Topic: Chilli Grow 2021

[Garp]

@Onions 

@Micky - not sure I'm so good at the nurturing, and 10 days to 6 months is a hell of a big germination window 

[livo]

Yesterday pick. Thai are basically finished and I'll be using these to collect seed. They were left on the bush too long.

There is some animal or bird damage to some of the others but they will be fine to turn into powder.

[Robbo141]

Looking good livo.  Thai are easily my favourite.  This year we decided not to grow habaneros. Although we?ve always been really successful, I end up with too many and no amount of smoking, dehydrating, powder-making, freezing allows me to use them all.
This year we?re going cayenne, poblano, jalape?o.  Couldn?t find seeds or starter plants for Thai, but cayenne should be a good enough substitute I think.


Robbo

[Garp]

I'm growing Thai Hot this year for the first time - looking forward to trying them.

Also got Hungarian Wax and Trinidad Scorpion on the go.

[Robbo141]

Scorpions are great in small doses. I prefer them in chilli to a curry myself. Wish I could get naga over here.  Ghosts are close but don?t have that certain taste the naga has.
Are the Hungarians hot?  Similar to anything I?d know?

Robbo

[Garp]

Scorpions, like the other superhots, are way too hot for me - other than to make sauce with.

First time growing Hungarians too, but definitely on the mild side. Nice big fleshy pods with a nice little kick of heat. Remind me of Jalapenos in heat and texture.

[Robbo141]

In addition to chilies, of course, we are again growing the usual suspects - parsley, oregano, basil, coriander (though that prefers cooler temps), sage, cherry tomatoes, lemon grass, ginger, thyme, rosemary and a good sized catnip plant our kits can just help themselves to.
Love the summer months for this.

Robbo

[livo]

Here's my last 2 picks after going through the dehydrator.  Some of the bigger ones took 3 days at 45'C.  Now I need to decide if I'm going to do separate grinds or just put them all into the blend and see what I get.  Trouble is that some of them all look the same (or similar) now that they're dried.

I did photograph them as they went into the dehydrator so I might be able to work out which is which.  Some are easy to tell like the little thai birdseyes but the Kashmiri and Lal Mirch dry out to look much the same.

I picked another 40 - 50 ripened chillis 2 days ago.  I'll start to keep better track of varieties from here on.

[Garp]

How do you grind them mate?

[livo]

I'm thinking I'll use the Kitchen Aid spice grinder (blades) to do a course grind (cut) to fine Chilli Flakes and then over to the big mortar and pestle for a bit of arm work.  I've done small quantities of the Thai before using the Kitchen Aid then my small mortar and pestle and they come out ok. This will be a bit of work I'd imagine.

I'll try to see how some of it goes in a long run in the Kitchen Aid but it may overheat the chilli.  I could possibly do multiple shorter bursts with wait times.

I'll let you know how it goes.