Bell pepper is a famous chili pepper with a strong peppery flavor but without heat. It’s widely used for culinary purposes across the world.
Here is more about the bell peppers, the facts, the best recipes to try with them, and their storing methods.
Most of us might have tasted it or cooked it already. However, some of us might wonder about its zero-spice level property.
To put it clearly, this post provides you with complete information that you may want to know about bell peppers.
Here, we discuss the facts and try to clarify the topics to clear your doubts about these peppers.
What is bell pepper?
These are substantial chili peppers with a thick wall, glossy outer skin, and a hollow inside. Its shape resembles a bell, that’s one of the main reasons for inheriting its name.
Bell peppers belong to the Capsicum annuum family, which does not produce capsaicin(a heat-causing factor). Hence, they are considered sweet peppers and one of the vital chili peppers with zero heat units in the Scoville scale.
They are also known as ‘capsicum’ and ‘sweet pepper’. They are available in different colors, green, yellow, orange, and red, which show the different phases of their life.
An intro to Bell pepper
Bell peppers belong to Mexico and central and northern South America. And later cultivated across the globe around the 14th century. Until then, it was predominant in enriching or flavoring the food. It is an essential ingredient trusted by chefs and home cooks holistically.
These measures around 4-5 inches in lengthwise and 4-5 inches breadthwise. It has a thick flesh, crunchy texture, and tastes mild, with bold flavors.
The inner part has a thick white membrane with clusters of seeds. And both the membrane and the seeds do not possess heat.
Different types of bell pepper
There are multiple colors of bell pepper available in the market now. Generally, green, yellow, orange, and red peppers are grown and harvested in their respective phases.
The young, tender bell peppers look green in color, but as they mature, they turn yellow and orange and finally turn red. The red bell pepper is the developed and ripened pepper.
Purple, brown, and white bell peppers are available in the above four colors.
Are bell peppers hot?
No, these peppers have no heat, as no heat-producing agent(capsaicin) exists. Furthermore, it has zero Scoville scale units in the Scoville scale, a unit to measure the spice level in the pepper.
What does this taste like?
We have already discussed the different phases of bell pepper, young to ripe. The unripe, young peppers turn from slightly bitter to sweet as they mature.
Green peppers taste mildly bitter, yellow and orange peppers mildly sweet, and red peppers sweet and more flavorful.
Are bell peppers fruits or vegetables?
According to botanical theories, peppers are classified as fruits, whereas in the culinary world, they are considered vegetables.
Are red bell peppers spicy?
The color of the red bell pepper may give a fiery look, but actually, it is not spicy at all. Any bell pepper of its kind does not have the heat.
How to store the bell peppers?
At room temperature. This flesh is thick and moist; hence, it does not keep well when stored at room temperature.
In the refrigerator.
In the freezer. However, these are fabulous when stored frozen. You may freeze them in two forms.
Firstly, you may core, dice, and pack them in an airtight container or zip-lock bag. It is very convenient to toss them while cooking for the recipes like pepperonata, and capsicum curry.
On the other hand, you may freeze them as whole peppers. This method is beneficial when making stuffed peppers, such as lentil stuffed peppers.
As roasted. You may roast over the stove top or in the oven like roasting jalapeno. It's handy when making salsa or sauce.
As powdered. A popular version is usually called paprika. This has a longer storage life than all the above methods.
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Dana
Love bell peppers. This is a really informative post!
MJ
I love bell peppers so much. The red ones are my favorite! So great with your lentil stuffed peppers recipe!
Toni
These are really great to know!! I love bell peppers and I enjoyed learning more about it! Thanks!
Beth
I've been cooking with bell peppers for as long as I've been cooking at all. I never knew they were actually chili peppers!
Nikki
Very informative post. Appreciate the information.