No heat in jalapeño peppers

[Dina]

I was slicing some jalapeños for our pico de gallo and noticed there was absolutely no heat in them. It's almost as I'm having a bell pepper. I know they had been banned from our grocery store for a while due to salmonella. I wonder if they're being grown differently that they have NO heat. Blah! Has anyone experienced this? What would be the cause of them not being hot at all? Hmmm. What would you add to make the pico de gallo spicy enough?

[GB]

I have had that happen before. The first year I grew them that happened. I was very disappointed.

For your pico de gallo just and a different hot pepper.

[kitchenelf]

If you don't have a habanero or something like that I guess just a few shakes of hot sauce? How disappointing! The ones I put in my gazpacho today sure had heat. I must have gotten a clump of them in one bite!

[BreezyCooking]

It happens. It's a both common & curious phenomenon with peppers. I've had Jalapenos come off the exact same plant in my own garden both mild & hot. Go figure.

And these days there are specific varieties of "no-heat" Jalapenos for those who want the taste without the heat. Frankly, I don't understand those at all, since to me at least, Jalapenos don't really have a very distinctive taste without the heat (unlike other hot peppers).

Add some of your favorite hot pepper sauce or a few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes to liven things up. That's what I do.

[suziquzie]

I think I read buckytom say somewhere that peppers need to get stressed out (have dry spells I think) to get spicy.....
But who can really believe that guy?
:)

[sattie]

Originally Posted by suziquzie

I think I read buckytom say somewhere that peppers need to get stressed out (have dry spells I think) to get spicy.....
But who can really believe that guy?
:)

Yep! I do believe I read the same thing myself. Mine should be plenty hot cuz they are getting stressed every day here! 101 today... shew!

[GrillingFool]

I dunno, my cayenne peppers growing outside are plenty stressed... 100+ heat,
I barely water them...
Nice sweet mild peppers, eat em like candy. Of course, I have become a bit of a pepperhead, so.....
;) ;) ;) :)

I'd add crushed red pepper flakes too.

[Dave Hutchins]

Texas A&M university has bred some jalapeno's with no heat at all this could be what you bought sad to say I agree what is a pepper with out heat.

[sattie]

Originally Posted by GrillingFool

I dunno, my cayenne peppers growing outside are plenty stressed... 100+ heat,
I barely water them...
Nice sweet mild peppers, eat em like candy. Of course, I have become a bit of a pepperhead, so.....
;) ;) ;) :)

I'd add crushed red pepper flakes too.

I think I have that problem too... what seems mild or weak to me, DH is dying when he eats it! Wimpy!!

[Dina]

Thanks you all. I managed to save the pico de gallo. Tossed in some Herdez Mexican canned sauce I had in the pantry...with lots of jalapeños, onions and garlic. The sauce tasted even better than my original pico. Tossed about 5 tablespoons over the beef fajitas that DH grilled, wrapped in warm corn tortillas, topped with sour cream and guacamole. Voila!