Black Pepper vs. White Pepper

I've always heard that the white is spicier... but I haven't tried it because I'm not even a fan of the black kind.
Are you planning to try it, Deb?
 

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In the winter when I’m mashing the old potatoes that are blah and tasteless, I toss in lots of white pepper at the end. I like the bite. Just this morning I was thinking I should do this.

I’ve never considered it as a replacement for black pepper.
 
Haven't used White Pepper much, I do use a lot of various red peppers and chilies.
I've never used white pepper. I don't know why.

I once was given a small tube of what I think was Royal Peppercorns but they were in different colors; black, pink, white and green. like this-
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Tasted like pepper.
 
The best flavor for any of the pepper corns is when freshly ground. White pepper does have an earthier, sharper bite. It is used frequently in Chinese recipes, but when I've seen it for sale in Asian markets it was always pre ground.

I bought a jar of the 4 pepper mix once, and separated the types. I couldn't tell the difference between green and black, and the white wasn't especially good, so they might not have been the best quality corns to begin with or old. We have two grinders on the table and the white we have now tastes better than that did.
 
White pepper is hotter than black pepper. It's usually used in recipes where you need pepper, but don't want the black specks show up like in a hollandaise sauce. I will use less of it than I do black in a recipe.

I like green peppercorns the best. It's the mildest of all of the peppercorns. I like to use it on steak au poivre, because to me it I think the black peppercorns get bitter when they are scorched when you brown the steak.

I have grinders for both the green & black for the table. I do use ground black pepper in my everyday cooking from my local bulk food store since they have a high turnover of products. She will special order the green for me & I reseal them in glass jars with my foodsaver. Kept in the dark, they keep for a very long time.
 
I have dirty rice recipe that just isn't the same without both flavors.

You'll also see white pepper in a lot of processed packaged foods and some cured meat products like dry sausages for the same reason. It has its own flavor notes.
 
apparently white pepper IS spicier
I would not have guessed that. I put black pepper in everything. Depending on the freshness and the grind, black pepper can be spicy.

I tried white pepper once to put in my mashed potatoes. I didn't notice much of a kick. Maybe it was ground too fine or I got an old batch.

I'll have to try it again. I love pepper.
 


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