Fw: [CH] Calvin's Powder - Reproduced
Tom Greaves (tomg@airmail.net)
Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:46:28 -0500
Pat, you are absolutely right about the hab flavor. Early on in our
experimenting we discovered that we had to have a 10% hab content to match
the Calvin's. The Rocoto was barely discernable so we knew we had to have
some of that too and it took 20% to get that. In addition to the list of
potential peppers in the mix that is listed in the Frank Hashek letter, we
had email comments from various people indicating that Aji Amarillo and
Rocoto were key ingredients. I used to be a winemaker and for our private
use we made a "field mix red" that was the leftovers from the vines. It
always tasted best to me. So it looks like you are doing a "field mix
pepper blend". If it is anything like the smell I get from my big can of
mixed pepper powders, it is probably GREAT.
We were very meticulous in our measurements only so that we could
consistently reproduce it. But the field mix would probably be just as
good, only different, maybe better.
Tom Greaves
----- Original Message -----
From: "J. Patrick Donohoe" <donohoe@ece.msstate.edu>
To: "Tom Greaves" <tomg@airmail.net>
Cc: <chile-heads@globalgarden.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 4:08 PM
Subject: Re: [CH] Calvin's Powder - Reproduced
> Tom Greaves wrote:
>> 1. Just about every combination we tried (about 10) was awesome! There
>> is something about combining the powders that makes the result far
>> superior to any of the peppers used. We dried and ground all the peppers
>> in a coffee grinder (cleaned between each variety). Each powder was
>> stored in a Freezer Zip Lock bag and they filled a 5 gallon can. The
>> absolute best fragrance comes when you remove the lid from the can. The
>> fragrance fills the room.
> Tom,
>
> I have been doing this very thing for three or four years now (grinding a
> blend of dried peppers), and my experience has been the same. But, I am
> much less meticulous about the makeup of the blend. I typically grow one
> or two plants of a wide variety of peppers each year (about 20-25 pepper
> types). I just pick everything that's ripe, throw them in the dehydrator,
> and grind whatever I have. The results are very consistent irregardless
> of the pepper types used, unless there are Habaneros in the mix. The
> distinctive flavor of a raw Hab is still there in the dried version, and
> it does tend to dominate the overall powder flavor. That is too bad for
> me, since I love the heat of a Hab, but Habaneros are way down on my list
> of favorite pepper flavors. A Habanero has an "artificial" or "chemical"
> type taste to me.
>
> One thing I have done the past couple of years is to add ground oatmeal to
> my pepper powder (as a natural dessicant) to keep the powder from caking
> together. The ground oatmeal doesn't affect the powder taste much, but it
> gives the powder an almost fluorescent glow and a real silky texture. I
> use about 1 part ground oatmeal to 4 parts ground peppers.
> A good pepper powder is by far the easiest and tastiest way to add heat to
> absolutely any food.
>
> Pat
>
> --
> ____________________________________________
>
> J. Patrick Donohoe, Ph.D, P.E.
> Professor
> Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
> Mississippi State University
> Box 9571
> Mississippi State, MS 39762
>
> Email: donohoe@ece.msstate.edu
> j.donohoe@ieee.org
> Office: Simrall Hall, Rm. 312
> phone: 662-325-2180
> fax: 662-325-2298
> ____________________________________________
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>