The ChileFoundry » Dave DeWitt

Scoville Day – 2012 Marks a 100 Years of Scoville Ratings

Hot Juan — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 09:27:36 +0000

Wilbur Scoville (1865 - 1942)

Today is the birthday of Walter Lincoln Scoville (AKA Wilbur Scoville), the creator of the original Scoville Organoleptic Test, which gave it’s and his name to the unit of measure we use today to rate the heat of Chillies.

100 Years ago in 1912 while working for Parke Davis, Wilbur developed the Scoville Organoleptic Test for measuring the strength or amount of capsaicin in a variety of Chilli Pepper.

“Scoville proposes the following practical method. Macerate 0.1 gm. of ground capsicum overnight in 100 mils of alcohol; shake well and filter. Add this tincture to sweetened water (10% sugar) in such proportion that a distinct but weak pungency is perceptible to the tongue or throat.” – Quote from excellent article by Dave DeWitt

For the rest of the non chilli-head world he is probably best know in for this book “The Art of Compounding” which was a standard work for Pharmaceutical Students and Pharmacists, first published in 1895, it went through 8 editions and was still in common use into the 1960′s

Born at the end of the American Civil War in Bridgeport, Connecticut on January 22 1865, he passed away in 1942 at the age of 77, he achieved many things in his life, but for us he is the man who gave his name to the Scoville Heat Scale. Happy Birthday Wilbur.

If you would like to know more about the life and times of Wilbur Scoville, I recommend you read Dave DeWitt’s excellent article on the Fiery Foods & Barbecure Supersite.

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Top 10 Chilli Blogs – WorldWide October 2011

Hot Juan — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:14:45 +0000

This is our second month looking at the ranking of the Chilli Blogs around the world. a few swaps in places this month with Scottrobertsweb.com (4-3) and eatmoreheat.com (8-7) both jumping up a place. We are very please to still be in the #2 slot, we seem to have a way to go to catch up with thehotpepper.com

Pos	Site	World	Links
1	thehotpepper.com	232,107	121
2	chilefoundry.co.uk	484,443	132
3	scottrobertsweb.com	552,273	239
4	hotsauceblog.com	693,170	157
5	chileunderground.com	701,901	54
6	fiery-foods.com	855,060	587
7	eatmoreheat.com	2,039,457	161
8	tastethefear.com	2,555,152	37
9	hotsaucedaily.com	2,716,265	157
10	freshhotsauce.com	11,914,295	5

Notes: This is based on data from Alexa (data recorded on 30/10/11). Sites are selected as they are pure blogs, they do not sell sauces.

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Top 10 Chilli Blogs – WorldWide

Hot Juan — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:47:14 +0000

This month we decided to take a look at the world of Chilli Blogs, and try to find who is the most popular, this was not an exhaustive search, so if you blog is missing please let us know. We did exclude sites that where shops selling sauces with blogs.

We have to say we were stunned at the findings, we did not expect to find our UK based blog in the number 2 slot, and we had expect Dave DeWitt’s Fiery-Foods.com to be a clear leader!!

Pos	Site	World	Links
1	thehotpepper.com	214,187	105
2	chilefoundry.co.uk	434,632	110
3	chileunderground.com	459,115	53
4	scottrobertsweb.com	538,958	216
5	hotsauceblog.com	610,946	273
6	fiery-foods.com	860,282	534
7	hotsaucedaily.com	2,329,282	139
8	eatmoreheat.com	2,594,217	41
9	tastethefear.com	3,023,018	29
10	freshhotsauce.com	3,682,270	43

This is based on data from Alexa (data recorded on 29/09/11)

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Dave DeWitt on Martha Stewart’s Show

Hot Juan — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 08:55:47 +0000

Dave DeWitt is adding to the Worlds Hottest Chilli debate with the Trinidad Scorpion on the Martha Stewart Show.

We look forward to the 2011 worlds hottest chilli arms race..

Our thanks to Shawn at www.edibleornamentals.co.uk for pointing this out to us

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ChileFoundry Newsletter — May 2010

Hot Juan — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:54:28 +0000

Lots of articles last month, including probably the worlds hottest curry, and some new recipes and reviews.

The Chilli Garden

The Chilli Garden – Organic Hampshire Chillies – Based in a wooded vale on the Surrey/Hampshire border The Chilli Garden seven acre’s are farmed by three generations of the same family. Between them Father, Daughter and Son-in-law; Peter, Alison and Mik, have wealth of experience in farming, food production and design enabling them to make everything on the farm themselves.

Wahaca Looking for Chilli Expert – Wahaca, the Thomasina Miers chain of MLots of review and new preoductsexican restaurants is looking for a chilli expert to help them create a showcase for the joys of growing chillies, from how to plant, pollination and harvesting.

Darth Naga Reviews:- Mr Vikki’s Hot Lime Pickle – Well, the elections are upon us and I find its quite easy to get bogged down in political debates and other nonsense so I decided to take myself away from it all for a moment and write a review on one of “Mr Vikki’s” amazing products! Mr Vikki has had a couple of reviews on this site so far and I am sure that as long as he keeps making quality chilli products then we’ll keep on reviewing them!

The ChileFoundry Forum Experiment – We have been looking at opening a user forum for the past 6 months, the object of the forum is our users to discuss products and suppliers, post recipes etc etc.

Men purchase chilli four times more than women? – Men purchase chilli four times more than women reports AUSVEG as part of Australia’s Vegetable Industry Development Program, I guess that is comes has no real surprise, it seem to be mostly men I deal with when reporting for this blog.

Chilli Pantry – Quality Mexican Chillies in the UK – A new retailer for 2010 is the Chilli Pantry, set up by Gina Porras-Parral to sell a range of premium quality Mexican ingredients at affordable prices, based in Brimingham web site currently sell a range of authentic mexican dried chillies.

The Chilli Factory - Fiery Frillneck Hiss

The Chilli Factory – Fiery Frillneck Hiss – Hot Smokey Chilli Tomato Sauce – This sauces comes all the way from Australia and has won a number of awards in its home country including 1st prize for Best Hot Sauce Tomato in the Australian Fiery Food Awards in August 2004 as well as a handful of 2nd and 3rd places in other events.

Good Eats – The Big Chili Recipe – I came across these video’s on You-Tube, and it seems like an excellent recipe, so we decided to collected the list of ingredients and the listed some places you can find them here in the UK.

Mr Singh’s – BBC1 High Street Dreams – What a great opportunity for Mr Singh’s Punjabi Chilli Sauce. I don’t think they could get a better plug for the sauce than BBC1 High Street Dreams

HillBoy from Gurkha Fine Foods – This is billed as “The Ultimate Chilli Experience – A Condiment that bites back!” and I think it is a first for us to be reviewing a Gurkha product. The Gurkha people are from Nepal and North-East India, the name coming from a Hindu warrior-saint Guru Gorakhnath.

Cambridge Chilli Farm – Ghost Pepper 10 Review – While at the Firey Foods Festival in Brighton, Chris & Rosie Jagger from Volcano Chilli asked me when I was going to review a sauce that they have found to be an excellent seller, Chris then sent me another bottle, he said that the recipe has been improved from the original version.

Chilli powder put in husbands pants – According to the Cambridge News Sharron Mackay the defendant in a fraud trial put chilli powder in her husband’s underpants as their marriage fell apart.

Orange Krush Hot Sauce – I’ve been sent a bottle of “Orange Krush” to taste and give my (expert? lol) opinion on, this sauce again comes from www.Hot-headz.com and i believe is the only place in the uk you can buy it, i say this as after a brief search using the trusted google, hot-headz was the only one that came up in the uk!

Could you eat “Probably the World’s Hottest Curry” and win £100 – Fire Foods and local Grantham’s Bindi Restaurant are putting down a challenge to anyone who thinks they are tough enough!

Lady Bird Johnson’s Pedernales River Chili Recipe – This recipe originally contained beef suet, but that ingredient was omitted after LJB’s severe heart attack when he was Senate majority leader. Remember to skim the fat off the chilli.

Blairs Ultra Death

Darth Naga reviews – Blair’s Ultra Death – Well its that time again chilefanz!! Today I bring you my latest video review, and I reckon this one may just go down in history as the second stupidest thing I have ever done (the first will hopefully be uploaded to youtube at some stage LOL!) stupid for the simple fact that after hearing from Rose Seymour that James beck said “we don’t use milk in our video reviews in the US” I decided to hit the bottom end of mental and do a vid review WITHOUT MILK!! But anyway, the sauce I am reviewing today comes from the godfather of the US hotsauce scene Mr Blair Lazar himself, and this particular sauce is famous for not only being the hottest sauce he mass produces, but also for being one of the only ones to have its name changed during his major rebranding last year!

David’s Chilli Oil – Much more than just a gourmet oil – This is not just an “Oil and Chilli” blend; there is a whole extra level of flavour to be found here and with Rape seed oil becoming the New Olive oil, its time may have come. I am sure you will see more and more gourmet products based on Rape seed oil.

ChilliPepperPete’s Easy Fish Jambalaya Recipe – Jambalaya is a Louisiana Creole dish of Spanish and French influence, it is a close relation to the Spanish paella. This version is made a little quicker and simpler by pre-cooking the rice, traditionally the rice would be added with the stock at the end of preparation and then cooked for 45-60 minutes.

Scott Roberts — Chilli Letter from America #6 – It’s hard to believe it’s already May of 2010. Soon, people all across America will be doing outdoor grilling and barbecuing, celebrating Memorial Day Weekend at the end of this month, and wondering what to do with bored kids all day long now that school will be out for the summer.

Thai Pineapple Curry with Birds Eye Chillies – This recipe comes from a friend of Darth Naga, Sean (also know as Relentl3ss), who has cooked this for Darth and Mrs Naga, so it suspect it will taste very good. It uses the popular Birds Eye Chilli, and not of the ingredients should be hard to find in a reasonable supermarket.

The Chilli Jam Man - The 3 Peaks Chilli Jam

The Chilli Jam Man – The 3 Peaks Chilli Jam – RIGHT let me just start out this review by stating that i’m NOT a big fan of sweet chilli things..problem is people keep sending me sweet chilli things and they are slowly changing my mind!! Todays “Jam” comes from a guy that up until I received this jar and then added him on twitter I knew nothing at all about him, but after a bit of net sleuthing I found out a little.

Growing Chillies from Seed: Part 2 – Once you have some seedlings to pot-on (see picture 1), it is time to separate them and pot them in individual pots. We tend to pot-on gradually, so we use 3” pots first. Using very loose seedling compost will help this stage. We like to use vermiculite on the surface and perlite in the mix.

Hungarian Paprika – The chilli was introduced to Hungary by the Turks during the 16th-17th centuries; it was not until the 19th century that paprika become the dominant spice in Hungarian cuisine.

Top 10 UK Chilli Web Sites — May 2010 – The farmers are now the top 3 chilli web sites in the UK with the Dartmoor Chilli Farm jumping up 2 places to number 3 joining Chillis Galore and South Devon Chilli Farm in 1st and 2nd places.

Hot-Headz Calypso Caribbean Style Hot Sauce – Hot-Headz has been a leading supplier of Hot Sauces in the UK since 1994, owner Stuart McAllister has a passion for hot sauce both finding and developing the best sauces he can find around the world.

Holy Cow! Spicy Bombay Ketchup

Holy Cow! Spicy Bombay Ketchup – BBQ sauce is a area that seems to cover all sorts of sauces, I love BBQ, especially slow cooked pulled pork with lashings of BBQ Sauces, but this sauce is a surprisingly different.

Mr Singh’s Cookalong – Prawn Stir Fry – This is a simple recipe, as you will see exact quantities are not essential when cooking, please feel free to use what you have got, we have added some estimates of the quantities used to help.

Berberé (or Berbere) Recipe – A Hot Spice Mixture from Ethiopia. – Berberé originates from Ethiopia. It is a very hot dry spice mix and has become the basis for most Ethiopian cuisine. It should have a course texture, so don’t grind it to a fine powder.

The ChileFoundry YouTube Channel – Did you know we have our own YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/chilefoundry

Hot Headz & Scorchio Top 10 Products — May 2010 – Hot-Headz and Scorchio provide us each month with there Top 10 products sold that month via their web sites.

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Lady Bird Johnson’s Pedernales River Chili Recipe

Hot Juan — Sat, 15 May 2010 09:53:24 +0000

“Lady Bird Johnson” in the title of this chilli refers to the wife of the Lyndon B Johnsom (LJB) who was US president between 1963 – 1969.

Ingredients:
1.8Kg Coarsely ground beef (4Lb)
1 – Large onion, chopped
2 – Cloves garlic, chopped
1 – Teaspoon oregano
1 – Teaspoon ground cumin
6 – Teaspoons red chile powder (or more for heat)
900g - Tinnedtomatoes (1 X 16 ounce can)
480ml - Hot water (2 cups)
Salt to taste
Grated cheddar cheese and sliced spring onions (green onions) for garnish

Lady Bird Johnson Pedernales River Chili (Norman Johnson)

This recipe originally contained beef suet, but that ingredient was omitted after LJB’s severe heart attack when he was Senate majority leader. Remember to skim the fat off the chilli.

Combine the beef, onion, and garlic in a large frying pan (skillet) and sear until the meat is lightly browned.

Transfer this mixture to a large pot, add the remaining ingredients, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for an hour.

When done, transfer the chilli to a bowl and place it in the refrigerator. When the fat has congealed on top, remove it with a spoon.

Reheat the chilli and serve it as LBJ liked it – without beans and accompanied with a glass of milk and saltine crackers. Garnish with grated cheddar cheese and sliced green onions.

This recipe comes from “The Complete Chilli Pepper Book” By Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland, we have converted the quantities in the metric, the original imperial measures and in the brackets.

The photograph is also from the same book and in is credited to Norman Johnson.

Note:- We selected this recipe from the book as it contains no hard to find ingredients and was very simple to try at home.

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Scott Roberts — Chilli Letter from America #4

Scott Roberts — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:02:32 +0000

Scott Roberts

March in the U.S. marks the completion of the 22nd Annual National Fiery Foods and BBQ Show in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the beginning of the growing season for chile peppers across a large section of the middle of North America.

Nurseries with a strong online presence such as Cross Country Nurseries and Pepper Joes are experiencing brisk sales as gardeners and chile lovers alike are ordering vast quantities of seeds. As expected, the number one seller at most outlets is the naga/bhut jolokia.

The Fiery Foods Show, the largest trade show of its kind in the world, had its largest attendance in history. According to show producer Dave DeWitt, over 15,000 people converged on the event over the three-day weekend of March 5 – 7. I was there everyday and overall I had a fun time seeing nearly 200 vendors, sampling the wares, snapping photographs and generally trying to report on what happened. I saw many old friends and met a lot of great new folks from every segment of the industry. Among them was the charming Rose Seymour, daughter of the UK’s own ChilliPepperPete, who gave me a one of CPP sauces to try – Dragon’s Blood. At home I have in my possession well over 100 spicy products to review, and it will take me a number of months to go through them all, but nonetheless I have moved the ChilliPepper Pete sauces near the top of my list as I am dying to see what they taste like!

Scott is the one with the hat on!

What was the overall assessment from the show regarding products?

There was very little new when it came to hot sauces, other than a few debuting bhut jolokia products in the form of liquids and dry seasonings. What I noticed trend-wise was the enormous volume of spicy sweets and snacks. Everything from chile-infused chocolates and caramel popcorn to peanut brittle and jerky were for sale, and most were delicious!

One of the highlights of my weekend at the Fiery Foods Show was my interview with Mike Greening of Mike and Diane’s Gourmet Kitchen, makers of the popular Ring of Fire and Mad Anthony hot sauces. You can view my three-part talk with him here (I apologize in advance for the less-than-perfect sound quality):

Video Clips Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

One interesting occurrence during the show was me being hypnotized not to feel the burn from hot sauces. Yes, you read that right. I was put under hypnosis on Friday night, and tested a few ultra-hot extracts during the second day of the show Saturday morning. The results? My body still reacted with watery eyes, increased saliva and a numb tongue, but the burning sensation was buried WAY down. I’m still not convinced 100% that this works, but I think there might be potential here, and I would like to see further testing done with other test subjects and other sauces & chiles used.

You can view videos chronicling the hypnosis by clicking here

And speaking of videos and ILoveItSpicy.com, the brand new website started by several well-known American chileheads, has gotten off to a rousing start by showing videos from the (pay close attention to the names to avoid confusion) smaller North Market Fiery Foods Festival in Columbus, Ohio and the forementioned, larger Fiery Foods and BBQ Show in Albuquerque.

Earlier this month I reviewed a pair of chile pepper iPhone apps – the South Devon Chilli Farm and Scoville. They both provide in-depth knowledge on-the-go without having to rely on a 3G phone connection, as all of their data is stored on the phone.

I gave away a large hot sauce gift pack this past month to coincide with the FFS. A respectable amount of people (51) entered the contest during the 2-day window it was open. I had my son help me with the drawing.

Lastly, I did have time to review some products since last month – California Habanero Blends Ginger Garlic Habanero Sweet Mild Heat Hot Sauce , Heartbreaking Dawns Classic Gold, Mango Habanero and Jalapeno Pineapple Sauces , Race City Sauce Works 98 Octane Ghost Pepper Reserve and The Green Fairy Absinthe Inferno Sauce , Zulu Zulu Peri Peri Garlic Chile Pepper Sauce and Big Orson’s four variations of Citizen Cajun Mango Habanero Salsas.

Talk to you all next month!

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Scott Roberts – Chilli Letter from America

Scott Roberts — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 10:00:45 +0000

Hello everyone! I’m thrilled and honoured to be able to bring you news and info from the U.S.A. This time of the year the major spicy foods and hot sauces shows over here are done and we set our sights on activities next year. We also plan for Christmas, where hot sauce manufacturers have many specials chilliheads are taking advantage of to get the goods they want at reduced prices.

Hot Sauce Weekly Podcast

Although there are dozens of good cooking and culinary podcasts of nearly every ilk, there has never been one devoted to hot sauces until now. Brian Meagher of HotSauceDaily.com hosts a weekly audio show that showcases a spicy recipe, features an exclusive interview with someone in the fiery foods world (primarily American hot sauce and fiery foods manufacturers), and has a hot sauce review from me in most episodes.
http://www.hotsauceweekly.com

The Complete Chilli Pepper Book

The “Pope of Peppers” Dave DeWitt and Dr. Paul Bosland had collaborated on The Complete Chilli Pepper Book (which was reviewed a few months ago on The ChileFoundry). I have to agree with Hot Juan’s recommendation. It’s a great read and an excellent resource.

After I had interviewed DeWitt for the book, he generously donated a copy of the book for me to give away. So I’m holding a trivia contest. A random winner will be chosen out of everyone who gets all four questions answered correctly and will receive the book. I will ship the book to anyone in the world, so everyone in the UK and beyond can feel free to submit your answers and enter the contest! You have until 31 December to enter.

Peppers and More Debuting Blog

One of the top U.S. chilli pepper/hot sauce forums had evolved into a blog format this month.

http://www.peppersandmore.com

Trinidad Scorpion Undergoing HPLC Testing

Dr. Paul Bosland and Danise Coon of the Chile Pepper Institute

Everybody’s wondering if anything will surpass the Naga/Bhut Jolokia as the Guinness-certified world’s hottest chilli. When I last spoke to Danise Coon and Dr. Paul Bosland of the Chile Pepper Institute in Las Cruces, New Mexico, they had told me that were in the process of giving HPLC testing to the infamous Trinidad Scorpion chilli, one that many believe tastes even hotter than the Naga/Bhut. Results have not yet been released.

http://www.scottrobertsweb.com/FireTalkers-Interview-with-Danise-Coon-and-Dr-Paul-Bosland-of-the-Chile-Pepper-Institute

Chile Pepper Industry Looking To Increase Production

U.S. Researchers, leaders, and growers are looking for ways to reduce labour and harvesting chile crops and to reclaim lost acreage do to overseas competition.
http://www.scottrobertsweb.com/Chile-Pepper-Industry-To-Increase-Production

Dave and Mike of Hot Shots Hot Sauces Pass Away

Hot Shots Hot Sauces, a popular Charlotte, North Carolina-based reseller (and maker) of hot sauces, has been hit with very sad news the past few months. Owner Dave Lutes passed away in October after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Employee Mike Cates died of a brain aneurysm just a few weeks ago. Both were a fixture of many hot sauce shows here in the U.S. and were well-liked and respected by everyone who met them. They will be missed.

Heat & Spice Invade U.S. Snack Market and Fast Food Chains

Ten years ago, it was difficult to look at mainstream American supermarket shelves and find any chips (what you call crisps) or other snack food items with a hint of chilli-induced spice. You couldn’t find many offerings at fast food chains that pleased chilliheads, either.

Today, the choices are many. You can find buffalo wing-flavored this and chipotle-flavoured that. The largest burger chains such as McDonald’s Burger King and Wendy’s have at least one “spicy” chicken sandwich or hamburger of some kind. Chipotle and Qdoba, two large Mexican food-based chains that serve spicy sauces and salsa (including a good one made from Habaneros), have both entered the list of the top 50 quick service restaurants (QSR) here in the States.

Many of these aforementioned products may seem relatively tame and mild to us heat seekers. But the proverbial foot is in the door and the general populace is becoming more acclimated to hotter food items.

Being an on-again, off-again eater of junk food and fast food, I’ve tried my fair share of the stuff. I flew out to Taco Bell’s headquarters in Irvine, California to cover their Volcano Menu and their Lava Sauce; I had Subway’s Buffalo Chicken Sub face off against Domino’s Sweet and Spicy Chicken Habanero Sandwich at see if either contained good flavour and heat; and I’ve munched on snacks like Pringles Extreme Flavors Kickin’ Cheddar Potato Chips and Jalapeno Pepper Doritos.

Thanksgiving Holiday Over and Christmas & New Years Coming

For Americans, this time of year may be the most difficult to diet. Thanksgiving is a long-standing tradition that takes place the fourth Thursday of every November where family and friends gather for a huge feast and to watch American football.

The centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal has long been an oven-roasted turkey with side dishes of mashed potatoes and other typically “bland” foods. While it may be a long way from being known as a chillihead’s dream, I am seeing more adventurous methods of cooking the turkey and more exotic spices used in the overall meal, even in as little as the last five years. This may be another good sign that people are opening themselves to a broader range of cuisines.

And with the Christmas season comes holiday parties and office parties. Jalapeno poppers, buffalo chicken dip and a pepper jelly/cream cheese and crackers combo are various spicy dishes frequently found at these gatherings Stateside. And the Christmas cookies! I’m the furthest thing from being a great chef, but I’ve recently come up with a white chocolate chip Habanero cookie recipe that I’ve fallen in love with, and I’ve gotten good reviews from everyone who’s tried the sweets. Looks like that diet will have to wait until January…

And at this point as I close out, I would like to wish everyone the best of what the season offers. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I will see you all again in 2010.

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Chilefoundry Newsletter October 2009

Hot Juan — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:35:52 +0000

A summary of articles from the Chilefoundry during October 2009, click the links to see the full stories.

Banned Sauce – Video Interview – This is an update on our previouse article on 10 Minute Burn extreme hot sauce from The Chilli Pepper Company which was removed from sale at the Brighton Fiery Foods Show

Fiery Foods UK Festival – Event Review - Right, it’s Monday night, the night after the Brighton “Right, it’s Monday night, the night after the Brighton “Fiery Foods UK Festival” and i have to say I’m still knackered!! It’s been a great weekend and I’ve really enjoyed myself, so i decided to take a slight detour from my usual reviewing style and instead write up a little piece about the festival and how well I believe it went!

Chillies2U – Breeding Lambs and Growing Chillies - Based in Oxfordshire Ian Paxton has been a farmer for nearly 40 years, and farms about 100 acres, he has 3 large poly tunnels which alternate between being used for lambing and then when the lambs are out in the fields they are filled with Chilli Plants, he then runs a mail order business, while also appearing at local markets selling fresh and dried chillies as well as his own range of sauces.

Chutfest 09 Barrington Court - I have just got back from Chutfest 09, I know this is not a true chilli event, but we did find some interesting products and people.

WhyNotHot - Unhinged

WhyNotHot – Unhinged Video Review – This sauce comes from a company that was completely unknown to me before the West Dean Chilli Fiesta in august, “WhyNotHot” are a small business based on a smallholding in Cwmgwili, West Wales, they have been around for about 3 years now and the company is comprised mainly of Ben Calder and his fiancées, who grow fresh chillies and try to use their own in the sauces they make where they can.

“Jeremy Clarkson” vs “limited-edition Insanity Private Reserve” - “The searing fire had surged throughout my head. My eyes were streaming. Molten lava was flooding out of my nose. My mouth was a shattered ruin. Even my hair hurt.” – Times Online (4th Oct 2009).

Chilli Variety – Poblano – The Poblano is a mild chilli (Scoville Units 1000 – 1500) originating from Puebla, Mexico, It is part of the Capsicum annuum species, the most popular of all Chilli species, The plant is multi stemmed and grown to 60cm / 25 inches high, in the UK it is possible to grow these in a Poly tunnel or Green house.

Fiery Foods Festival 2009 See how they do it in Albuquerque USA – Found this on Youtube and we wanted to show you what the Chilli Festival is like in the USA, I like our garden party style better, but I must admit I will be going soon.

The Rangoon Racquets Club – Methi Curry Sauce – We found this sauce on the Hot-Headz stand at the Wessex Chilli Festival and it appealed to my Wife Sonia as it was milk free (very important if you have a milk allergy).

The Chilli Pepper Company – 8 Ball Hot Chilli Sauce – Now, this little sauce proclaims itself to be in the “Hot Chilli Sauce” category, however i disagree! “8 Ball” is a sauce that i feel is more suited to the “Padawan” category, it’s a sauce that is more for those tired of mass market bullshit and who want to break into the underworld of non-mainstream chilli products, but let me tell you it does a wonderful job!

make us a brew!?–?mint & chilli tea – The story goes – One night, Mr Scruff was making a stir-fry, unknown to him, a small goat was asleep on the floor, he tripped over the goat sending the ingredients flying. Fortunately, most of it landed in the frying pan, except for some chillies which landed in his mint tea. Whilst cooking, he drank some of his brew and had a nice surprise. From this point, he started putting chilli in his mint tea, and offered it to guests, who also liked it. So he decided to make his own mint and chilli teabags, as not everybody has a goat in their kitchen!

Fire Foods – UK Chilli Forum - I am a member of a number of Forums and discussion groups that talk about chillies, sauces and general hot food, but one I joined a few months ago has surprised me for the amount of activity.

How to stop the chilli burn - The magic ingredient in Chilli that burn us is capsaicin, it does not as burn the taste buds, but reacts with receptors in the mouth making us think our mouth is being burned, capsaicin is an oil, so to dilute it we need to mix it with other oils or things that will stick to oil.

Drying Chillies – How, What and Why – So you have been very successful growing chillies this year, lots of lovely chillies, but now what to do with them until you need to use them?

Caribbean Food Made Easy with Levi Roots

Book Review – Caribbean Food Made Easy with Levi Roots – This BBC book is published to go along with the BBC Two series “Caribbean Food Made Easy” it contains over 100 recipes; this is a beautifully illustrated book with pictures of almost every recipe.

Hot-Headz – Who Dares Burns – “Who Dares Burns” Is one of Hot-Headz own products and was Stuart McAllisters own entry into the extreme heat arms race that seems to still be going on, by this i mean that every, EVERY hotsauce manufacturer is doing its best to bring out the newest, hottest sauce they can think of. Now Stu decided to jump into this arms race, but her brought some pretty heavy weaponry with him in the form of this sauce, the ingredients are nice and simple, extract is high on the list so you would expect the extract taste to be overpowering right? WRONG!

Introduction to Mexican cookery at the British Museum - Thomasina Miers, MasterChef winner and owner of restaurant chain Wahaca, shares her passion for Mexican food and demonstrates simple recipes.

Pickling Chillies made Quick and Simple – Pickling is a traditional method of preserving food using a mild acid such as vinegar to prevent the growth of bacteria.

International News – Chilli in the under pants ends in court – A WOMAN who rubbed chilli in the pants of her ex-roomy pleaded guilty to common assault in Australia.

Nitro Naga Extreme Edition

ChilliChutneyMan – Nitro Naga Extreme Edition - “Nitro Naga Extreme Edition” comes in a beautiful and very unique 150ml bottle that looks similar to the old school medicine bottles that things like cough medicine and such used to come in, the lable on the bottle is very eye-catching with some lovely blended red,yellow and orange lettering on a black background. The sauce itself is a nice caramel colour (no doubt from the worcestershire sauce) with black flecks, red pieces of chilli and seeds that can be seen floating in the mixture.

British Street Food Awards 2010 - Some of the best food I have tasted, I would call Street Food, and now there is an award for the best UK Street Food, it is being organised by food critic Richard Johnson and culminatesin Ludlow at the Ludlow Food Festival 2010.

Benington Lordship – Chilli Festival 2010 – The 5th Bennington Lordship Chilli Festival is over the weekend of the 29th & 30th of August 2010 and will attact 1000′s of visitor to this popular event.

Fire Foods – Firemite Video Review – This sauce is made by a company known to the world as “Fire foods”, the company was started 3 years ago by Nick Woods and his lovely wife Zoe ( I have met them prior to this review and they are both really nice and friendly people!) who started growing chilli’s and from there went on to making sauces and such, taking just 6 products to Grantham market where they sold very well, so Nick “Woody” Woods and his wife went on to start the company with just a handful of products and £500 in the kitty.

WindustOps – Firey Foods 2009 Videos – This year thew Fiery Foods UK event in brighton attracked over 12,000 visitor and with twice as many vendors as last year, the event is growing quickly. WindustOps a professional productions company produced a number of videos of the event, and they have kindly let us include them on the ChileFoundry.

Simple Dorset Naga & Tomato Chutney – This is a version of our family simple chutney, but super heated with some Dorset Naga Chillies.

Over 200 hot articles published so far – We are please to announce that we have now published over 200 articles and serverd over 50K pages since we started in May 2009.

Tyrrell’s Alternatives – Roasted Chilli Corn - I have had roasted corn on trips to the USA and have always enjoyed the crunch and flavour combination, but outside of food events I have not seen them for sale in the UK.

Do You Love Food? – Channel 4 Documentary – Century Films are looking for people with interesting food stories for a Channel 4 documentary “Do you love Food?”

Scorchio – the UK’s biggest chilli and hot sauce store – In 2002 Karl received a gift of a bottle of “Pain is Good – Jamaican Hot Sauce” from this the Scorchio Empire started. The sauce had come from Harvey Nichols, not having a branch nearby Karl searched the internet for suppliers, and came to the realisation that if he was looking, then other must also be doing the same.

German Police investigate Chill Sauce for Grievous Bodily Harm – After a scuffle at a Berlin kebab stand in Bremen’s central train station between a customer and the kebab vendor which ended in the costomer having the sauce in his eye.

Mr Vikki?—?King Naga

Mr Vikki’s – King Naga – National Chilli Awards Multi Award Winner - “King Naga” comes in a beautiful little 110ml jar with plenty of angles and honestly looks like it came straight out of india! theres a little white label on the back with the ingredients above on it, and a nice warning “Warning!! very hot chilli product”, adorning the front of the jar is an eye-catchingly simple yellow and black label with the pickles name, the company name and eight little red chilli’s at the top! The pickle itself is a mixture of red,green and brown and has a consistency similar to thatof a commercialy curry paste but with more seeds and you can tell this is much more fresh and wholesome.

Capsaicin Could Stop a Heart Attack In Progress, Scientists Find - New research just published in the journal Circulation concludes that a common, over-the-counter pain salve containing capsaicin rubbed on the skin during a heart attack could serve as a cardiac-protectant – reducing or even preventing damage to the heart. The researchers found an amazing 85 percent reduction in cardiac cell death when capsaicin was used. This is the most powerful cardioprotective effect ever recorded, according to Keith Jones, PhD, a researcher in the UC department of pharmacology and cell biophysics.

Amateur Scoville Trophy 2009

Fire Foods Amateur Scoville Awards 2009 – Results - Saturday night I spent tasting hot sauces, chutneys, chilli chocolate and chilli vodka! No it was not a typical night at home with Hot Juan, but I was a judge at the Fire Foods Amateur Scoville Awards 2009.

Chilli News from the USA – News and extracts from chilli related web site in the USA

South Devon Chilli Farm – Chilli Chocolate Fruit & Spice - In the packet are two large slabs of the chocolate, it looks like it has been hand spread to cool, in the surface you can see bumps covering the sultanas.

What Scott Roberts said about us – Chilehead – Scott Roberts has just written at article ” More Hot Sauce and Hot Pepper Sites You Should Visit” and number one on the list was

The Complete Chilli Pepper Book by Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland - This book as been written by two of the great names in the US chilli world Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland. It provides a complete introduction to the world of chillies, if a little US centric (well that was the target market for this book).

Chillis Galore – Homegrown & Homemade – Wilf (Richard) and Kathy started growing chillies about 19 years ago in Norwich, initially just to have a few interesting varieties to use in cooking, that led them on to starting a web sites www.chillisgalore.co.uk. They have since developed a range of homemade chilli products in their own kitchen using their own plants from the green house.

Lady Bird Johnson’s Pedernales River Chili - This recipe originally contained beef suet, but that ingredient was omitted after LJB’s severe heart attack when he was Senate majority leader. Remember to skim the fat off the chilli.

Volcano Chilli opens in Lincoln’s Central Market – Chris and Rosie Jagger have opened Volcano Chilli in Lincoln’s Central Market selling all kind of chilli products including super hot sauces, dried chillies, chilli chocolate and jams

Who Dares Burns – 1812 Overture Advert – Hot-Headz has put this fun video on YouTube showing the effects of Who Dares Burns set to the 1812 overture..

Edible Ornamentals have been awarded a bursary by Slow Food - Edible Ornamentals have been awarded a bursary by Slow Food, the international non-profit organisation which campaigns for good, clean and fair food. This award will help Joanna and Shawn continue promoting their passion for using the best in fresh produce by exhibiting their fresh chillies and home grown chilli sauces at the MasterChef Live Show at London Olympia.

Simple and Quick Salsa Verde - This is a very simple version of a South America green Salsa; it can be made in a few minutes, but improves if kept in the fridge for an hour before serving.

Veeraswamy Mango Chilli Chutney – Veeraswamy is Britain’s oldest Indian restaurant opening in 1929, their range of Chutneys are distributed by Bart Spices and includes Garlic Masala, Lime Chilli, Green Chilli, Mango Bengal Spice and the one I am tasting today Mango Chilli Chutney.

Chilli Variety Masquerade

Chilli Variety?–?Masquerade - Part of the Capsicum Annuum Species Masquerade is a very early hot variety with long erect fruits that start purple and mature through yellow, then orange and finally to red. Ideal in pots on the patio, grows to between 20-30cm high and 20-25cm wide.

Gaby’s Hot Stuff – FFUK09 Best Hot Sauce – I’m sat here on a cold October night, looking at what could possibly be the most beautiful and elaborate bottle of hot sauce I have ever seen, the sauce comes from a company run by a hot blooded woman from Panama! Gaby used to love seeing all the chilli’s growing in the local gardens in the countryside of Panama and she was often given some to try, she loved the fruity aromas and flavours given off by the chilli, it was then she realised that she was indeed a chilehead, and set about making her own hot sauce!

Hot Headz & Scorchio Top 10 Products – October 2009 – Each month we look at the best selling products from some of the UK largest retailers, this gives us and you an idea of what is selling well

UK Chilli Market On Twitter - Apart from us who else should you be following on twitter..

The Chilli Pepper Company – Chilli Sweets & Snacks – At the Brighton FFUK I had the pleasure of acquiring several snack foods from my good friend Ged from “The chilli pepper company”, now in my mind, although snacks are a damn good thing to have, I don’t feel I can devote an entire review to just one of those snacks, so I rounded them all up and decided to review them all in one go, attributing a few lines to each product, that way you get something nice to read, and it gives you a fair idea of how these snacks taste, without further adieu, lets start eh?

Top 10 UK Chilli Web Sites — October 2009 - Who’s web site draws the most traffic, by looking at this list you cannot help that draw the conclusion that the number of quality links to a site has a significant benefit on it number of visitors (Google we understand uses the number and quality of the links to a site as part of it PageRank™ system), if you look at the content of the sites at the top of the listing you also find that the amount of textural content is also a major factor.

Wahaca looking into opening Chilli farm in Devon - Wahaca the Mexican styled restaurant chain founded by Thomasina Miers (Master Chief Winner) and Mark Selby is to open it third UK restaurant in Canary Wharf next month along side it Covent Garden and Westfield sites.

Possibly Related Articles:

The Complete Chilli Pepper Book by Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland

Hot Juan — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:48:08 +0000

The Complete Chilli Pepper Book: A Gardener's Guide to Choosing, Growing, Preserving, and Cooking

This book as been written by two of the great names in the US chilli world Dave DeWitt and Paul W. Bosland. It provides a complete introduction to the world of chillies, if a little US centric (well that was the target market for this book).

The main chapter headings of the book are as follows:-

About Chiles

This section provides a quick overview of the Botany, History of its domestication and dispersion of the chilli.

Top Hundred (or so) Chile Peppers for the Garden

Here they describe the different species of chillies, covering their identification and common features, before looking at some 100 individual varieties in more detail. This produces a shopping list for the grower with almost too many varieties to tempt the prospective gardener.

Capsicum Cultivation

The cultivation chapter contains a wealth of information on the whole process and some interesting diversions including bonsai chillies, but there are extensive sections on producing healthy seedlings and planting schemes. Some of the photographs are a little on the industrial scale for the home gardener, but the commercial gardener will find lots to help here. The section on diseases and pests could cause nightmares.

Processing and Preservation

This chapter is where the cook in me starts to get interested, as it covers some techniques for roasting and peeling pods, freezing and making sauces and pastes to preserve your crop.

Canning chillies is not a process I have tried before. It does not need a tin can but uses glass jars and a pressure cooker. If this sounds a bit OTT there is a number of interesting pickling recipes that I will use over and over again.

In the past I have dried my chillies in a domestic dehydrator, and the basics of Dehydrating and smoking chillies are covered here as well as showing how the professionals do it.

Then we get on to the unusual ideas such as Juicing Chillies or how about Candied Chillies? The chapter ends with making chilli vinegar, oils and jellies etc

There are lots of ideas here that should keep you busy for the next few years.

Cooking with Chile Peppers

This tends to be the hardest section in a US based book for international markets as the ingredients names and measures are different, and while you may have to make some substitutions for some of the ingredients a quick search of the internet will provide a conversion from cups and ounces.

Just remember cilantro is Coriander, and we have a recipe for Chipotles in Adobe if you need them. Some of the harder to find ingredients can be found online at companies like The Cool Chilli Co, Hot-Headz etc

Conclusion

This is an excellent book that held my attention; it is clearly written with good descriptions of the many processes involved and makes a welcome addition to my chilli reference library.

You can order your own copy from Amazon for £15.75 ( last time i checked) or via your local book shop; it would make an ideal Christmas present for any chilli-head.