Green Chili’s are used to make green enchilada sauce. A couple weeks ago I made Authentic New Mexico Green Chile Stew. Wow! Fantastic! I harvested enough green chili’s for another batch, well maybe half a batch! I grew this year Big Jim Legacy, Nu Mex Big Jim Heritage, and Todo Dia Mira El Sol Chili Pepper. I also grew Yukon Gold potatoes, and my own garlic too.
It’s not my recipe, but man it was excellent and today I harvested more green chili’s enough to make 1/2 a batch.
I didn’t use the beer, and I used boneless pork loin, not shoulder. I was going to use my own tomatoes, but Rotel diced tomatoes with mild green chili’s seemed like a better option. My own diced tomatoes would have skins, or a lot of work to blanch them, and i doubt it would taste better. The Rotel products are excellent.
How did Big Jim legacy compare to Big Jim Heratage?
I’ve read Big Jim Heritage has improved productivity and higher heat (around 9000), but the older variety has a wider range of heat and is lower, maybe closer to 5000.
I’m planning on a green chile grow trial next year, and i originally was going to have Big Jim (legacy) because it theoretically matched the heat level i want, but with ‘NuMex Big Jim Heritage’ having so much more productivity I may replace it with the newer release.
My ‘Mosco’ this year didn’t have any heat! But my batch also had a few that were not mirasol and were pointing downwards, so I’m not sure if they are outcrossed. The ones pointing downward also did not have branching growth habit and had a little bit more heat, so i think they were outcrossed.
Anyway, curious on your thoughts between those two Big Jim cultivars. It could help me for my project next year.
I thought the new and improved fell short of its mark. What really attracted me to legacy was how well it grew here. It was very productive and why I favor it.
Interesting. So you are saying there are three cultivars of Big Jim? I did not see ‘Big Jim Legacy’ listed as having been released by New Mexico State University? Do you know who selected this variety? Or is it just a renamed version of Big Jim that happened once the new heritage cultivar was re-released? Having seen a lot of varities be randomly renamed by people i would assume the latter, but i don’t know anything about this one.
What climate do you garden in?
Interesting observations. Perhaps you do indeed have one that has adapted to grow better in your climate. That is not a trivial trait to have. Makes me now wonder which i should trial.
No, just strains. But in the case of Big Jim it’s a mess. The Legacy name is used in different ways, but the line I had was said to come from Jim who worked with the university ( Dr. Roy Nakayama) to release the first and official Big Jim.
Complaints that the heat was too mild and inconsistent in heat levels, this led the university to re-release Big Jim. They used the oldest original seed they could find.
Some seed bank had originals frozen. They grew them out many times and eventually released the Nu Mex Heritage Big Jim.
Big Jim is a hybrid of New Mexican chilies and a Peruvian pepper that was developed at New Mexico State University by Dr. Nakayama in 1975 in cooperation with Jim Lytle, the person for whom this chile pepper is named.
My Line supposedly comes from Lytle himself. I have no clue if it did? And if it’s the same as the first release? But these seeds worked better then the few other sources I bought to experiment with. I trialed many chiles, and a few sources for Big Jim.
I also liked Nu Mex 6-4 and Joe E Parker too. But some years they failed to do well, and Big Jim Legacy has never failed to produce a lot of peppers. Yes, somewhat mild, but I grow hots too, and can add heat if needed.
I also preferred the flavor of Legacy. Again though, some sell Big Jim, some sell Big Jim Legacy. At this point, they are all mixed up! I would trial numerous Big Jim sources, if you’re looking for the best. Unfortunately strains often change over time for various reasons. It matters where it comes from.
What works here, might not there? You have to run your own trials.
