"MikeCT" wrote
After harvesting most, and sampling a few of my conservatory grown
chillies, I am sure that they are much hotter than last year's crop. Could
this be due to the very hot summer? Mr Fothergill's "Fiesta" has been
really impressive with my two remaining plants still producing many
fruits. I have often read on this newsgroup different methods of
preserving and using chillies during the winter. I prefer allowing them to
dry out naturally and storing the whole chillies in screw top jars. A
friend who is mad on "Habaneros" boils them up, and when cold, blitzes
them with added non-virgin olive oil before storing the resulting pulp in
screw top jars. Any chilli recommendations for next year would be most
welcome. TIA

Freeze them as they are, no blanching needed.
Chillies get hotter if they are well watered during the two weeks before
harvest.
You can keep your Habaneros, little taste IME, I'll stick with Thai Dragon
(same heat more taste, that's proved too hot for a couple of local Asian
families I gave some too this year) and it grows well outside down here.

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK