Cookaholics Bulletin Board

So, over a year ago, Dave Pepperhead mailed me a big bag of SuperThai dried peppers. I'd asked for these because they're the mildest peppers Dave grows (medium hot), which means I can actually use them around my capsicum-sensitive sweetie.

They've spent the last 15 months double-sealed in ziplock bags. Last week I used some for some recipes, and I'd swear that, rehydrated, they're twice or three times as hot as they were when I first received them. I couldn't use more than one in a recipe, or neither my sweetie nor our unofficial roommate could eat it.

So, is it possible for dried peppers to get hotter while being stored? Or do I just have a poor memory?

Dave?

I haven't had such an experience with any of my peppers. Maybe they were just used in a different way than before, thus releasing more capsaicin? I definitely have frozen peppers LOSE heat from one season to the next, but I have never had a heat increase with any kind. And I just used a batch of dried Superthais for nam prik pao, and it was about the same as always.