Why is black pepper both grey and black?
A container of black pepper seems to have both black and greyish bits. Why is this the case? Shouldn’t it all just be black?
Best Answer
Here is a photo of a peppercorn. You can see why a ground one might contain both black and grey bits.
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Quick Answer about "Why is black pepper both grey and black?"
Black pepper is not completely black through and through. The inside is lighter, which might come across as grey depending. The center of a black peppercorn is white. (and sold as 'white pepper' if it's been removed) chowhound.com/food-news/138263/…What is grey pepper?
Harvested from berries grown in clusters on the vine-like pepper plant, the Grey Peppercorn is round in shape like other varieties and when dried the berry becomes bumpy and irregular in texture.Why do black peppercorns turn white?
Black peppercorns are picked when almost ripe and sun-dried, turning the outer layer black. To produce white peppercorns, this outer layer is removed before or after drying, leaving only the inner seed.What color is black pepper?
Appearance. The outer layer of a dried black peppercorn (known as the \u201cpericarp\u201d) is dark brown/black and wrinkled in appearance. The inside part contains a large seed which is lighter in color.Is black peppercorn the same as black pepper?
In reality, black peppercorns are green peppercorns that have been cooked and dried out. Black pepper is most commonly used as a seasoning or crust that adds a robust spice to some of our favorite foods: meats, eggs, salads, fries, soups and more. Black peppercorns are typically ground up and used alongside table salt.What's the difference between Black and White Pepper? | Food Unwrapped
More answers regarding why is black pepper both grey and black?
Answer 2
https://www.seriouseats.com/2012/07/taste-test-black-pepper-what-are-differences-in-varieties.html
According to this article, consistency and the darkness of the color is a sign of the quality of the black pepper. Note that this is talking about the outside layer of the peppercorn, not the inside as moscafj has noted.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Tima Miroshnichenko, Tima Miroshnichenko, Karolina Grabowska, SHOCKPhoto by Szoka Sebastian