Peppers, red/green what colour should they be?

Hi

I have lots of chillies on two of my pepper plants. Both are cayenne pepper varieties. On one of the plants the peppers are turning red and on the other they are still green. As an experiment I decided to see what they tasted like. (Sorry, please bare with me!) To cut a long story short I ate a red one and a green one and the one that wasn't ripe (the green one) was the hottest. I like my chillies hot. Is this the case that as a chillie ripens it loses its hotness. The red one did taste the sweetest though. any help is greatly appreciated.

Re: Peppers, red/green what colour should they be?

Reply from Katy Elton

Hi Richard,

Yes – as a general rule chillies lose their heat the more they ripen. When they’re green they tend to taste slightly bitter, and pretty hot, and as they go red they develop a sweeter taste, but also lose some of their heat.

Chillies can be eaten at any stage of the ripening process – whatever suits your tastes best!

Hope this helps.
Don’t forget to add to your ‘plants I have’ list to receive regular care instructions: Cayenne pepper.

Regards
Katy

Re: Re: Peppers, red/green what colour should they be?

Reply from Richard Glascodine

Great reply. Thanks for taking the trouble to answer my query. You can now call me a proper pepper expert!