Your favorite paprika pepper?

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GoDawgs
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Your favorite paprika pepper?

#1

Post: # 30435Unread post GoDawgs
Sat Sep 12, 2020 10:59 am

I've grown Alma last year for the first time and Feher Ozon this year. The Alma plants seemed to be slow growing with small peppers that took a long time to turn red. Is that normal for the variety or just the ones I grew?

This year it's Feher Ozon. It has done better and I'll probably overwinter one but after reading several paprika threads here, Leutschauer seems to be a favorite. Is Leutschauer is still a crowd favorite or is there something else I should consider? The end game is making paprika powder.

Southern Exposure has two, one called Aji Dulce and a Hungarian paprika. Have any of you had any experience with either of these?

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worth1
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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#2

Post: # 30436Unread post worth1
Sat Sep 12, 2020 11:52 am

I read on a website about Hungarian Paprika by one of the manufacturers of the product or something it has been awhile.
To complicate things more I think I remember is.
They dont use the same peppers from year to year.
They often blend them to get the flavor they want from several verities depending on flavor each season.
They have 8 different grades and or types at least.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paprika#P ... _varieties
What we get in the US at the store is a generic Hungarian product or two maybe three.

I buy the paprika made in Mexico by the pound because it is readily available and cheap plus very good.
But in my opinion paprika from Hungary is the gold standard for paprika.
I have had several different types.
After all it is their national spice.
Now as far as growing the things I have had little luck due to lack of space and not being around to take care of the plants.
For the life of me I cant remember which one it was other than it was a flat squat looking fruit.
You can literally make paprika out of any pepper you want contrary to popular belief as long as you can dry it.
The sweet peppers grown in Hungary may not be as sweet grown here in a hotter climate due to the hotter climate.
So you would have to select one that is sweet in your area if you want sweet paprika.
Plus removing the seeds makes all the difference in the world.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

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Amateurinawe
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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#3

Post: # 30448Unread post Amateurinawe
Sat Sep 12, 2020 2:26 pm

[mention]worth1[/mention] The thought of paprika and now its gonna have to be goulash for dinner next week. I also do love the spanish smoked paprika's but have to be selective on what dishes I add to as it can be overpower the meal. Such an interesting read on paprika though.
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ponyexpress
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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#4

Post: # 30479Unread post ponyexpress
Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:30 am

worth1 wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 11:52 am
You can literally make paprika out of any pepper you want contrary to popular belief as long as you can dry it.
I’m interested in drying some of my peppers. Anyone drying them on a string or in the sun? I would rather not use a dehydrator.

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GoDawgs
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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#5

Post: # 30484Unread post GoDawgs
Sun Sep 13, 2020 8:13 am

ponyexpress wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:30 am
worth1 wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 11:52 am
You can literally make paprika out of any pepper you want contrary to popular belief as long as you can dry it.
I’m interested in drying some of my peppers. Anyone drying them on a string or in the sun? I would rather not use a dehydrator.
I use my dehydrator as it's too humid here to dry them outside without them eventually developing mold.

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worth1
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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#6

Post: # 30488Unread post worth1
Sun Sep 13, 2020 8:46 am

ponyexpress wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:30 am
worth1 wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 11:52 am
You can literally make paprika out of any pepper you want contrary to popular belief as long as you can dry it.
I’m interested in drying some of my peppers. Anyone drying them on a string or in the sun? I would rather not use a dehydrator.
Its called a Ristra and you are going to have a hard time doing it where you live.
But it isn't impossible.
I can barely do it in central Texas and even then only at certain times of the year.
If I were to really get into it I would have a room with a dehumidifier in it keeping the humidity down to around 40% to no more than 60%.
I personally think that dehydrating peppers at 130F in a dehydrator is basically cooking them and ruins the flavor.
There are other things to consider also like how a naturally dried pepper will have a much sweeter flavor than one force dried.
This is because it gives the pepper time for certain chemical compounds to break down like you would curing tobacco or heaven forbid the dreaded cannabis into sugars.
There is lots of conflicting information on line about drying things.
And you dont have to have sunlight to do it either your product will look much better and taste better dried out of the sun.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#7

Post: # 30493Unread post GoDawgs
Sun Sep 13, 2020 10:14 am

worth1 wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 8:46 am I personally think that dehydrating peppers at 130F in a dehydrator is basically cooking them and ruins the flavor.
There are other things to consider also like how a naturally dried pepper will have a much sweeter flavor than one force dried.
This is because it gives the pepper time for certain chemical compounds to break down like you would curing tobacco or heaven forbid the dreaded cannabis into sugars...There is lots of conflicting information on line about drying things.
I usually let them sit on the counter a week or more to let the moisture start decreasing before I dehydrate them and then dehydrate them lower than 130. You do what you have to do with the conditions you have. Taste is all a matter of opinion and when it's all thrown together in the pot, it's not going to make a difference unless the recipe calls for heavy use of paprika. Even at that I doubt one can detect much pepper "sweetness" in a pot full of food. ;)

So... the original question was about a favorite paprika pepper...... any thoughts about that?

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pepperhead212
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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#8

Post: # 30536Unread post pepperhead212
Mon Sep 14, 2020 12:06 am

worth1 wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 8:46 am
ponyexpress wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:30 am
worth1 wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 11:52 am
You can literally make paprika out of any pepper you want contrary to popular belief as long as you can dry it.
I’m interested in drying some of my peppers. Anyone drying them on a string or in the sun? I would rather not use a dehydrator.
Its called a Ristra and you are going to have a hard time doing it where you live.
But it isn't impossible.
I can barely do it in central Texas and even then only at certain times of the year.
If I were to really get into it I would have a room with a dehumidifier in it keeping the humidity down to around 40% to no more than 60%.
I personally think that dehydrating peppers at 130F in a dehydrator is basically cooking them and ruins the flavor.
There are other things to consider also like how a naturally dried pepper will have a much sweeter flavor than one force dried.
This is because it gives the pepper time for certain chemical compounds to break down like you would curing tobacco or heaven forbid the dreaded cannabis into sugars.
There is lots of conflicting information on line about drying things.
And you dont have to have sunlight to do it either your product will look much better and taste better dried out of the sun.
I agree with you, and this is why I dry my peppers @110-115°, instead of the higher temps, usually recommended. Takes longer, but they are bright red, when dried crisp. The first dehydrator I got was a cheap one that didn't have a thermostat, and the peppers would be a dark reddish brown, when dry.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

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karstopography
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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#9

Post: # 76386Unread post karstopography
Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:58 am

Corbaci is good for making paprika. So are pepperoncini and shishito peppers.
Zone 9b, located in the Columbia bottomlands, annual rainfall 46”

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Whwoz
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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#10

Post: # 76388Unread post Whwoz
Wed Aug 17, 2022 5:39 am

We use quite a bit of paprika, mainly in Indian style curries and have 5 Leutschauer Paprika plants up and potted on today for this season to give it a shot. Will also be trying a few others to see how they dry out. Potted up one red and one yellow/gold pepperoncini as well. Will let you know what I think of them.

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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#11

Post: # 76390Unread post worth1
Wed Aug 17, 2022 5:43 am

I put some okra pods in my tool box.
They dried out and looked as green as the day I picked them.
Worth
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You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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karstopography
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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#12

Post: # 76393Unread post karstopography
Wed Aug 17, 2022 6:24 am

I sun dried on the copper sheet several ripe orange Aji Cristal peppers and have ground those into powder. The Aji Cristal powder is a little hotter than the ground up dried cayenne from the same garden. Different flavor, more fruity is the Aji Cristal than the Cayenne.

I’ve managed to make several ounces of mild (very low heat almost undetectable ) sweet red paprika from a mix of Corbaci, pepperoncini and Shishito. All those peppers go bright red if given enough time and they all are thin walled so sun drying can work even here if the weather cooperates. None of those varieties are sweet when green, but upon turning red, they become more flavorful and sweet, especially corbaci.

I shake out and remove the vast majority of the seeds when making ground dried peppers. I dry peppers whole, but shake out the seeds when the peppers dry. On the poblano, I took out the seeds before they were fully dry to help the peppers dry out enough. Laid the seeded poblano out flat for maximum sun exposure.

I’ve got a little ground dried poblano powder (Ancho) stashed away in the freezer from my efforts. Sun Dried on the copper red ripe poblano peppers taste like raisins to me, in the best way possible, like I wish raisins really tasted. I hope I can get a mountain of those dried peppers from the garden. I’ve frozen several mixed red and green poblano peppers and there a lot more green peppers on my three poblano plants still getting bigger, but I’m likely going to have to use the BGE to dry those if I want any more. I think my sun drying window has closed for the foreseeable future. Maybe in October when the humidity drops, a sun drying window will open.

Weather has not been cooperative lately for outdoor sun drying of peppers and the long term forecast looks unfavorable for air/sun drying. I’m going to put more effort into fire management on the big green egg. It’s best educated guess doable to have a very low sustained for hours 150°, 65° C or lower temperature inside the BGE, but going that low takes some careful set up on the charcoal amount and size.
Zone 9b, located in the Columbia bottomlands, annual rainfall 46”

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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#13

Post: # 76394Unread post Whwoz
Wed Aug 17, 2022 6:29 am

@karstopography , are those you mention thin walled? I imagine that for drying you would want them to be relatively thin walled, thinking 1/8 of an inch or thereabouts.

Edit, you have answered my question, seems we were typing at the same time.

In a normal Aussie summer, one advantage I have over some here is our low humidity, often below 30'%

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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#14

Post: # 76395Unread post karstopography
Wed Aug 17, 2022 6:56 am

I grew Takara Shishito Elongated Sweet Pepper, Greek Pepperoncini Elongated Sweet Pepper, both from Fedco Seeds, Italian Pepperoncini Pepper from Pinetree seeds, and Corbaci from Baker Creek. I’d say those are all under 1/8” on the walls.

I don’t think my sun drying would have worked here on the Gulf coast of Texas without the drought we had that led to a lot of cloudless or mostly sunny days with lower than normal humidity. Plus, I dry the peppers on sun exposed and heated beaten copper sheet and that raises the temperature on and just above the sheets, thereby lowering the relative humidity. The copper sheet gets to 70° C at peak heating, but the pepper surface itself that isn’t touching the sheet is more like 50° C. I use a laser thermometer to measure these temperatures. Most of the time, the copper sheets are around 140° or 60°in the sun of a “normal” summer day, mid afternoon. Still, it takes about three good solid days in the sun to get the thin walled peppers dry enough. I cut small slits in the whole peppers to let the moisture vent.

Anything black or discolored on the peppers that forms during the drying process, those peppers gets tossed into the compost bin. I had one small batch ruined by a surprise 10 minute rain shower. Some of the peppers got time in the big green egg at the end of cooks when the fire was essentially out. The heavy ceramic big green egg takes a long time to cool off so I might put in a tray of partially dry peppers inside the kamado oven when it was down to 65° C or so. Generally, that was in the evening and so the peppers would spend the night sealed up in the slowly cooling off BGE.
Zone 9b, located in the Columbia bottomlands, annual rainfall 46”

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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#15

Post: # 76455Unread post Whwoz
Thu Aug 18, 2022 3:55 am

Anyone here know anything about Boldog Hungarian, apparently one of the varieties used by the Hungarians in the making of paprika. Thinking that I will get some seed and give it a try.

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Re: Your favorite paprika pepper?

#16

Post: # 76456Unread post svalli
Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:45 am

My favorite for years has been Beaver Dam, because the mild heat allows me to use those those also as fresh in cooking without risk of making the dish too hot.
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