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Flavourless chillies

gjewitt407171gjewitt407171 Posts: 2
in Fruit & veg
I have grown "hot Carribean" for 2 years in pots. They grow fine and produce quite a number of chillies but with hardly any flavour. I tried again this year but also added a Jalapeno and a Basket of Fire.
The Basket of Fire blows my socks off but the others are as bland as ever.
Where am I going wrong?
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Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    There are vast amounts of cultivars to choose from. Experiment with a wide range of new ones next year.
  • diggersjodiggersjo Posts: 172
    We find if we mix them you get variations of flavour (assuming you don't just mean spice heat?) BOF are our current favourite, but only hot for us once at or past the purple stage.
    Yorkshire, ex Italy and North East coast. Growing too old for it!
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I also grew BOF this year - small but deadly, and prolific.
    Also have some Hungarian Hot Yellow Wax - low-medium heat and look pretty.
    Last year I grew Scotch Bonnet which were also prolific, very hot and very flavourful, unfortunately it wasn't a flavour I liked.
    The one I grow every year is Jalapeno - not too hot and has a good flavour.
    As @fire says - try some different types there's a huge choice.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    There are chilli festivals all over the UK. Maybe find one near you and talk to enthusiasts and try samples. 



  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    Also worth considering that flavour is very subjective but can also alter as you age.  A chilli ( or indeed a tomato and many other fruits ) may suit 1 person in respect of taste but not another.
    As said, it will be a case of experimenting with different varieties to see which suits you. 

  • gjewitt407171gjewitt407171 Posts: 2
    I take your point but when my wife added 5 red chillies (Hot Carribean) with seeds to a chilli con carne there ws very little heat so we had to resort to powdered chilli! So i think something is wrong. Maybe next year I'll just stick with BOF
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    May be worth trying Cayenne - they tend to be pretty hot - you can use fresh, frozen or dried.
    I find they work well for Chilli con carne for me - sometimes a wee bit of brown sugar can help enhance the flavour but again, it is down to individual taste.
    Hope you manage to find a chilli which suits you  :)  
  • scrogginscroggin Posts: 437
    I tried to find the Scoville rating of Hot Caribbean chilli. I couldn't find the variety, only a mix of seeds sold by Johnson's labelled ' Hot Caribbean ' . Is this what you have grown?
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    You could try these-
    https://www.ukchilliseeds.co.uk/Carolina-Reaper-10-x-Seeds-Current-World-Record-Holder
    Put 5 of those in your chilli and you'll be in A&E 😁

    To get the best results from super hot chillies they need to be started early (Feb, or Jan if you have have heat and most important, supplemental light) and kept somewhere warm with plenty of sun - a south facing windowsill in the day, but away from the cold window at night.
    If we get a warm/hot summer you should get some very powerful chillies

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • scrogginscroggin Posts: 437
    @Pete.8, I've grown Carolina Reaper this year. As you say, way too hot for most of us. I found a nice recipe using pineapple as the base to make a chilli sauce. Great for adding in small quantities to add heat to a curry, stir fry etc. I've tried eating a tiny piece raw, let's say I was glad to have some yoghurt handy 😂😂
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