What`s the deal with fresh Jalapeno`s lately. I have been eating 2-3 whole peppers on the grill lately with almost no heat at all. Same thing with the whole grilled Jalapeno peppers I`ve gotten at restaurants lately and for the past year. I`m not complaining either since I don`t like them so hot you can`t enjoy them. I like that little kiss of heat that lets you know it`s a Jalapeno and that`s all. The Jalapeno peppers I grew up with always seemed to have been cross pollinate with scotch bonnets. Anyone else noticed a reduction in heat or am I the only one.

I'm like you, to a point. I like warm but not painfully hot!! They have a great taste when perfectly ripe!!

I've always found Jalapeño to be hit or miss. Sometimes they are absolute fire. Sometimes almost no heat. And usually somewhere in between. I've never been able to figure out by looking at them which it's gonna be.

Like unclebubba I’ve always thought jalapeños were hit and miss. Bought half a dozen last week from H‑E‑B to make some salsa for a party, they were very mild. The ones I picked out of my garden this year have been like bell peppers. The last one I bought from H‑E‑B I ate tonight sliced on top of chicken Alfredo, it wasn’t HOT, but it had some heat finally.

I've grown them for years and have found the same thing on fresh ones. Unlike cowhorns which will make mild to wild peppers on one plant (you can tell which is which by appearance), jalapenos usually make all of one or the other per plant.

agree, they seem toned down considerably from years ago. I had an old timer tell me if you want the hot ones, look for the ones that have the spider web cracking appearance. I've never tried out his theory though.

For cowhorns, the darker the hotter ... the curlier the hotter ... the bumpier the hotter. But jalapenos are all generally smooth, straight, and the same color. Cycling them from flood to drought to flood makes them hotter sometimes.

That's why I only use Serrano peppers now. far more consistant.

It’s been hit or miss for me too. The other day I bought a few jalapeños and I swear they were cross pollinated with Serrano peppers. HOT !

Commercial growers send the majority of their crop straight to factories to be used in prepared foods. They want consistency via the use of standardized farming technology, and that means less heat. So the fresh jalapenos are a part of those standardized crops with milder heat.

For me if I buy them from Walmart it's like a bell pepper but if I go to the Mexican meat market in town they slap you across the face most of the time. HEB has been hit or miss for me.

I've been told that the ones showing some black near the cap will be the hottest.

No heat at all when bought. Like a bell pepper. When I grow my own, I leave them alone until I start seeing little cracks in them. They are hotter then.

So at the store I look for cracks in the ones I buy. Still not consistent at all.

I've heard both of those theories, and I have not found either to be true.

Same here. No commercially grown jalapenos are hot anymore. The heat has been modified for consistency to suit the masses.

Blame Texas A&M.

https://www.dmagazine.com/food-drink/2023/05/why-jalapeno-peppers-less-spicy-blame-aggies/

On a side note, is it just me or are dehydrated jalapeños pure fire? Any time I've bought them to make sausage, I always end up wishing I'd put less.

Aggies are always screwing up something.

Just finished lunch, homemade tamales and chili with two fresh jalapeños picked last night, nose is running finally some warm ones, they were good!

The ones I had eaten off the same plant crime a few days prior had no heat at all. No discernible outward appearance.

Wait. You are already picking peppers?

I have plants at at stores labeled mild and a few hot, If you want hot quit watering them for a week before picking.

They grew I picked em.

I have eaten some of my fresno peppers already.


Yep, see my post on 5-7-24.

Apparently people's tastes dictates what growers plant and most people don't like things spicier than chocolate milk these days. Even the plants (TAMs and other varieties) at most stores won't produce hot peppers. I bought some at HEB and they at least had some heat.