Fresh Cayenne Peppers??

[Hoss]

When I planted my garden this year I accidentally bought a cayenne pepper plant along with my jalapenos, serranos and bells. How can I use the fresh cayenne peppers, which are stacking up on me? Right now, most of them are green and about 4 inches long. Do you pick them while they're green? Thanks

[BobB]

I grow several cayenne plants every year. They're pretty productive when planted in full sun, I find that 2 - 3 plants give me enough of a yield to get me through to the following summer.

I chopped a few last night and used them in into a pot of chili along with some jalapeños. They work nicely in sauces and salsas as other have noted. But mostly I collect them, dry them (just wash them and let then sit on a wire rack until totally dry and brittle, a few weeks or more) and store them in a baggie for use the rest of the year.

Some I use whole or crushed in cooking, some I grind in a spice grinder to powder - it has so much more flavor and aroma than any store-bought cayenne I've ever had.

For drying, you want to let the peppers ripen until they're fire-engine red. Green ones are OK for cooking fresh.

[Uncle Bob]

Around here Cayenne pepper is commonly grown...They are eaten out of hand with vegetables --- picked when red (mature) they are strung with needle and thread and hung to dry....ground later for 'crushed' red pepper flakes. Also they are used to make Hot Pepper Sauce....Jars/bottles are filled with the peppers..hot vinegar is poured over them..After a couple of weeks the Pepper Sauce is used as a table condiment for all types of greens..turnips, mustard, collards, cabbage. --- Other vegetables too --- Sometimes I sprinkle it on a piece of Fried Catfish....

Have Fun!!

[OLDFATBOY]

the old man came home with 6 cayenne peppers from a local farm stand because they looked pretty. now what? i know they can be dryed and used fresh to add some heat but how hot are they? if i take out the seeds and ribs could they be stuffed and fryed? or still to hot for most people? they look like they would make a real pretty relleno

[gordeaux]

You'll have to taste them to tell how hot they are. Every pepper is different.
The thought of stuffing and frying kinda makes me think you have a diff variety than cayenne since they are usually kinda skinny, but of course, you could have just gotten some nice fat ones - again, each pepper can be different. After you taste them, you will know if they are too hot for most people that you would be stuffing and frying them for.

[OLDFATBOY]

o.k. stupid me. yes i guess the best why to tell would be to taste a piece raw and fryed. i guess i just didn't want to breach them till i had some idea, and yes they are big. i always thought cayenne were long and thin. these look like fat red anaheim peppers, but then there bell peppers i could stuff and feed 6. any way thank you for time and input . i'll post what i find.

[BobB]

Cayenne are long and thin, rarely wider than about a half inch at the thickest point. You have some other type of pepper that was mislabeled as cayenne. As a general rule of thumb, the smaller the breed the hotter, so what you have is probably only mild to medium hot. But only your tongue will tell for sure. Take a taste and let us know!

[OLDFATBOY]

sweet like a red bell. the grumpy old woman at the stand was not happy that i questioned this and claims that it is a cayenne. WHAT EVER, made a dam fine relleno, had to add some spice to give it heat.

[Anne H]

Pick em green or wait until they turn red. Use them in stirfry or salsa or make ristras-- strings of dried peppers to hang on your wall. Or dry them and crush them.