# Red hot cherry peppers, can I eat them green? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038 "2007-07-16T21:25:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nikki\_Tikki\_Tavi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@Nikki\_Tikki\_Tavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nikki_Tikki_Tavi)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038/1 "2007-07-16T21:25:51Z")
My husband and I planted several types of hot peppers this year, including “red hot cherry peppers”, which I’ve never encountered before. The plant is doing really well, it’s big enough that we had to put a tomato cage around it because it needed something to lean on. The little info card that came with the sprout said that the peppers will mature from green to red, but none of mine have. They just get to a certain size and stop growing, staying green. I picked them, thinking that maybe they continue to ripen off the plant, but so far no luck. Has anyone here grown these peppers before? Should I leave them on the plant after they get to full size and just wait for them to turn red? Can I eat the ones that I already picked while they’re green, or would that be a bad gastronomical decision? ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038/2 "2007-07-16T21:28:24Z")
Most peppers are okay to eat green. However, for some reason, the hot ones tend to be significantly hotter when they are green than after they turn red, so be careful. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038/3 "2007-07-16T22:00:48Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] Most peppers are okay to eat green. However, for some reason, the hot ones tend to be significantly hotter when they are green than after they turn red, so be careful. [/QUOTE] Really? I thought it was just the opposite. Interesting! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038/4 "2007-07-16T22:09:29Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] Really? I thought it was just the opposite. Interesting! Daniel [/QUOTE] Yeah. I discovered it when I started to cook Thai food. You can try the experiment if you have a grocery that sells green and red peppers of the same type–jalapenos for example. Red ones are riper and some of the hotness goes to sugar, I think. They also tend to be softer in texture. ---
**Author:** ![Nikki\_Tikki\_Tavi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@Nikki\_Tikki\_Tavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nikki_Tikki_Tavi)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038/5 "2007-07-16T22:36:07Z")
That’s good news for me, bad for the hubby. The hotter, the better, sez I! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038/6 "2007-07-16T23:59:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Red hot cherry peppers, can I eat them green? I’d check with the members of the band first. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038/7 "2007-07-17T00:26:55Z")
You can eat them on a boat. You can eat them in the moat. You can eat them fast or slow. Either way they burn your throat. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038/8 "2007-07-17T00:49:20Z")
According to [this site](http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/veggies/peppers1.html), the ripe ones are hottest: > [@](#): > > Chili peppers are famous throughout the world from the fiery cuisines of Mexico, India, Thailand and Africa to the subtle flavor enhancement of the most delicate dishes. The hot varieties can also be picked at any color stage, but are hottest if allowed to fully ripen. [This site agrees](http://www.healthgoods.com/Shopping/Gardening_Products/Aerogrow_Aerogarden_Chili_Peppers_Seed_Kit.asp): > [@](#): > > Once your chili peppers are fully grown, they start changing color (and become hotter). Choose your desired level of heat by when you harvest. A chili pepper is ready for picking when it is fully grown. [So does this site](http://searchwarp.com/swa14079.htm): > [@](#): > > You can pick or cut chili peppers at the desired size and color. Letting the peppers ripen and mature longer usually results in a hotter, more spicy taste. Chili peppers are considered the hottest and ripest when they reach the “red” color, however, immature peppers are used in some recipes as well. I’m wondering whether they seem less hot to you because the sugars in them mask the heat for you? My experience last summer with our serranos was definitely that the red ones were almost excruciatingly hot, whereas the green ones I could nibble a little bit of them raw. Daniel Edit: [This site looks the most reliable](http://www.bento.com/chili.html) of any of them, and says that red peppers are generally “2-3x hotter than green fruit.” ---
**Author:** ![Nikki\_Tikki\_Tavi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@Nikki\_Tikki\_Tavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nikki_Tikki_Tavi)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038/9 "2007-07-17T13:46:24Z")
I threw them in my fideos last night, and could barely taste them. I’m going to let them ripen to red from now on so I don’t miss out on any firey goodness! My green jalapenos were disappointingly mild as well. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038/10 "2007-07-17T13:59:30Z")
[QUOTE=Nikki Tikki Tavi] I threw them in my fideos last night, and could barely taste them. I’m going to let them ripen to red from now on so I don’t miss out on any firey goodness! My green jalapenos were disappointingly mild as well. [/QUOTE] Growing conditions affect the “hotness” of chiles. Cool, wet weather & too much fertilizer aren’t recommended. The plants might be happy, but hotness might disappoint. Good info [here](http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/pepper/2002072024032752.html). Variety also matters. Some types of jalapeno are bred for minimal heat to please those with timid palates. (Or tender digestive systems.) ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038/11 "2007-07-17T19:15:28Z")
I grew some cherry peppers a few years ago and got impatient and tried them green. The first bite I took tasted like a green pepper. The second, bigger bite I took burned. It was like there was capsacin in some of the pepper and not in other parts. Once they were ripe red, they were brutally hot. Your husband has something to look forward to when they ripen. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038/12 "2007-07-18T00:57:45Z")
[QUOTE=LateComer] I grew some cherry peppers a few years ago and got impatient and tried them green. The first bite I took tasted like a green pepper. The second, bigger bite I took burned. It was like there was capsacin in some of the pepper and not in other parts. Once they were ripe red, they were brutally hot. Your husband has something to look forward to when they ripen. [/QUOTE] I read an analysis of peppers in Cooks Illustrated a couple years ago. Apparently, the outer flesh has the least heat (capsaicin), the seeds have more–and, contrary to popular belief, the most heat is in the white pith around the seeds, not in the seeds themselves. If your first bite was just of the flesh, that might explain why it wasn’t hot. (I’ve nibbled a little bit of an habanero, but based on a scary-ass thread I read here years ago, I’ve never dared to eat beyond the very outermost layer of flesh). Daniel ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-hot-cherry-peppers-can-i-eat-them-green/412038/13 "2007-07-18T01:10:07Z")
Just plant some Habeneros…that’ll satisfy your need for hotness.