My brother in TX grows a nice variety of peppers, ranging from ancho Pablanos all the way to Carolina reaper. He takes them all and puts them in a pepper dedicated dehydrator (anything dryed in that afterwards is too hot to eat) and then throws them in a high speed blender to make powdered spice. That he then puts in a shaker and uses on all kinds of things for a little over the top flavor.
Some of the other peppers, like jalapeños and habeneros add actual flavor and nuance to the heat…before it lifts the top of your head off for a while.
Always use nitrile gloves and don’t even trust those.
Funny story:
My son and a friend who really liked my pickled jalapeños asked to help make them. Sure, I had a big batch that year and welcomed the help. I got them both gloves and a cutting board, a knife and a bowl. I wear glasses and did not consider eye pro for them. Friend is sitting at the table, I work standing. Of a sudden, I heard him cry out and looking, see him grab his eye and fall off the chair.
I quickly realized that he had made the classic mistake of poking the tip of the knife in the pepper first instead of using a quick slicing motion. The resulting spray of pepper juice caught him square in the eye.
I then realized that it’s hard to offer assistance or solace while laughing so hard that you can’t catch your breath.
