Gardening
Managing the Heat of Hot Peppers
Roulette peppers have the citrusy flavor of habaneros but not the heat.
Photo courtesy of All-American Selections
Don't worry if the rest of your family does not appreciate the spicy heat your favorite hot peppers add to entrees, beverages and desserts. Proper pepper selection, care and preparation can help you turn down the heat as needed.
Hot peppers' spicy heat is measured in Scoville Heat Units named for Wilbur Scoville. The level of heat was originally determined by a panel of individual tasters. Chili peppers were ground and added to a sugar-water solution. The solution was continually diluted until the panelist found the solution no longer burned their mouth. Each pepper was assigned a number based on the amount of sugar-water solution needed to reach that point. Today a more accurate less subjective high–performance liquid chromatography method can be used for measuring the pungency of hot peppers.
Poblano and Siracha rate between 1,000 to 2,500, jalapenos up to 8,000, cayenne can peak at 50,000, habaneros up to 350,000 and one of the hottest, the ghost pepper, at as much as 2,200,000 units. If you like the citrusy flavor of habaneros but not the heat, try the All-America Selections winner Roulette.
Ornamental peppers are edible as well as pretty. Most rate anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 Scoville units. Chilly Chili ornamental pepper produces an abundance of attractive yellow, orange and red upright fruit on 10 to 12” plants. As the name suggests, they have almost no heat. Mix with flowers for decorative displays in containers and garden beds.
Peppers grow and produce best when day temperatures are 70° to 80° F and night temperatures are 60° to 70° F. Cold, heat and drought are the most common cause of blossom drop, misshapen fruit, and a poor harvest.
Use a hand pruner or garden snips to harvest peppers without damaging the plants. Harvest most hot peppers when fully mature and red for the strongest flavor. Green chili and jalapeno peppers are harvested when green. And some like jalapeno, habanero and Anaheim, are hot whether harvested when green or red. When your summer is filled with long hot days hot peppers tend to be even hotter.
Avoid hot surprises when cooking by labeling hot peppers when growing, harvesting and storing them. Many sweet and hot pepper varieties look similar and confusing the two could be unpleasant. Just keep a glass of milk handy in case you need to neutralize the sting.
Turn down the heat, if needed or desired, when preparing your favorite recipes. Since most of the capsaicin, which gives hot peppers their heat, is in the white membrane that houses the seeds, just remove this and the seeds if you want the flavor with less heat.
Wear rubber gloves and avoid touching your face and eyes when working with hot peppers as they can burn. Wash your hands, utensils and cutting boards when finished.
Turn a portion of your pepper harvest into pickled peppers for the hot pickle fans in the family to enjoy throughout the winter. The key to success and safety is using a tested recipe that contains the right amount of ingredients and processing it properly. Check University or other vetted sources for safe recipes and processing guidelines.
Try some of these strategies and mention the many health benefits to encourage reluctant eaters to try hot peppers. Although hot peppers and spicy food can add to the pain and irritation of ulcers, they do not cause them contrary to some of the hot pepper myths. They do, however, provide gastric relief, kill cancer cells, prevent sinus infection, reduce inflammation, and even burn fat. Over time you may be able to turn up the heat on your favorite recipes for all to enjoy.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including The Midwest Gardener's Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses "How to Grow Anything" DVD series and the nationally-syndicated Melinda's Garden Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. Her web site is www.MelindaMyers.com.
Antiques
May Antiques, Collectibles, and Auction News
829 Capped Head Left Half Eagle $5 piece
Photo courtesy of Wayne Tuiskula
I hope that those of you who sold or shopped at the Brimfield Flea Market did well last week. To begin our recent auction news, I want to update you on the sale of the "Victory Chimes" schooner in Maine that I wrote about in one of my April columns. The schooner sold for $79,500. The winning bidder has transformed other vessels into floating restaurants, and it is believed that they'll do the same with this schooner, according to the Bangor Daily News.
A rare gold coin set an auction record this month. The 1829 Capped Head Left Half Eagle $5 piece was a proof coin. The government first made proof coins to test the coin dies, allowing for adjustments to be made if there were imperfections. Many of you may be familiar with proof coins, which are now produced with high quality dies and sold to collectors. Only two proofs were made with the 1829 Caped Head Left eagle coin. The one that sold was the better example of the two and went for $2.88 million. Coin World reports that the funds will help local causes with "the proceeds benefiting Dallas-area nonprofit organizations supporting childhood education and literacy."
A basketball card of the player that many consider to be the greatest Celtics player of all time sold at auction this month. The Bill Russell 1957 rookie card graded an 8.5 out of 10. PSA has only graded three Russell rookie cards as 9 out of 10. None have ever received a 10. The $660,000 selling price makes it the third highest price for a vintage (pre-1980) basketball card, according to CBS Sports. A 1948 Bowman George Mikan (PSA 9) rookie card sold for $800,000 in March 2022 and a 1961 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain (PSA 9) rookie card sold for $670,000 in June 2022.
A rare Patek Philippe "pink on pink" model 1518 watch will hit the auction block next month. The recently discovered watch is one of just 15 examples. In 1941, the Swiss watchmaker produced the first serially manufactured perpetual calendar chronograph watch. They made 281 of these watches and only 58 are believed to have been cased in pink gold. The pink dial is "topped with a starry moonphase, subdials, and accenting pink-gold hour markers," according to the Robb Report. The Patek Philippe 1518 watch was once popular with celebrities, including Sugar Ray Robinson and King Farouk. The auction estimate is $4.5 million. The auction takes place on June 9th at 10:00 am. Mark your calendars and set your watches.
Our online auction of antique and vintage toys, vintage guitars, baseball cards, sports memorabilia, and pop culture collectibles will soon open for bidding. Our June auction will include nautical paintings and memorabilia, other art, sterling silver flatware and hollowware, gold jewelry, pocket watches, stoneware, duck decoys, antique firearms, and a wide variety of other items. There is still time to consign for that auction. Please visit our website https://centralmassauctions.com for links to upcoming events.
Please contact us at: www.centralmassauctions.com (508-612- 6111) info@centralmassauctions.com for antiques and collectibles auction services.