Last year I had a bumper crop of peppers. My absolute favorite was a sweet variety called Leysa. It was delicious grilled, sauteed, or just eaten raw. Sweet, a little smoky maybe.
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Leysa seems to have an interesting shape, too. Trying to decide if I should get seeds for it or if I will already be swimming in peppers…
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what’s not to like about swimming in peppers?
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After reading this topic carefully, did the plunge today and order seeds, 5 different varieties from SuperHotchiles.Com.
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Here are the seeds I have on hand, plus some plants I’ve ordered. I may add one or two more but I think this will keep me plenty busy if I grow them all in '22.
Adaptive Seeds
Gernika Sweet
Pointy Kaibi Sweet
Baker Creek
Ajvarski Sweet
Lesya
Rezha Macedonian
Sweet Chocolate
Fedco
Boldog Hungarian
Odessa Market
ChilePlants
Anaheim M
Ancho Mulato
Carmen
Figaro
Mad Hatter
Nardello
Refining Fire Chiles
Acoma Pueblo
Blot (Klyaksa)
Cascabel
Chile Negro
Chilhuacle Negro
Liebesapfel
Negro de valle
Pasilla Bajio-Chilaca
Vallero
Yellow Brazilian Starfish
Uprising Organics
Elephant Ear
List updated 1/22/22.
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I grow a ton of different varieties just because I like growing peppers ;). These are some of my favorites:
Hot
Tunisian Baklouti - the absolute perfect pepper for making harissa.
For salsa, I love my peach habaneros for a bit of heat or I combined Fish and Black Hungarian for a really interesting flavor profile, can’t describe it, but it is distinct and wonderful
Royal Black is my favorite for decoration, deep black and looks fantastic planted with hot pink salvias (too hot to heat, in my opinion)
Sweet
Elephant Ear/Slonovo uvo - Serbian sweet pepper that is hands down my favorite. I completely stopped growing bells and only plant a few Jimmy Nardello out of habit (and for very early sweets). The Elephant Ears are huge, prolific, fantastic taste and great for roasting, salsa, cooking or fresh eating
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Absolutely agree that the Elephant Ear peppers are great. Sounds like I’ll need to try the Tunisian Baklouti as well.
Some other sweets I really enjoy and will grow this year:
Carmen: A large, sweet Corno di Toro type hybrid that already has a lot of love for it in this thread and I’ve grown it for several years.
Tekne Dolmasi: Right up there with Elephant Ear for me, but this one is from Turkey. Heavy production of large, sweet peppers.
Ljubov Dlan: Another large Serbian sweet pepper that seems closely related to Elephant Ear, but didn’t grow as flattened for me and not quite as thick walls.
Plus a few others.
My favorite way to use peppers is on the grill and besides those above, which are great fresh and sauteed as well, on the grill I particularly like:
Poblano peppers: I grow the open pollinated as well as Bastan F1
Hatch or Anaheim: Double X (around jalapeño hot), Big Jim Legacy (average around 9 inches long) and Joe E. Parker (mildest of the three)
Rezha: I use these dried as well, but they are really great grilled or sauteed as well. Long, red, very sweet, rich and a good heat, these are a very old Macedonian heirloom with very prominent corking (tan lines like you see on some jalapeños)
I also make pickled pepper rings and mostly use banana peppers for those with about 10% or so jalapeños added in to kick in a bit of heat.
I also grow a bunch of jalapeños and then hotter varieties right up to the super hots, but I don’t have as much use for the hot peppers and could probably due with just a few plants. But there are so many colors and types I find it hard to limit myself. I probably give 30 or more pounds of the hots to a local food bank over the season because they make way more than I need. I’m still using hot sauce from a batch I made a few years ago.
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Hope to keep this post alive for some time. I bought this jar some time ago, Tears of the Sun, use it on everything. I like to make something myself with the stuff I am planning to grow. My wife like spicy stuff sometimes as long it’s Blackened Catfish, spent a few years in the Far East that’s enough to be a convert to hot stuff.
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We grew a Brazilian starfish pepper that we got out of a box of seeds making its way through a neighborhood group. I loved them. They are small with a good amount of material in the pepper given the size and are really flavorful. There is a some heat in the pith but the way they are shaped if you don’t like it you can easily cut that out. They were great on home made pizza and with sausages.
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Brazilian Starfish is definitely on my list to grow at some point!
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Zendog, best way to grill these elephants ears peppers, whole or strips? Peppers are new to me other than chap in strips, like in salads. Growing a lot of peppers this season, got to make sure to know how to use them.
For grilling, I generally cut them in half, scrape out the seeds and just grill the halves. I can always cut the halves into strips to throw on a sandwich, etc., but I find halves better than smaller pieces since it is easier to handle them on the grill and also the pieces are more likely to char more heavily on the edges, so doing halves gets it more evenly cooked without getting too charred.
Peppers like elephant ear, pablanos and some of the hatch/anaheim types like big Jim are often flattened or lobed, so it is easier to cut them so that the halves are flatter and easier to grill.
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@aap - unless I am saving seed, I usually grill Elephant Ear whole so I can keep flipping them over to get a nice, heavy char. I do the usual pepper peeling trick: toss in a glass bowl with a plate on top for a bit and they are super easy to peel. They also freeze and can well. I grow two other Serbian sweet peppers that are more flat in shape than EE: Palanacko cudo and Strizanka. They are even easier to grill, but not quite as productive or hardy as I’ve found Elephant Ear.
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The peppers I ordered from the Superhotchiles are
Gatherers golden sweet,
Ros De Mallorca
Saraga Giant Sweet Chocolate
Orange Alesya
Red Alesya.
I already have a bunch of Ajy, hot/sweet peppers, Rezha peppers.
Like to add Elephant Ears to that list but didn’t know about it at the time ordering. I suppose to get my shipment today(Saturday). Maybe?? Hopefully!!
Just came in plus 2extra varieties. Joelenes Italian and Numex big Jim.
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Elephant Ears. Must try them. I just put an order in for some seeds.
I think most of C baccatum tend to have interesting flavours. Some are far hotter than others.
Aji amarillo is sweet and delicious, it is hot but not too bad.
Aji pineapple tastes incredible, but is a bit too hot for me.
Trinidad scorpion Butch T (C chinense) is probably the best I have tasted. It is also the hottest I have ever eaten so I have to mix a tiny bit in with a bowl full of stew or whatever to be able to enjoy it. The smell is incredible. I am told that Trinidad Perfume is similar but without any heat, but I am yet to try it myself.
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I dug through my box of seeds and found that I do have Brazilian Starfish on hand. I also placed a few more orders and with that… I’m pretty sure I’ll be “at capacity” for my space… lol
Going to update my original list a few posts above with varieties and sources. Now I’d better start getting my grow cart and lights set up, winter is disappearing fast.
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This weekend I’m going to have to get my grow cart and lights set up. Seems surreal that seed starting season is already here!
Yes, it is. I just started a tray of various types.
I grow several peppers to dry and make into powder during the winter when I have more time. I use them for day to day cooking but it all started because I use them when I make sausage.
I have been trying different bell peppers too, but I’m not set on them, maybe I’ll try Carmen based on the reviews here.
Waltz- It’s a paprika type pepper that looks more like a cayenne. So much so that I have to do the snap and tongue touch sometimes to tell them apart when in the garden. It’s fruity, a nice pepper. The powder is very red, blood red. After using it for a couple years I realize I need to reduce what my recipes call for by maybe a third. Much stronger flavor and color than any store bought paprika I have ever used.
Krimzon Lee- This is hands down my favorite chili pepper. Sweet, fruity, mild to medium heat. I absolutely love it. The plant produces very well for me and is problem free. Pepper size and shape are similar to something like an Anaheim but thicker walls, and it’s a red pepper. I use it during the growing season for calabacitas or whatever else. It would be great grilled or fried but I don’t do that much. But for me it’s all about the powder. It’s sort-of like the Frank’s Redhot commercial; I put that sh!t on everything. Great flavor with just enough heat to let you know. And if I need more heat I just add a little of the cayenne powder I make to kick it up a notch. One of my favorite uses is to toast a bagel, cream cheese, top it with just a slice or two of very thin sliced ham and sprinkle with the KL chili powder. Open-faced of course. Heaven.
Red Ember Cayenne- Another good producer for me. It’s a cayenne, but with better flavor in the background. The flavor is similar to Krimzon Lee but there is just way more heat up front. The color of the chili powder is typical redish/orange, same as Krimzon Lee. My sharpie labels will rub of the bags over time so I occasionally will have to do the old lick a finger and stick it in the bag to get a taste. You know real quick which powder you have!, but it’s not so hot that I fear doing that. LOL
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