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[scrdest]

Chemistry question for my fellow chefs! I've got a bad cold and a pile of super-spicy little fresh chilis. I've been making loads of tea with ginger and lemon and honey, and I know adding chili powder is also good for immunity, but I want to use my fresh chilis. I tried cutting them up and boiling them in water for about 15 minutes with the ginger, but I can hardly taste them at all, which means not much of the oil found its way into the water. I know oil and water don't like each other too much, but does anyone have any ideas on how to get the capsaicin out of the fruit and into the tea? These chilis are really very hot, which I like, and I want that in my tea! Would boiling longer help, or do I need to add something to the water?

Capsaicin, being non-polar, is best soluable in non-polar solvents. Meaning basically anything organic and liquid at the same time. Meaning, yes, alcohol or oil. Boiling them in oil and then adding the oil to the tea should do the trick, but I'm not sure how will it taste.

[Sappho]

Hm... Maybe if I used peanut oil? It has almost no flavor at all. I must do science on this. Or alcohol would work fine. I could boil it in some slivovice, for example, or spiced rum. The alcohol content would be lost but the flavor would go well with tea.

[scrdest]

Hm... Maybe if I used peanut oil? It has almost no flavor at all. I must do science on this. Or alcohol would work fine. I could boil it in some slivovice, for example, or spiced rum. The alcohol content would be lost but the flavor would go well with tea.

Well, you aren't trying to get drunk anyway, you're trying to make something that will warm you up. Besides, for sickness-related coldness, alcohol actually helps (though not for cold-related coldness - what happens is your blood vessels get dilated, and the increased blood flow is perceived as warmth - but if you're out in the cold, it speeds up hypothermia).

Honestly, I have no idea how peanut oil tastes, so I cannot speak for or against it, but spiced rum most certainly goes well with tea, especially anti-cold tea, and chilli-rum sounds pretty interesting.

[Sappho]

There's several types of peanut oil. Some taste like peanuts, but I have the kind with no peanut flavor. It's just oil that has a high smoking point.

I'm not really trying for something that will warm me up so much as I'm sick and I want all the good healthy chemicals in the chili to go into my tea. Also I love the taste and the spice. I would just chew on the raw chilis because I love them, but I think that might be too much.

It's a bit late tonight but I think tomorrow I'll give it a try with the rum.

[Sappho]

SUCCESS!!! I have a new specialty to wow my friends with.

I cut up a small, super-spicy fresh chili pepper and put it in a pot with a small amount of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum. I didn't measure - not more than a few tablespoons. Boiled for about 5 minutes - a lot of the liquid evaporated, so I was left with about 1-2 Tbsp of chili rum (with no more alcohol in it). Added it to a cup of freshly brewed green tea (I need to find some good loose leaf black tea, I think that will work better). I can taste the spice, and the rum, and it's clearing up my sinuses a bit! The perfect cold weather beverage!

For my next attempt, I'll use slivovice (a plum alcohol popular here and often used as a home remedy for all types of illness) and more chili pepper (the spice is very mild this time).

EDIT: Well this is interesting. Boiling the rum just gave me rum without the alcohol, but boiling the slivovice has changed the taste dramatically. It doesn't taste good at all. Furthermore, while it was boiling I started to get very lightheaded and slightly nauseous. I opened the windows and stopped it and I feel better now, but there is apparently something in slivovice that reacts to being boiled, which you shouldn't boil. I'll stick with rum in the future.

On the plus side, I put about 2x as much chili in the slivovice and the effect is definitely improved. I can really feel the spice in my mouth and it's opening up my sinuses much better than before. I'll keep playing and put together a good recipe for others to use.

[Osmosis Jones]

I wonder how chillies would go with a Hot Toddy? You could try and do a hot extraction into the whiskey, or a slow steep (over a few days) into the honey perhaps.

Another thing that might work is to make a buttered tea, using the fat in the butter for the chilli extraction.

[scrdest]

I wonder how chillies would go with a Hot Toddy? You could try and do a hot extraction into the whiskey, or a slow steep (over a few days) into the honey perhaps.

Another thing that might work is to make a buttered tea, using the fat in the butter for the chilli extraction.

Honey probably won't work, it's a dessicant - it dehydrates things, and along with the water, the stuff suspended in the water. Though I am not sure what process do you mean for it.

 Fats or alcohols are your best guess when it comes to extracting capsaicin, because they are nonpolar solvents and capsaicin is nonpolar (like dissolves like - water is a polar solvent, so things like table salt, which is highly polar, dissolves awesomely in water, but badly in pure _{[well, azeotropic]} alcohol or oil).

[Osmosis Jones]

Honey probably won't work, it's a dessicant - it dehydrates things, and along with the water, the stuff suspended in the water. Though I am not sure what process do you mean for it.

Dessicant is a non-issue, as capsaicin is non-polar, ergo not dissolved in the water. I was under the impression that honey (well, sugars in general) dissolve capsaicin (and were thus non-polar), as the chilli neutralising effects of sugar is actually the basis for the Scoville scale. However, doing research, it appears that isn't the case; both glucose and fructose are pretty polar, so no luck.

Fats or alcohols are your best guess when it comes to extracting capsaicin, because they are nonpolar solvents and capsaicin is nonpolar (like dissolves like - water is a polar solvent, so things like table salt, which is highly polar, dissolves awesomely in water, but badly in pure _{[well, azeotropic]} alcohol or oil).

Yep.

Spoiler: Fun story about that, back in my undergrad... (click to show/hide)

In Chem 101 we were given a white solid, told it was polar, and asked to pick the best solvent for it. Naturally, my lab partner and I chose water. Two thirds of the class chose (very non-polar) petrol (gasoline). As we were told that it may take some gentle stirring or heating to dissolve the solid, said 2/3rds of the class put open beakers of petrol over direct Bunsen burner flames with no water bath or even a Bunsen mat to break the flames.

The results were... interesting, to say the least.

[scrdest]

Honey probably won't work, it's a dessicant - it dehydrates things, and along with the water, the stuff suspended in the water. Though I am not sure what process do you mean for it.

Dessicant is a non-issue, as capsaicin is non-polar, ergo not dissolved in the water. I was under the impression that honey (well, sugars in general) dissolve capsaicin (and were thus non-polar), as the chilli neutralising effects of sugar is actually the basis for the Scoville scale. However, doing research, it appears that isn't the case; both glucose and fructose are pretty polar, so no luck.

Fats or alcohols are your best guess when it comes to extracting capsaicin, because they are nonpolar solvents and capsaicin is nonpolar (like dissolves like - water is a polar solvent, so things like table salt, which is highly polar, dissolves awesomely in water, but badly in pure _{[well, azeotropic]} alcohol or oil).

Yep.

Spoiler: Fun story about that, back in my undergrad... (click to show/hide)

In Chem 101 we were given a white solid, told it was polar, and asked to pick the best solvent for it. Naturally, my lab partner and I chose water. Two thirds of the class chose (very non-polar) petrol (gasoline). As we were told that it may take some gentle stirring or heating to dissolve the solid, said 2/3rds of the class put open beakers of petrol over direct Bunsen burner flames with no water bath or even a Bunsen mat to break the flames.

The results were... interesting, to say the least.

Jesus Christ. Ladies and gentlemen, natural selection: Chemlab Edition. Now I know why I have to do this tedious-ass Ion Analysis before they'll let me into Organic Chemistry lab next semester.

Yeah, you kinda notice that sugar tends to dissolve in water. In fact, I think I'll get myself a hot cup of that experiment and then dump some dry leaves into it.

Scoville scale is not based on sugar neutralizing chilli, it's based on dilution neutralizing chilli. In fact, the hottest chilli pepper in the world tastes sweet-ish, according to Wikipedia. The idea was to test how many times you need to dilute the alcohol extract of capsaicin in the pepper before it's too diluted to be noticeable - the hotter chillis have more capsaicin, so you need more water to dilute it.

[Sappho]

I love this conversation. Cooking for nerds... : D

I picked up a bottle of cheap vodka on my way home from work. I'm thinking I can boil the chilis into that and store a jar of the result for use whenever I need it. The rum is nice, but the flavor is very strong and doesn't go well with everything, plus rum is far more expensive than vodka. With the alcohol boiled off, the vodka should be close to flavorless. I'll post here when I've tried it, let you know the result.

EDIT: Great success! About a cup of vodka with 2 little fresh chilis in it, boiled for about five minutes. Doesn't taste like vodka, just chili, and adds a great kick to my tea. I put away the rest for future use.

A warning, though: if you try this, make sure you ventilate your kitchen. I started getting dizzy again while it was boiling, and the whole place reeked of vodka. The alcohol goes into the air and it does not appear to be healthy to be breathing in alcohol like that.

So next I suppose I ought to try making chili butter, because that sounds awesome and would have a million uses. Butter tea sounds nice, actually, but I'm lactose intolerant so I'd have to use a recipe without milk (and go easy on the amount of butter used).

[scrdest]

I love this conversation. Cooking for nerds... : D

I picked up a bottle of cheap vodka on my way home from work. I'm thinking I can boil the chilis into that and store a jar of the result for use whenever I need it. The rum is nice, but the flavor is very strong and doesn't go well with everything, plus rum is far more expensive than vodka. With the alcohol boiled off, the vodka should be close to flavorless. I'll post here when I've tried it, let you know the result.

EDIT: Great success! About a cup of vodka with 2 little fresh chilis in it, boiled for about five minutes. Doesn't taste like vodka, just chili, and adds a great kick to my tea. I put away the rest for future use.

A warning, though: if you try this, make sure you ventilate your kitchen. I started getting dizzy again while it was boiling, and the whole place reeked of vodka. The alcohol goes into the air and it does not appear to be healthy to be breathing in alcohol like that.

So next I suppose I ought to try making chili butter, because that sounds awesome and would have a million uses. Butter tea sounds nice, actually, but I'm lactose intolerant so I'd have to use a recipe without milk (and go easy on the amount of butter used).

Oh, heh, some of the alcohol evaporated and you breathed the vapors in. You quite literally got drunk on air.

[kisame12794]

Yeah, alcohol vapors are dangerous, because the alcohol is absorbed directly into the bloodstream, and because of that, you can't vomit it out, increasing the risk of alcohol poisoning.

[Sappho]

Oh my god it's pumpkin season. There's some really wonderful hokkaido's around here. 1. cut in half 2. scoop out seeds 3. slice up the rest (including skin, the skin is the best part) 4. rub those babies down with olive or peanut oil and black pepper, spicy paprika, ground nutmeg, and a dash of cinnamon (add a dash of salt too if you like) 5. roast it up in the oven at 200 C (400 F I think) for 20 or 30 minutes

6. SOOOOO GOOD

[Osmosis Jones]

So, tomorrow, I'm doing a big baking day with a whole bunch of friends. Since I'm doing several dishes (lemon curd + berry tart, lamb and guinness pie, tomato soup and pretzel rolls), I'm doing a lot of the prep beforehand.

Unfortunately, there's a problem. I live in Japan; the land of many earthquakes. That, coupled with a horribly timed skype call from my little cousin (who I couldn't ignore cos serious business yo) meant there was a cooking accident

I burnt my lemon curd, and while the taste is still good, now there are little black flecks

Siiiigh.


Annnyway, enough of my woes, have a recipe;

Awesomesauce lemon curd!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

4 large lemons (juice and zest)
10 egg yolks
1 flat cup of granulated white sugar
200g of butter (diced into 1cm cubes)

Makes 2-3 small jars.

Add everything bar the butter, and heat over very low heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir constantly.
Now, slowly add the butter... maybe 20-30g at a time. Stir constantly ( )
Keep stirring until you get the consistency of a thick suce or gravy.

Transfer to storage container, cool, and refridgerate.

That's it. Keeps at least 3 weeks in the fridge (if you use sterilised jars, the unopened ones can last months).

Now here's why I love it; straight from the fridge, it's got the consistency of soft nutella, so it can be used to make tarts etc where you want the filling to stay put.

HOWEVER, if spread on warm bread (for example, croissants ), it softens and oozes into all the bread (think runny honey).

Plus, you know, it's absolutely delicious.

[scrdest]

I would looooove to get a jar of Marmite... but since I'm probably the only person within, say, 100 km who heard of it, much less tried, and MUCH MUCH MUCH less likes it, and if I did find it in a shop that specializes in imported comestibles, it would cost waaaaay too much.