# pre soaking??



## cromag

I'm going to make my first batch of ABTS this weekend and someone mentioned that after you cut the pepper in half let them soak overnight in cold water so that way the spicy heat mellows out. Any truth to this? Everyone coming isn't a fan of hot jalapeno peppers so I want to ensure them that they are not spicy at all.


----------



## scrappynadds

Cromag, while its true pepper flesh holds some heat your real source of heat comes from capsicum and most of it is in the white membrane inside the pepper and the seeds. Removing these two thing will reduce your heat level considerably. Never heard about soaking the peppers before but that is what this site is all about............LEARNING and SHARING...........


----------



## alblancher

What Scrappy said.   If you have people adverse to Jalapenos just because they are Jalapenos then you can use a different type of pepper.


----------



## cromag

They just don't want anything hot and I'm sure the jalapenos taste better than other peppers


----------



## big casino

for some reason they tell you to do this when canning peppers to, I wonder if it has something to do with hydrating them b4 you "cook" them, smae thing with a pickle recipe I have too

Maybe one of the resident chefs will come around with a answer for us?


----------



## king salmon

For a more mild pepper I'm a big fan of Anaheims.  They have an excellent taste and with the seeds and core removed I've never known them to be too spicy.


----------



## hoity toit

You can even use some bell peps too., maybe the red ones for some color.


----------



## nimrod

My wife does not like the heat. I core them and remove all the membrane & seeds. She really like the little sweet bell peppers though.

 You can take the heat out by mixing a cup of water with 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Soak really hot peppers for just a couple of minutes, not so hot just dunk them and rinse with fresh water. It really does take the heat out. I soaked them too long once and they lose all their heat & flavor. (I learned that on this forum)


----------



## miamirick

cromag    if you have a Publix get a bag of sweet peppers look just like japs but green red and orange   no heat at all and are sweet

pefect for those who can't handle the heat!


----------



## sprky

Here is a solution for ya. My wife likes the ABT'S and if i make them too hot 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






. So i came up with a solution. I totally strip membrane and seeds from some and mark them with a tooth pick, and stuff them before I add removed de-seeded membrane to the stuffing. this way I can get my ABT'S with some heat and keep mama happy.


----------



## chef jimmyj

You have some options with the Anahiem, Pablano or the multicolored ones, don't know the name... There are also Red Fresno's from Cali that are mellow...Sorry but I never heard of soaking Chiles to remove heat...I have made ABT's each month for the last three and have rarely got more than 1or 2 Hot ones and they seem to get milder as the winter progresses...Januaries batch had Zero heat...I used Hotter Texas Pete to kick them up...I really think farmers have bred the heat out of Jap's for the American palate and Popper business...I'm thinking of giving Habanero ABT's a shot but they still scare me a bit...JJ


----------



## SmokinAl

Pablanos would be a good choice.


----------



## oldschoolbbq

The cooking process itself causes the Capsacin to sweeten some , and Ancho are a great choice for ABT's , they can be stuffed with so much more and cut into 3-4 pieces and shared. JJ mentioned the Fresno, this is a great Chile and makes a fine stuffed Chile.

If in doubt of the heat of the Chiles in your store, buy 1 and taste it (they will probably let you have it). Experiment with Anhiems and the larger Chiles...as they say , the smaller the Chile the hotter it will be...

Hope this helps,and...


----------



## ellymae

I have heard of soaking them in Sprite - and have tried it and the peppers weren't that hot.

I agree with the others - if you have folks that don't like the heat, then get some of the mini sweet peppers -they are a nice change up.


----------



## djreaction

Yes, you can soak the peppers in Sprite (use diet so they dont' get sugary).  I usually soak them overnight if I know my pepper is really hot.  I can eat jalapenos no problem and have made ABT's for a couple of years.  Then all of a sudden the peppers I was buying from my grocery store, started to get unbarebly hot.  I mean to the point where they were as hot has my home grown habeneros.  They were jalapenos and I cored them very well. So I started doing research on this site and found that if you soak them in Sprite, it removes the heat.  I did them overnight and it worked great, Probably a shorter soak would have been perfect.

Note of caution.  The carbonation can help the oils from the peppers go airborne.  When you first add the peppers to the sprite in a bowl, do it outdoors.  Its basically like peppers spray.  You may have to play with the soak time for your particular peppers.


----------



## smokinhusker

We're not huge fans of spicy hot foods, so I made a variety of Poblanos, Anaheims, and Jalapenos. I removed all the membranes and seeds before stuffing and while good, we preferred the Jalapenos...seemed to be just enough heat. I also make ABTs with the small colorful bell peppers.


----------



## berninga87

Chef JimmyJ said:


> You have some options with the Anahiem, Pablano or the multicolored ones, don't know the name... There are also Red Fresno's from Cali that are mellow...Sorry but I never heard of soaking Chiles to remove heat...I have made ABT's each month for the last three and have rarely got more than 1or 2 Hot ones and they seem to get milder as the winter progresses...Januaries batch had Zero heat...I used Hotter Texas Pete to kick them up...I really think farmers have bred the heat out of Jap's for the American palate and Popper business...I'm thinking of giving Habanero ABT's a shot but they still scare me a bit...JJ


I'm going to be giving the habanero ABT's a try this summer. I've got 6 orange and 4 Caribbean red hab plants in the garden and we're just playing the waiting game until they start producing. I've got a lot of flowers, hopefully to be peppers soon! I can't wait, I love the jalapenos, but the habs will be a real treat. What filling do you think you'd use if you did try them?


----------



## chef jimmyj

berninga87 said:


> I'm going to be giving the habanero ABT's a try this summer. I've got 6 orange and 4 Caribbean red hab plants in the garden and we're just playing the waiting game until they start producing. I've got a lot of flowers, hopefully to be peppers soon! I can't wait, I love the jalapenos, but the habs will be a real treat. What filling do you think you'd use if you did try them?


 A blend of Cream Cheese, X-Sharp Cheddar and minced Green Onion, maybe some chopped Shrimp mixed in...JJ


----------



## mdboatbum

I've had really good luck with removing the inner membrane. After I slice the pepper in half lengthwise, I use a teaspoon and scrape the inside, removing all the seeds and ribs, but also the entire satiny coating on the green flesh. This leaves the fruity flavor and removes almost all the heat. I am not a huge fan of heat for heat's sake, and my wife and most of our friends are less tolerant than I am. I've made dozens of ABT's using this method and only had 1 or 2 that were "surprises", likely because I didn't scrape enough. One word of caution, no matter what direction I scrape the pepper, or how I hold it or what direction I face in relation to the pepper, I invariably get pepper juice squirted directly in my eyes. In addition, since you're scraping the pepper, you will get juice all over your hands including under your nails, which tends to hurt for the rest of the day. For these reasons, when I do this, goggles and latex/vinyl gloves are mandatory.

Good luck!!


----------



## xxlt250rxx

Mdboatbum said:


> I use a teaspoon and scrape the inside, removing all the seeds and ribs, but also the entire satiny coating on the green flesh. This leaves the fruity flavor and removes almost all the heat.


Exactly this.  If you scrape the entire inside surface there will be no heat.  Skip some of it by accident or on purpose and there will be some heat.


----------



## kennyp1114

I smoked some bacon wrapped cream cheese stuffed jalapenos and they were awesome. I can't handle real spicy things so i scraped the membrane and veins and soaked the peppers in cold water for a couple of minutes and they were awesome. I'll be making them a lot more! (No night so long you can't find the day, no day so wrong you you can't find your way)


----------



## inkjunkie

alblancher said:


> What Scrappy said.   If you have people adverse to Jalapenos just because they are Jalapenos then you can use a different type of pepper.


The wife likes Anaheim peppers,  may try them...


----------



## guitardude

While removing the seeds and membrane is step one, if you want to take the heat out of a pepper you need to get as much capsicum out as you can...and following these steps will do it, leaving you with the great taste of the pepper without burning anyones mouth. We do habanero peppers as well and people are amazed at the flavor of the pepper without the heat.

The "heat" in a pepper comes from capsicum which is located in the seeds and white membrane, but also in the blisters on the layer of skin INSIDE the pepper...note: wear gloves and consider working under running water for steps 1-3

1) slice pepper in half length ways 
2) remove seeds and membrane
3) scrape the inside of the pepper
4) soak the peppers in tequila or sprite for 30-60 minutes. If you soak longer than this, peppers will loose color and start to soften.

If you don't have one, Amazon has several "de-seeder" tools, the two that I use are the Norpro 121 Grip EZ Jalapeno Corer and the King Kooker JRC Jalapeno Corer Tool. These allow me to cut the stem off, or even better, almost off, clean out the seeds and membrane and then give them a good scraping before soaking, filling them with whatever is on the menu, replacing the stem, wrapping with bacon and putting in my holder on either the grill or smoker!


----------

