Most people know that ground black pepper is hot, but not too
hot. If you use a little it taste good, but if you use a lot it might
be too spicy. But have you ever tried ground white pepper, or
ground cayenne pepper?
White pepper tastes similar to black pepper, but you can use
less, because it's usually ground smaller, so it's a bit hotter.
And if you want your pepper to be nearly invisible in white
or light foods, white pepper is great for that too. White pep-
per is also a nice substitute for black pepper if you get a lot
of kidney stones. The only disadvantage to white pepper is
it's more expensive.
Cayenne pepper is even hotter than white pepper. I use cay-
enne pepper in recipes that are red or spicy, and I use it
sparingly. For example, if I make a pot of chili I'll only use
1/8 teaspoon, because that's how powerful it is.
Here's an example of how I would measure each ground
pepper depending on which one I wanted to use. Let's
pretend I'm making another pot of chili:
*black pepper 1/2 teaspoon
or
*white pepper 1/4 teaspoon
or
*cayenne pepper 1/8 teaspoon
