Why are the peppercorns not spitting out seeds when they are dried? Is it better to have peppercorns with seeds or without seeds?

After being picked from the tree, the peppercorns need to be dried or baked to evaporate the moisture in the peppercorns. After the peppercorn seeds are removed, the remaining peppercorn shells are the seasoning peppercorns used in our daily lives. When drying peppercorns, most of the peppercorns are dried and have seeds, but some of them have not yet spit out seeds under the sun. This phenomenon is mainly caused by the following three reasons.

Why the peppercorns didn't spit out seeds when they were dried

1. The maturity of Sichuan peppercorns is different.

When the peppercorns are ripe, they turn from green to red (except for green peppercorns), the suture line is raised, the pepper bubble on the peel is translucent, and the fruit has less water content, while the unripe peppercorns are green and red, and have more water content. If you put two different levels of maturity of peppercorns together in the sun, the one with less water content will definitely dry out first and spit out the pepper seeds, while the one with more water content has not dried out yet and therefore has not spit out the pepper seeds.

2. There are different varieties of Sichuan pepper.

During the thousands of years of cultivation, many varieties of Sichuan pepper have been formed with different characteristics. Different varieties require different drying times. For example, Dahongpao has large pepper grains and thick pepper skin, so it takes a relatively longer time to dry, while Goujiao has small pepper grains and thin pepper skin, so it takes a relatively shorter time to dry. If these two varieties of Sichuan pepper are put together to dry, Goujiao with small pepper grains and thin pepper skin will definitely be dried first and produce seeds, while Dahongpao with large pepper grains and thick pepper skin will not produce seeds yet.

3. The picking time is different.

If the peppercorns are left for a few days after being picked but not aired immediately, they will be easier to dry because some of the moisture has evaporated. If the peppercorns are aired right after being picked, they will be less likely to dry because they have enough moisture. Therefore, if peppercorns picked at different times are aired together, the peppercorns picked earlier will be dried and produce seeds first, while the peppercorns picked later will not be dried and produce seeds yet.

4. The paving thickness is different.

The thinner the peppercorns are, the easier it is to dry and produce seeds. The thicker the peppercorns are, the less likely they are to dry because they are blocked from the sun. Therefore, the different thickness of the peppercorns will also cause some of them to dry while others will not produce seeds.

If you want the flowers to dry and produce seeds at a relatively uniform time, you should dry them separately according to their maturity, variety, and picking time, and try to keep the thickness of the spread uniform.

Is it better to have peppercorns with or without seeds?

The skin of Sichuan peppercorns is red, which is what we usually call the condiment Sichuan peppercorns. The seeds of Sichuan peppercorns are black, small and round.

The taste of Sichuan peppercorns is spicy and numbing, while the taste of Sichuan peppercorn seeds is a bit numbing but very bitter.

Sichuan peppercorns can affect the flavor of vegetables, so a good Sichuan peppercorn should be broken and easy to remove. Enclosed Sichuan peppercorns contain Sichuan peppercorns, which makes the seasoning taste bad.

One of the standards for grading Sichuan peppercorns is the ratio of Sichuan peppercorn seeds. The more Sichuan peppercorn seeds there are, the worse the grade will be.