>I've tried a couple of brands of pickled whole Serranos and they have less >heat than Whitefield pickled Jalapeņo rings (2 qt, $2.80 at Sam's). The >Serranos are in a saltier brine and have a few carrot slices with them. >Does this packing method reduce their heat? How much hotter should I expect >a pepper to be fresh than pickled? Opinions are going to differ about this; I have not found heat to reduce when pickling peppers, especially when pickled whole (including seeds.) I think the difference in the heat levels are within the individual peppers. I very rarely get hot jalapenos fresh any more; seems to me they are breeding them much milder than they used to (Rain always blamed this on the Pace company "dumbing down" jalapenos for mass consumption.) But I have had Mancini pickled jalapenos that were damn firey! === Dave Sacerdote davesas@ntplx.net Resist or Serve. "I am so mighty, I do not have to kill you all." -- Flaming Carrot Visit Dave's New England Almanac at http://www.ntplx.net/~davesas/