper as a saltiness enhancer, ...
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10
votes
How can I remove whole peppercorns from a sauce after cooking?
When doing a stew or a Cocido (kind of soup) in Spain, it is common to use bags similar to the ones some people use to wash their clothes without mixing them. We call them cooking mesh.
As you can ...
- 1,431
9
votes
Can I reprocess vinegar hot pepper jelly?
Yes, though to be clear, you unseal, empty the jars into a pot, heat & add sugar, (while re-cleaning/sterilizing the jars) then fill the hot jars and process. You don't just add sugar to the jars.
...
- 16.1k
8
votes
How can I use white pepper without having the odor dominate the food flavour?
Some people are sensitive to white pepper, which might smell as horse urine or swine manure to them. This is because the fermentation process produces of white pepper produces some of the same ...
- 81
8
votes
Will ground sealed pepper have lost it freshness?
Ground pepper begins to lose it's flavors very quickly. You can try this yourself by grinding your own, then tasting over the course of a couple of days. I find it is always best right after I grind ...
- 73.8k
8
votes
Accepted
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/...
- 29.9k
8
votes
How to make a good tasting pepper cream sauce without using premade fabricated stuff
I haven't made peppercorn sauce for many years, but from recollection, how you combine the pepper and the fat is the key. Many sauces use cream, but it's not completely necessary. The pepper flavour ...
- 43.8k
8
votes
What mill would you recommend to grind allspice?
I use a mortar and pestle without any problems. It also works for other spice seeds and is good for garlic, basil, etc.
- 4,081
7
votes
Accepted
How to make a pepper crusted steak
Most recipes I am aware of simply press crushed pepper onto the steak. It is true that some will fall off, but these recipes apply pepper generously with that in mind. I have not come across the egg ...
- 73.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Which pepper is typically part of salt and pepper?
It is typically black pepper. The two common black varieties are Tellicherry and Malabar. The peppercorn is the fruit of a flowering vine that is harvested when it is red, and ripe. Each fruit ...
- 73.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Mellowing whole peppercorns
Piperine, the most important compound in black/green pepper, is only weakly soluble in water. It is quite soluble in alcohol.
A lot of traditional peppercorn sauces cook the peppercorns in something ...
- 43.8k
6
votes
Could you smoke a sauce?
I've definitely done this with ketchup before, with a couple key tweaks:
Spreading the sauce onto a rimmed baking sheet. This is to maximize surface area for smoking.
I used a Traeger pellet-smoker, ...
- 161
6
votes
Accepted
Will fresh bell peppers give stew a red colour?
Normally no. Paprika and the like are dried and powdered. You will likely get some red coloration if you puree your fresh red peppers before adding to your stew. Absent that step, the red remains ...
- 11.7k
6
votes
Is it possible to infuse piperine of Black pepper into oil?
Oil is used to extract pepper flavor, as piperine is relatively non-polar. Its solubility in water (a polar solvent) is only 0.04 grams per liter. It is more soluble in less polar solvents (67 grams ...
- 1,023
6
votes
Does pepper dissolve into hot / boiling water similar to salt?
While one of the answers to the other question addresses this, it's not the chosen answer (which is wrong), and it doesn't really complete the reasoning, so I'm going to answer here.
The reason for ...
- 61.4k
5
votes
Could you smoke a sauce?
Better or worse is a judgement call. Smoking the peppers then making the sauce v. smoking the sauce will produce different results, but both will impart smokiness. So, you can, in fact, impart smoke ...
- 73.8k
5
votes
Could you smoke a sauce?
This will definitely work, but I would recommend stirring it every once in a while as it will mostly be affecting only the surface. A shallow vessel with a larger surface area will also impart more ...
- 1,119
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