Looks pretty harmless, doesn't it?
When I was creating my wishlist at the end of this winter, I knew I was going to grow a jalapeno plant. My two most important criteria for selecting which jalapeno were that the plant had to be abundant and early to mid season. The Biker Billy Hybrid I purchased from Cross Country Nurseries fit the bill.
If you are interested in the true history of the Biker Billy, you can read about that here. SPOILER ALERT: Some biker dude named Billy made his own jalapeno. This pepper profile is about my experience growing , harvesting and cooking with this organic plant.
Growing
True to its description, the Biker Billy started bearing edible fruit in late June. I’m growing this plant in a 5 gallon bucket filled with my own organic potting mix and fertilized twice a month with either organic beet extract or blood meal. The plant is now about 18 inches high and will probably deliver about 30-35 large pods by season’s end. Unfortunately, I have come to find out that Hybrid plants do not drop viable seeds for saving so I may or may not have this plant in my garden next year.
Harvesting
When summer began, I noticed that the Biker Billy plant was starting to produce some great looking pods. Only 1 pepper was growing a lot faster than the others. I made an executive decision to pull this pepper, allowing the plant to focus on the new fruit and not have to keep up with the demands of the one developed pepper. Since then, I have intermittently pulled off peppers for recipes, friends and family. As of now I have harvested 8 full sized peppers from this plant. As I have many more exotic peppers ready to harvest in the coming weeks, I have decided to let the rest of the Biker Billy pods mature to red. I have not had the opportunity to enjoy a freshly picked red jalapeno, so I’m very much looking forward to it.
Cooking with the Biker Billy Jalapeno
The first pepper picked from this plant was chopped and served with egg salad. The flavor was fresh and crispy with just a hint of heat. For most Jalapenos that you find in grocery stores, after taking out the seeds and the ribs (any white part inside the pepper), the pepper is all flavor and little to no heat. Great for egg salad, potato salad, and whatever else you could think of.
Then, reality set in as I realized that the first impression of the Biker Billy was a farce. After waiting another 4 weeks before picking more pods from his plant, New Jersey (and most of the country) had an oppressive heat wave and the Biker Billy had just what it needed to fulfill its tongue scalding destiny. This jalapeno is HOT. Not close to the hottest peppers I have had, but absolutely the hottest jalapeno available. I sliced up a few (seeds and all) and grilled them up with some bell peppers, onions and tandoori chicken. My wife, who has built up a pretty impressive heat tolerance (thanks to her heat seeking husband), said that it was one of the hottest peppers anything she’s ever tasted. After experiencing the burn for myself, I realized that these peppers would be distributed with a staunch warning. The pepper is truly delicious, It has a sweet taste all the way through, even while assaulting your tongue.
Give this pepper to civilians?
No. If you’re not a chile head or Mexican, you probably wouldn’t enjoy this pepper. It’s crazy hot, even with the seeds and ribs out, its a scorcher. If you can’t get past the heat, you’ll never find the flavor. Chile heads or fellow growers will definitely want to try this fiery jalapeno.
I closed my eyes and pictured a gardening biker, and this is what popped out.
PEPPERMEISTER! 
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Hi
Just curious if you grew them in 2012 from seeds produced in 2011? If you did, were the results the same? Thanks.
Hey Amy, I did not keep any seeds from the Biker Billy last year. Because it is a hybrid variety, the seeds are very unlikely to produce jalapenos. I do know of people who have grown seeds from hybrid plants and the results varied greatly. Sometimes a small hybrid pepper can produce giant peppers and vice versa. Seeds from hybrid fruits will produce plants, but there’s no telling what you’ll get.
Wow! Ain’t that the truth. I’ve been growing Biker Billys for several years and replanting the seeds. This year I sat at a table and cut 2 pods open to save the seeds. There was some coughing and gagging that usually comes from hotter chilis. But then the inside of my nostrils started burning and that lasted over an hour. This has never happened before or since, even with Habaneros, Ghost Chilis, and Trinidad Scorpions. Maybe I’ve stumbled onto the world’s hottest chili. Sadly, there is no guarantee the seeds will produce the same result next year.