Hungarian Wax Pepper Color

[Jim Carlock]

Is a Hungarian wax banana pepper hotter when red or yellow ?

[SugarChile]

I grow Hungarian "semi-hots". In my experience they are hotter when green/yellow. When they ripen and turn red, they still have some heat, but they are sweeter and the flavor is more complex.

Last fall, I picked and froze any immature peppers that were left before an imminent killing frost, and they were blistering hot, at least by my standards.

Cheers, Sue

[Jim Carlock]

Thanks for the comment, Sue,

The peppers I have start out yellow. They are never green. They're currently turning orange and I imagine in another week or less they'll be red.

I was playing around with a seed earlier today and I discovered that I need to wash my hands after I open up a dried pepper... because I had an itch on the inside of my eye and then I found out that the burning sensation that you feel in your mouth can be felt in your eyes as well.

:-)

One more question... I'm new at this... If I want to replant these, what do I have to do with the seeds to make them useable/reuseable ?

[rosemarie face]

they are hottest when they are red

rosie z5

[David Fisher]

I usually dry out the seeds in an airing/laundry cupboard for a day or two, and then store somewhere dark and cool until time comes to propagate the following year.

BTW If you handle them without gloves, be sure to wash your hands in milk or oil (the active ingredient - capsaicin - is soluable in oil), as washing them in water just spreads it. The same goes for getting some in your eyes: just rinse out with milk.

[Susan Wehe]

Another solution to capasaicin on the hands or in the eyes is to wash with baby shampoo, rinsing with water which in this case not only doesn't cause tears but will stop them!

susan, who's been g>>One more question... I'm new at this... If I want to replant