To infinity and beyond!!

[Gob]

Experts have pronounced a chilli grown in the market town of Grantham, Lincs, as the hottest in the world.

Tests have revealed the "Infinity Chilli" to have a Scoville Scale Rating of 1,176,182 - hotter than chilli reportedly used in hand grenades by the Indian military. But what is the attraction of this insanely hot ingredient?

The story of the world's hottest chilli begins not in Mexico or Bangladesh, but next to the barbed wire at RAF Cottesmore in Rutland.

Nick Woods, working shifts as an RAF security guard and considering his growing family, decided he had to do something more entrepreneurial with his life.

That was five years ago. What was Nick's hobby - cooking up hot sauces in his kitchen - developed into his Fire Foods sauce business, and now the 38-year-old Grantham man finds himself literally in possession of hot property.

Like many great discoveries Nick says he developed the Infinity Chilli accidentally.



"There are 4,000 different varieties of chilli," he explains, "and they're really easy to cross.

"I knew as soon as I saw it in the polytunnel. It stood out, and when I dissected it I could tell by the skin tissue and the seeds that it was a hot one."

Technically the chilli is not a vegetable but a fruit, from the plant genus "Capsicum".

The heat comes from the substance "capsaicin" which is found in all chillies. The attraction of it lies in the way it livens up our foods and makes the body produce pleasurable endorphins afterwards.


The chilli fire is measured by the Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) designed by American chemist Wilbur Scoville in 1912.

To put the Grantham chilli in context, a Jalapeno can score anything between 2,500 to 8,000 SHU on this scale.

The Bhut Jolokia chilli weighs in at just over 800,000 SHU. The Indian military are reported to have developed a counter-terrorism hand grenade which uses it as an ingredient to immobilise their adversaries.

But Grantham's Infinity Chilli has scored 1,176,182 SHU in a test done last year by Andrew Jukes, a scientist at the University of Warwick's Crop Centre.

It's boom time for the chilli, because Britain's taste buds are thoroughly globalised. Many of us get used to curries and other hot snacks at college. Now the experts say we're looking for bigger and better chilli-based thrills in the kitchen.

Cookery writer Michael Michaud runs an online chilli supply firm and was responsible for the development of the "Dorset Naga", until recently one of the hottest known chillies in existence.

"It's a versatile spice," he says.

"And the vast majority of British people have been eating chillies, and have been for years, because almost every high street has an Indian restaurant.

"But I think people are growing and cooking with them more. And now it's a bit like an arms race, with a macho culture going on, you know, I can eat one that's hotter, and so on.

"And trying to grow the hottest one can also get obsessive."

But the British attraction to the chilli is more than simply a yearning for the burn.

There's evidence our palates are becoming more sophisticated as our exposure to it lengthens.

"When Indian restaurants first arrived in the UK... they'd just use the one kind of chilli powder," remembers Manoj Vasaikar, head chef at the well-regarded West London chain of Indian Zing restaurants.

"Now it's much more subtle and we're using chillies with lots of different tastes and textures. We don't try to overpower the food."
'Worrying'

Despite the obvious immediate discomfort - not to say total agony - that comes from eating the hottest of peppers, doctors are yet to notice any lasting ill effects from them.

In fact it's thought they could play a valuable part in pain relief and there are reports of them being used to help people undergoing chemotherapy.

Earlier this week Nick Woods decided to try one of his Infinity Chillies.

"I actually ate one yesterday. It was one I'd had frozen from last year - so I thought it wouldn't be as hot as if it was fresh - and I thought I'd try it.

"It was all a bit worrying. The burn on my tongue lasted half an hour and the effects went on and on. At one point I was doubled over in pain and thinking about ringing the hospital.

"The worst was over by 11 o'clock, but it wasn't funny."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12505344

[Sean]

So where can I get hold of some of that 'weapons grade pepper spray'? I fancy chilli con carnage for dinner...

"I actually ate one yesterday. It was one I'd had frozen from last year - so I thought it wouldn't be as hot as if it was fresh - and I thought I'd try it.

Funny, I've always been told that freezing and then thawing a chilli releases more of the heat...

[loCAtek]

It's only released to the military. You could start a revolution, and get sprayed with it, but I wouldn't recommend that, having been through it, in training myself; it was the second worst thing I've ever felt before in my life!

I've been tear-gassed, and I've been OC - <Oleoresin Capsicum> or Pepper-sprayed ..the Pepper spray was worse. I can tell you it's like an extended 3rd degree burn and I've had 3rd degree burns. ..the Pepper spray was worse. The Pepper spray will burn and sear a lot longer because your nerves keep feeling it since they aren't actually damaged and numbed to the pain. So, you keep feeling the burn, and keep feeling the burn, and keep feeling the burn, and keep feeling the burn, and keep feeling the burn, and keep feeling the burn, and keep feeling the burn, and keep feeling the burn..

Till you cry and surrender, but you keep feeling the burn! It's enough to make you roll around in the dirt like a dog, to try and make it go away, but that doesn't help anyway!
~OoooooOooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooOooooooooooooooOOOOooooow~

[Sean]

So is it best with beef or chicken?

[loCAtek]

Best with a fire extinguisher!

[Gob]

A challenger for the crown!!

A FARM in Lake Macquarie is growing what may be the world's hottest strain of chillies, but preparing them for the public is a task akin to chemical warfare.




The variety, bright red and about the size of a dollar coin, is called the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T.

Its grower, Marcel de Wit, of the Chilli Factory in Morisett, sent samples for chemical analysis to ascertain just how it measured up.

The answer was stratospheric, reported EML Chem in Melbourne, where normal duties can include working with explosives.

Chilli potency is measured on the Scoville scale. A jalapeno, as used in Tabasco sauce, contains about 5000 Scoville heat units; a bird's eye chilli packs between 50,000 and 100,000.

The Trinidad Scorpion Butch T sample topped 1.46 million.

Mr de Wit says this is a world record, but that, like chilli itself, is hotly disputed. Guinness World Records says the present record holder is the Naga Viper chilli, measuring 1.38 million.

A sauce containing 58 per cent Trinidad Scorpion Butch T chilli, and called Scorpion Strike, will be launched at the Royal Easter Show. For portions of the manufacturing process, Mr de Wit dressed in protective clothing including an industrial gas mask to fend off the fumes as the chillies boiled.

Videos of Mr de Wit and Neil Smith of the Hippy Seed Company, which brought the chillies to Australia, show them struggling to eat the raw chillies. From behind fogged glasses, Mr Smith likens the experience to applying a soldering iron to his tongue and throat.

Mr de Wit's wife, Connie, said she finds the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T too fierce for her palate, although she has watched braver souls try them.

''A lot of people start sticking their tongue out and start flapping their hands around," she said.

Despite an intensity that would overpower most, the chillies are said to have a fruity taste. ''It's a bit like a banana and an orange together - like a fruit salad," said Mr de Wit, who answers to the title of the Hot Chilli Chef.

Asked for advice on how to use the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T in cooking, he advised: ''Very sparingly.''

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/res ... 1db4i.html

[loCAtek]

Now, this wasn't phony or over dramatized; and the main guy says he's eaten hot peppers his whoile life;

[Miles]

A challenger for the crown!!

A FARM in Lake Macquarie is growing what may be the world's hottest strain of chillies, but preparing them for the public is a task akin to chemical warfare.




The variety, bright red and about the size of a dollar coin, is called the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T.

Its grower, Marcel de Wit, of the Chilli Factory in Morisett, sent samples for chemical analysis to ascertain just how it measured up.

The answer was stratospheric, reported EML Chem in Melbourne, where normal duties can include working with explosives.

Chilli potency is measured on the Scoville scale. A jalapeno, as used in Tabasco sauce, contains about 5000 Scoville heat units; a bird's eye chilli packs between 50,000 and 100,000.

The Trinidad Scorpion Butch T sample topped 1.46 million.

Mr de Wit says this is a world record, but that, like chilli itself, is hotly disputed. Guinness World Records says the present record holder is the Naga Viper chilli, measuring 1.38 million.

A sauce containing 58 per cent Trinidad Scorpion Butch T chilli, and called Scorpion Strike, will be launched at the Royal Easter Show. For portions of the manufacturing process, Mr de Wit dressed in protective clothing including an industrial gas mask to fend off the fumes as the chillies boiled.

Videos of Mr de Wit and Neil Smith of the Hippy Seed Company, which brought the chillies to Australia, show them struggling to eat the raw chillies. From behind fogged glasses, Mr Smith likens the experience to applying a soldering iron to his tongue and throat.

Mr de Wit's wife, Connie, said she finds the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T too fierce for her palate, although she has watched braver souls try them.

''A lot of people start sticking their tongue out and start flapping their hands around," she said.

Despite an intensity that would overpower most, the chillies are said to have a fruity taste. ''It's a bit like a banana and an orange together - like a fruit salad," said Mr de Wit, who answers to the title of the Hot Chilli Chef.

Asked for advice on how to use the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T in cooking, he advised: ''Very sparingly.''

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/res ... 1db4i.html

They are handling them with bare hands?

[Gob]

Lets hope they don't need the toilet soon!

[Jarlaxle]

I know someone who loves spicy food...he would probably make salsa with them...his idea of "medium" salsa uses a mix of cayenne and habanero. Leaning over it makes my eyes water. He doesn't think it's nearly hot enough. His "hot" habanero and chili-pepper salsa borders on WMD status. I think it will actually eat through a plastic bowl. When he makes it, his wife makes him open a window, turn on a fan blowing out, and close off the kitchen from the rest of the house. If not, he essentially tear-gasses everyone else out of the house. By his standards, commercial "hot" salsa is a little weaker than his mild salsa. (Which he calls "why bother?")

Probably not coincidentally, after 30+ years of eating foods bordering on haz-mat status, pepper spray barely affects him. He is affected more by getting hair conditioner or soap in his eyes.

Funny, I've always been told that freezing and then thawing a chilli releases more of the heat...

It can...that's what he sometimes does with his habaneros.