Most Familiar Types Of Chilies:
Chili peppers are available year round and in the United States they are mainly grown in California, New Mexico and Texas.

Anaheim: Very mild. Six to eight inches in size and deep, shiny green. Often stuffed or added to salsas.

Ancho: Dried or fresh poblano pepper. Dried anchos are flat, wrinkled, and heart shaped. They range in color from very dark red to almost black. Anchos are mild to moderately hot and often soaked and ground for use in sauces.

Cayenne: From four to twelve inches in length. Deep green, yellow, orange, or red. Long, skinny, and wrinkled in appearance. Hot in taste.

Cherry: Round and red like a cherry. Sold fresh or pickled in jars, these peppers range from mild to moderately hot.

Habanero (Scotch Bonnet): Typically yellow-orange but they can be green, red, or orange. These peppers are lantern shaped and typically about 2 inches long. The hottest pepper grown commercially; intense fiery flavor; a unique floral flavor and an extremely intense heat that affects the nasal passages

Jalapeno: Most often green when mature but sometimes red. They are very hot, with an immediate bite. Use whenever recipe simply calls for hot chile peppers. They can be fresh or canned. When smoked, jalapenos are called chipotles.

Poblano: Poblano peppers look like small bell peppers and are mild to hot on the hotness scale. They can be fresh or canned.

Serrano: Sold red or mature green and about 1 to 4 inches in length. Moderate to very hot with an intense bite. Can be found canned, pickled, or packed in oil with vegetables. Often served in Thai or Mexican dishes.

The Hottest Pepper: ever on record according to the Guiness Book of World Records
was a Red Savina Habanero which had a scoville rating of 577,000 Scoville Units.

Naja Jolokia: The World’s Hottest Chile Pepper: The Naja Jolokia has been test at over 1,001,300 Scoville heat units! Almost twice as hot as the old Champ, the Red Savina Habanero.

100% Pure Capaicin is 16,000,000 Scoville Units!

Selection And Storage:
Fresh Chilies - Make sure that they are firm to the touch and the skin is smooth. Once they are wrinkled, their crisp texture and fresh flavor are gone. Use them as soon after purchasing as possible. Otherwise store them for up to two weeks wrapped in a dry terry-cloth towel inside a paper bag in the refrigerator or a cool dark place. Do not freeze.

To select chiles for cooking, if you are searching for milder chiles, always select ones that have broad shoulders and blunt tips. For hotter chiles, select chiles with pointed tips and narrow shoulders. This is important because you can have up to 35 different piquancies on one plant at a time.

Dried Chilies - The best dried chiles are the ones that have been sundried. If possible, buy loose, rather than packaged chile peppers so that you can examine them closely. Dried chiles should have a rich (not dusty), uniform color, unbroken skins and a slight flexibility. Don’t buy those with skin blemishes. Select chilies that are still a little flexible and not dried to a crisp. Dried chiles should be used within 1 year of production. Store in a cool and dry area or in a very airtight container (tightly sealed jar or freezer bag) in the refrigerator.

You may crave that chile flavor, but the heat may be overpowering. Here’s a few tips that may help

Remove the seeds:
The top of the seed cluster near the stem contains the majority of the capsaicin, which is what created the heat. By cutting the top of the chile off, and removing the seeds, you remove the heat

Remove the ribs:
The seed clusters attach t the inner part of the chile with white ribs, which also contain some capsaicin. By removing them, you remove more heat

Remove the inner layer of flesh:
The rest of the capsaicin is in the flesh, however it is concentrated in the innermost layer. If you slice the top and bottom off, then slide down one side, you can flatten in out with your fingers. Make the chile is skin side down and slide a knife just under the innermost flesh cutting of the ribs and a thin layer of flesh. You will be left with a thin piece of much milder chile.

Remedies for the Chile Pepper Bite or Burning Mouth:
From "Peppers: A Cookbook," by R. Berkley, published by Simon & Schuster, 1992.
"There are several remedies for the effects of eating a pepper that is too hot for you, something that is usually discovered when it is too late. (Eventually, you can build up tolerance to the heat of peppers, and will be able to eat hotter and hotter chilies without having to resort to these cures.) Many people recommend drinking tomato juice or eating a fresh lemon or lime, the theory being that the acid counteracts the alkalinity of the capsaicin. Some people won't begin eating hot peppers without a pitcher of cold water handy, though this is not the best idea. The capsaicin, which is oil, does not mix with the water but is instead distributed to more parts of the mouth. More useful solutions include drinking milk (rinsing the mouth with it as you sip), sugar or candy or eating rice or bread, which absorb the capsaicin. My own favorite retaliation against attack by hot chili pepper is to simply eat another. And if that doesn't work, eat another one........"

GREEN CHILES

The best Fresh Green Chile comes from an area in Southern New Mexico, which includes Hatch and the Mesilla Valley. A unique combination of high altitude, soil conditions and long, hot growing days produces Fresh Hatch Green Chile quality which is unrivaled and has earned the name “Chile Capital of the World:.

Choose from Five Flavors of Fresh Green Chile, grown in Hatch and the Mesilla Valley

• Mild = Joe Parker. A favorite for those who love the flavor of chile but who can't stand the heat. Perfect on steak or hamburgers.
• Medium = Big Jim. A meaty, medium heat chile and the largest of the NM chile pods. Great middle tier heat flavor for those who think that mild is wimpy and extra hot is insane. Great for chile rellenos.
• Hot = Sandia. This hot one is a favorite for use in a variety of traditional New Mexican recipes. You have to be pretty cool to try this hot one. Perfect for salsa and quacamole.
• Extra-Hot = Barker. This classic variety has bite! If you do like it this hot it is wonderful in and on everything from eggs to hamburgers.
• XX Hot = The hottest variety of NM chile peppers we offer. We dare you to try this one.

SCOVILLE RATING CHART
Reference: DeWitt, Dave 1999. The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia, New York: William Marrow & Co. Inc.