Old Peppers

This is a question directed towards Larry as he is a Scoville judge but anyone feel free to jump in.

I have had in my cupboard, for a long time now, a jar of dundicuts (60K Scoville) and another much smaller jar of piquins (140K Scoville). When they were fresh, one dundicut gave nice heat to a couple plates of food. The piquins were, frankly, too hot to use mostly.

Well, today, in my new kitchen, I threw a dundicut into my one plate of food and barely noticed it.

Is there any received wisdom about how old peppers can be before they fade away?

This is a question directed towards Larry as he is a Scoville judge but anyone feel free to jump in.

I have had in my cupboard, for a long time now, a jar of dundicuts (60K Scoville) and another much smaller jar of piquins (140K Scoville). When they were fresh, one dundicut gave nice heat to a couple plates of food. The piquins were, frankly, too hot to use mostly.

Well, today, in my new kitchen, I threw a dundicut into my one plate of food and barely noticed it.

Is there any received wisdom about how old peppers can be before they fade away?

Capsaicin, the active principle in chilis, is sensitive to oxidation. In a dried chili, the capsaicin is compartmentalized and kept away from oxygen, but over time slow oxidation will occur even in a dried chili. Storing them in an airtight container helps keep them hot.

I agree with Mark. As age increases, capsaicin hotness lessens. Some people claim that dried chiles get hotter as they age--at first-- but eventually the heat subsides as the capsaicin oxidizes.

Are these dried or pickled chiles? As already observed, capsaicin is sensitive to oxygen and to light and will break down over time, resulting in less heat. Dried chiles go stale over time and lose their aroma and flavor as well. The fresher dried chiles are, the better. This is especially important in dishes where they are key contributors to the flavor and aroma, such as gongbao ji (aka Kung Pao Chicken).

In my experience the dried chiles sold in most supermarkets and even most Asian groceries tend to have been sitting on the shelf for ages and are stale from the get-go. I prefer to buy dried chiles from outfits with brisk product turn-around such as The Mala Market and Penzeys.

-Paul W.

We're lucky here. Just about every place has rapid turnover. One Mexican grocery store has bins of dried chiles that you scoop and buy by weight. And I've been known to grow some occasionally.

There's a local Indian grocery here that has good stock turnover on most products, including chiles. For me the main problem is that they sell them in huge packages. I'm loathe to buy more than I can use in a few months. The local Thai, Vietnamese, and Korean groceries don't seem to do a volume business in chiles. Of late I've been buying dried chiles from both The Mala Market and Penzeys, both of which sell sell very fresh product.

-Paul W.

Both of these are dried, not pickled.

Alas for the dundicuts they are in a rather large jar. I think those were bought from Penzeys originally.

The piquins are similarly old but in a teeny-weeny jar. I hand-harvested those so they were as fresh as could be then.

Seems like the dundicuts are history; maybe the piquins have a little life left in them... they had a lot more to begin with. Only one way to know for sure.

Thanks for the help!

[Jenise]

So peppers aside, how's cooking in your new kitchen on that hot-looking Italian stove?

I am only just barely setup. While shucking boxes I portioned a grocery store roast chicken into four cold suppers along with raw vegetables, flatbreads, and hummus.

I've made two hot meals so far: cod with coriander (side of garlicky wilted spinach), and a simple red-sauce pasta with doctored-up ricotta (the dundicut experiment). This weekend will be the first real cooking.

But I don't have a sheet pan (yes, I'm going to go buy one).

And I don't have any pots other than a green Staub cocotte and a blue oval Le Creuset (yes, I'm waiting for delivery of some All-Clad of reasonable sizes).

Still deciding... Mike's lemon braised chicken sounds good, there's a beef stew version that sounds good, I have a small portion of sofrito (frozen) and a small portion of bomba so maybe a small paella, I am eager for a mushroom gumbo I saw in a video, maybe short ribs (given the cooling weather)....

[Jenise]

New All-Clads! Now that you're going to have room for more stuff, every dish you make using X pan for the first time will be extra exciting.

Speaking of pans, I was reducing a bottle of wine and a quart of beef broth and left it on the stove on high heat without realizing it. OMG, what a big black mess. I had to go buy Oven Cleaner for a daily repeat exercise to clean it at the rate of what feels like one speck at a time. And that was my Most Useful Pan so it being out of commission for the past two weeks has been crippling. I'll shoot myself if I ever do that again.

Speaking of pans, I was reducing a bottle of wine and a quart of beef broth and left it on the stove on high heat without realizing it. OMG, what a big black mess. I had to go buy Oven Cleaner for a daily repeat exercise to clean it at the rate of what feels like one speck at a time. And that was my Most Useful Pan so it being out of commission for the past two weeks has been crippling. I'll shoot myself if I ever do that again.

Ugh. It is no fun trying to remove grease that has polymerized onto the pan. (The last time I sprayed a pan with oven cleaner, I ruined the pan so I won't do that again.)

[Jenise]

This was so baked on I had no other choice. Wouldn't boil off, even Krud Kutter didn't make a dent. It was THAT fused. I did supect that the Easy Off might destroy it, but as a last resort (8 applications!) I had no other option. Glad I tried it.

Mike's lemon braised chicken sounds good....

And is the winner:

2025-11-15 19.37.37 sm.jpg

I also cut some leek and mushrooms for a side dish.

2025-11-15 19.37.46 sm.jpg

Ready at the stove.

And that's a great recipe. Despite having bought the wrong thighs and using basil instead of sage, it was still terrific. Very happy to have a few more portions awaiting me in the fridge.

Speaking of pans, I was reducing a bottle of wine and a quart of beef broth and left it on the stove on high heat without realizing it. OMG, what a big black mess. I had to go buy Oven Cleaner for a daily repeat exercise to clean it at the rate of what feels like one speck at a time. And that was my Most Useful Pan so it being out of commission for the past two weeks has been crippling. I'll shoot myself if I ever do that again.

Ugh. It is no fun trying to remove grease that has polymerized onto the pan. (The last time I sprayed a pan with oven cleaner, I ruined the pan so I won't do that again.)

I know what that's like. I've had great luck luck with Barkeeper's Friend (it has oxalic acid in it). The first time I used it, I thought it was like magic. You'll still have to soak and scrub a bit if the oil is really polymerized, but you won't hurt your non-Teflon pans.

[Jenise]

In this case, it wasn't oil. It was 50/50 beef broth and wine with a few aromatics but I'm sure that doesn't change anything--it was plastered on there. Easy Off plus steel wool scrubbing for eight days straight.

I never want to do that again!!! I've never used that product you're talking about, though.

Omigosh, Barkeeper's Friend is a wonder to behold! And to scrub with!

It actually has a couple of formulations so you need to read carefully. Some are merely fine grit, like other powder scrubs. But the good stuff is powdered oxalic acid -- you know, that wicked flavor in sorrel -- and it does wonders on grease of all natures.

...I have a small portion of sofrito (frozen) and a small portion of bomba so maybe a small paella....

Tonight, the paella. Made in a steep-sided saute pan on top of the stove because there wasn't enough rice to use the paella. I had one cup of rice so decorated it with 10 shrimp, half a red pepper cut into strips, 8 oz sauteed mushrooms, and a bit of other things (chorizo, peas). Socarrat was nicely browned but not crisp (so good flavor but no crunch). Despite that, this was so good I may not go back to the paella unless I need greater quantity!

Oxalic acid forms very hard, sharp, pointy crystals. As anyone who's suffered from kidney stones can attest. It is also why the ornamental plant diffenbachia has the nickname dumb cane. The plant's stems are full of oxalic acid crystals. It looks a lot like sugar cane, but if you try breaking off a stem and chewing on it your mouth and throat swell up from the irritation of the crystals to the point where you can't speak.

Oxalate strikes me as providing just the right amount of abrasion to deal with a real stubborn carbon deposit problem. I have a solid copper, stainless steel lined skillet whose bottom is almost completely carbonized. I made a concerted effort to get rid of the deposit once but gave up after several days of scrubbing.

-Paul W.

In this case, it wasn't oil. It was 50/50 beef broth and wine with a few aromatics but I'm sure that doesn't change anything--it was plastered on there. Easy Off plus steel wool scrubbing for eight days straight.

I never want to do that again!!! I've never used that product you're talking about, though.

Barkeeper's Friend is inexpensive. Some grocery stores or WalMart carry it. And if I spot a can in an estate sale for el cheapo, I buy it. It's been around since 1882, so it really works.

Oxalic acid forms very hard, sharp, pointy crystals. As anyone who's suffered from kidney stones can attest. It is also why the ornamental plant diffenbachia has the nickname dumb cane. The plant's stems are full of oxalic acid crystals. It looks a lot like sugar cane, but if you try breaking off a stem and chewing on it your mouth and throat swell up from the irritation of the crystals to the point where you can't speak. -Paul W.

Also why you don't eat rhubarb leaves.

Oxalic acid forms very hard, sharp, pointy crystals. As anyone who's suffered from kidney stones can attest. It is also why the ornamental plant diffenbachia has the nickname dumb cane. The plant's stems are full of oxalic acid crystals. It looks a lot like sugar cane, but if you try breaking off a stem and chewing on it your mouth and throat swell up from the irritation of the crystals to the point where you can't speak.

Oxalate strikes me as providing just the right amount of abrasion to deal with a real stubborn carbon deposit problem. I have a solid copper, stainless steel lined skillet whose bottom is almost completely carbonized. I made a concerted effort to get rid of the deposit once but gave up after several days of scrubbing.

-Paul W.

Yes, there was a very good essay written about Diffenbachhia by Berton Roueché in his excellent collection Eleven Blue Men. He reported an outbreak of oxalate-induced throat irritation amongst Dominican immigrants to NYC who, mistaking Diffenbacchia for sugar cane, tried sucking on the juices to horrific effect.

New All-Clads!

Arrived today:

2025-11-18 20.36.33 sm.jpg

New All-Clads!

Arrived today:

2025-11-18 20.36.33 sm.jpg

{drool}. My All-Clads are 26 years old now and not quite as pretty as those, but still fully functional. Enjoy their use, Jeff.

[Jenise]

Beautiful! Is that a set or did you choose individual pieces?