# Let's talk chili! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800 "2011-10-26T00:57:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/81 "2011-11-01T17:42:51Z")
> [@papergirl](#): > > Am I a weenie for wanting to grow these? Not at all. I’m pretty curious myself. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/82 "2011-11-01T17:46:26Z")
If I manage to not kill them, I’ll let you know. 100 Scoville is pretty sweet even for me…that’s not much hotter than a sweet pepper, I think. I bet they’re a sweet pepper hybrid that just looks like a hab… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/83 "2011-11-01T17:54:28Z")
> [@papergirl](#): > > If I manage to not kill them, I’ll let you know. 100 Scoville is pretty sweet even for me…that’s not much hotter than a sweet pepper, I think. > I bet they’re a sweet pepper hybrid that just looks like a hab… Yeah, in the pictures they don’t quite look like a hab, and habs do have a very distinctive taste, along with other _Capsicum chinense_ like Scotch bonnet and naga jolokia. I’m curious if this cultivar retains the flavor characteristics of these peppers or if they are, as you surmise, just another sweet pepper hybrid. The literature wants us to believe that they’re not, but who knows. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/84 "2011-11-01T18:42:32Z")
Don’t grow hot and mild cultivars in the same bed. They all cross easily, and you’ll end up with all hot before you know it. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/85 "2011-11-01T19:29:30Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Don’t grow hot and mild cultivars in the same bed. They all cross easily, and you’ll end up with all hot before you know it. Aha! I was just thinking this might be an issue. Maybe I’ll put the hot ones in the zinnia bed. Having never actually gotten a pepper from my many attempts, I don’t have any experience with harvesting the suckers! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/86 "2011-11-01T19:48:49Z")
As soon as they are big enough, start harvesting. If you keep them picked, they’ll keep flowering and producing. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/87 "2011-11-01T20:00:42Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Look upon the [Face of Despair](http://reviews.burpee.com/1031/prod000820/reviews.htm). I’m sorry to say this, but that is a rather ignorant attitude re chiles. The most popular chile peeper in most Caribbean cooking is essentially a habanero with the capsicum bred out of it. They’ve been in wide use there for a long, long time and are one of the primary staples behind many of the areas cuisines. They’re known by a variety of names down there. Whatever you call them, the “face of despair” they most certainly are not. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/88 "2011-11-01T20:11:35Z")
I’d like to try one myself to see what they taste like minus the heat. I’ve bitten into habaneros and they have a nice taste, but too hot to take more than one bite (of course most people can’t even take one bite.) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/89 "2011-11-01T20:22:04Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > I’m sorry to say this, but that is a rather ignorant attitude re chiles. The most popular chile peeper in most Caribbean cooking is essentially a habanero with the capsicum bred out of it. They’ve been in wide use there for a long, long time and are one of the primary staples behind many of the areas cuisines. They’re known by a variety of names down there. > > Whatever you call them, the “face of despair” they most certainly are not. If it doesn’t have the burn, then it is worthless to me. It’s like decaf - what’s the point? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/90 "2011-11-01T20:24:07Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > If it doesn’t have the burn, then it is worthless to me. So, the only ingredients you ever add to dishes must be hot? No place for any other flavors? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/91 "2011-11-01T20:24:47Z")
> [@](#): > > The most popular chile peeper in most Caribbean cooking is essentially a habanero with the capsicum bred out of it. Nitpick: If you bred the capsicum out of it, you wouldn’t have anything left. You probably meant to say “capsaicin” there. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/92 "2011-11-01T20:30:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Nitpick: If you bred the capsicum out of it, you wouldn’t have anything left. You probably meant to say “capsaicin” there. You’re right, of course. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/93 "2011-11-01T20:31:27Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > So, the only ingredients you ever add to dishes must be hot? No place for any other flavors? For peppers, the burn is all part of it. I love habs because the fruity flavors accentuate the fire in a way I find tasty. If I want that sort of flavor without the heat (???) I’ll use other spices and herbage. A little Buffy on defanged chilis: _I touch the fire and it freezes me I look into it and it’s black Why can’t I feel? My skin should crack and peel I want the fire back_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/94 "2011-11-01T20:36:36Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > For peppers, the burn is all part of it. I love habs because the fruity flavors accentuate the fire in a way I find tasty. If I want that sort of flavor without the heat (???) I’ll use other spices and herbage. There are really no other spices that are a suitable substitute for a Seasoning Pepper. The fact that you would try to find a substitute for a specific pepper based on some type of bizarre spice-driven moral code is just strange. This type of pepper has its place in cooking, just like onions, garlic or rosemary. It’s like saying “I don’t use carrots because they aren’t spicy enough”. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/95 "2011-11-01T22:03:20Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > This type of pepper has its place in cooking, just like onions, garlic or rosemary. It’s like saying “I don’t use carrots because they aren’t spicy enough”. Well… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/96 "2011-11-01T22:10:50Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Well… > > 😛 Oh, I share your passion for the heat, and grow a rather large crop of chicolate habaneros in my garden. I probably wasn’t making the point well enough before, but the primary use of the peppers in Caribbean cuisine is not as a substitute for hot chiles. They season fried mashed bananas with 5 or 6 of them, for example. They’re amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/97 "2011-11-02T01:26:19Z")
Okay, I’ve seen some fantastic sounding chili recipes in this thread, but I want to ask for some help with chili I will be making for this coming Sunday. Our church is having a chili cook-off and I want a prize!😛 I _ **love** _ onion and garlic and cumin. I have some lovely lean ground meat. It’s from half a big roast that I ground up in an old fashioned food grinder, the kind you clamp to your kitchen counter. I also like beans in my chili, and have access to lots of spices, either in my home or from work. My preference is for a spicy chili that isn’t burning hot. Lots of people seem to think spicy and hot are the same thing, but they aren’t. Do I saute the veggies first? Would cooking them with the meat be good? I may need to add some fat, as the meat itself is so lean. I’ve seen olive oil mentioned, and I like olive oil, but I also could get some rendered fat at work, we’re cooking some roasts and some turkeys for a big dinner later in the week. I don’t like chunks of cooked tomatoes, would using tomato paste be better? I’ve seen it in recipes in this thread. If anyone here could help with my questions I’d sure appreciate it. I may also go online and enter my favorite ingredients and find a chili to match, but I think the Dope would be even better, based on what I’ve seen so far. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800/98 "2011-11-02T06:05:57Z")
I usually fry up the onions and half the garlic in bacon. The “half the garlic” bit is important: Sauteed garlic has a different flavor from raw garlic, or garlic that’s been cooked more gently, and both flavors are good. This is also a good excuse to put in twice as much garlic as you ordinarily would. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-chili/600800.md?page=4)