Thanks!

>> In the greenhouse where I have most all of my plants, I'm just going down each row and painting every open flower, no matter what type it is. Seeds from my pepper production area could be all kinds of mixed up hybrids.

I was wondering how you could sell fresh peppers at $29 for 75 cubic inches, but also sell seeds ten at a time. The fresh "production" peppers are promiscuously pollinated!

RickCorey said:Thanks!

>> In the greenhouse where I have most all of my plants, I'm just going down each row and painting every open flower, no matter what type it is. Seeds from my pepper production area could be all kinds of mixed up hybrids.

I was wondering how you could sell fresh peppers at $29 for 75 cubic inches, but also sell seeds ten at a time. The fresh "production" peppers are promiscuously pollinated!

Yes, but to be honest, there are about $1100 worth of seeds in each $29 box. If you are a cheap person with lots of room, you can start all the seeds in the peppers. I'm sure there are plenty of seeds that make plants just like the mother plant. If you wanted to take the time, but don't have as much space, you could keep 3 or 4 from each pepper and chances are, many of those would be pure. People who like to grow plants love to give away stuff. The plants that aren't pure still might be interesting crosses. Like maybe a Fatalii with the heat of a bhut? Doing it this way, you separate the plants that seem to be pure, keep the new interesting ones, and give people the ones you don't want since they use up space. Even with pure seeds, you get weirdo plants from time to time. For local pickup, people can buy full sized plants with a tomato cage that have ready to eat peppers right on them. When people come out and buy 3 or 4 of these plants at one time, I give them the weirdo plants as a free gift. Everyone likes something for free that they weren't expecting and I get more space. I'm one of those people who just can't throw away a live plant. When I was a kid I had a succulent collection of 55 different plants that came from throw away plants from the Sears garden shop. I could almost always bring back their throw aways. That was when I was 10, things just got worse since then.
Again, with the seeds. Seeds that are known to be pure go for a lot more. People don't want to buy a packet of seeds and get all kinds of stuff they don't want. A farmer wants a uniform crop and can't mess with a garden full of hybrids, especially if they are making money with their crop. There are lots of seed people who sell seeds that are open pollinated, so you really need to do some research on who to buy from. Making sure the seeds will be pure can be difficult to do, so these seeds aren't cheap. Reaper seeds sell for $1 each seed from the original source and his vendors. The Fatalii Gourmet Jigsaw seeds from Finland cost $2.80 a seed, and they were a total letdown.
Tom

Tom - In your business do you sell and ship tomato plants??

take a look at my chicken thighs right after I cooked hem using the weed wacker's rub and 1 tsp of your smoked Bhut powder. It had just the right heat and lasted for about 10 minutes after the first bite.

I'm still trying to grasp the idea of carrying your own hot pepper powder around when you go to a restaurant... JMO, but you guys are seriously crazy (in the best sort of way, of course!)

Frank, looking good. Just think about how little it took to be hot when you tried it plain, and then how much you just used on your chicken, and you say the heat was just right. You can go through more than you think you would. Then, you find that after you are using the powders on different foods, you want to try something just a little hotter. Rick will also find that out, but it sounds like he has found the secret to not using to much. Putting it in alcohol, we'll have to do some experimenting on this one, purely for scientific curiosity, of course.
Frank, I have grown tomatoes in a garden and have my favorites, but I don't do these in the nursery. I think these seriously hot peppers will be the only vegetables I will be doing. With cycads, I could go off for a week, with these pepper plants, I can't get away for more than 20 hours without having someone coming over to water these things.
On going out and using the powder at restaurants, eating out is sort of our hobby, or entertainment. My other hobby is growing plants. We don't do a lot more than that. Since the time my wife got sick with a rare cancer (she beat it)I have tried to take her out for lunch as much as possible and not make her work as hard as she used to. She also doesn't help me work out in the nursery anymore, except for maybe watering once in a while. If we are going to a Mexican restaurant, I'm going to bring some hot powder. They are not offended. At most of the places we go, we know the best servers by name and usually know the owners or the managers. The owner of our favorite Mexican restaurant uses my bhut powder on his eggs every morning, the owner of our favorite Italian restaurant uses my primo peppers for his hot wings, and the owner of our favorite sports bar uses several of my peppers for different uses.

Ron - Didn't know about your wife but I am glad she beat it and it's nice to take her out whenever possible. Does she like your powders??

Rick - I have several of these in my spice drawer.

>> I'm one of those people who just can't throw away a live plant.

I know what you mean!

However, if I tried your "grow 'em all and then select the winners" idea, I think I would go bald from my hair standing on end when I bit into an extra hot one.

I'm already experiencing "toleration" where I need to keep bigger and bigger doses to get the same wince. It's like a drug!

>> Seeds that are known to be pure go for a lot more.

Totally! And you should get a double-premium, because yours really ARE isolated, which I've heard from several sources has not always been the case with every hot pepper seed vendor.

>> Putting it in alcohol, we'll have to do some experimenting on this one, purely for scientific curiosity, of course.

Please, always to call it research!

>> with these pepper plants, I can't get away for more than 20 hours without having someone coming over to water these things.

I really like an inexpensive spring-driven hose spigot timer I bought. I ran some tubing around the yard and plugged in some mini-sprayers. Now I can water by just twisting a dial and walking away.

With a more expensive timer, you could set it and forget it and go on vacation for two weeks.

I like cheap "irrigation mainline" just for the benefit of having a hose spigot with valve everywhere I want one, every 20 feet if I want. It makes hand-watering easy and eliminates dragging long hoses around. (Drippers and sprayers are another benefit.)

http://garden.org/ideas/view/R...

Franklin, I'll look around when I get to Bed, Bath and Beyond or some kitchen-supply store. I like the twist-cap idea for spicy spice dispensers.

Here is what I was using before I got my little bottles.

This is an off brand spice that Walmart carries. These things filled with spice are 89 cents each. If you search for little containers like this, they are usually about this price, or a little more, and they usually don't have holes as small as the small holes on these. It's worth dumping out the spice and just using the container. If you notice, this one is different from most because they have the real little holes that perfect for this not powder, where most other containers just have the holes that are the second size on these, which to me, is way to big. I thought these were the greatest until the dial spun around on me and dumped in my pocket. The little bottles have a snap on top that is hard enough to snap off, that don't come off on their own.
Frank, my wife used to love hot food, and during that time I had doctors telling me I couldn't eat hot food any more. Part of my wife's treatment was radiation every day for a month that was concentrated on her jaw, since her Melanoma was on her chin. During that time, if you can picture this, if you have ever had one of those little white cancker sores in your gum that hurts so bad, picture having gums all the way around that were pure white about an inch wide. After it was all over with, it took 2 years to get 90% of her taste back and just eating anything with mustard on it made her cry for a year. 12 years later, and can't eat anything hotter than the mild salsa without making her tear up.
Rick, I told you it would happen. You already are looking for more heat, where just two weeks ago you were afraid to try just a little bit.
By next month, you will be wanting to try primo powder!

>> Rick, I told you it would happen. You already are looking for more heat, where just two weeks ago you were afraid to try just a little bit. Rolling on the floor laughing
By next month, you will be wanting to try primo powder!

NOOOOOO!

Or maybe, "yes".

Those little spice jars: YEAH! I think Becky has some that are 10 years old. I bet I could have them if I replace the spice with fresh and give her some other container.

>> I thought these were the greatest until the dial spun around on me and dumped in my pocket.

I've worked with class 5 carcinogens and with radio-isotopes, but the Scorpion Mix I regard with CAUTION! It HURTS!

(However, just last night I was sipping on some Bhut extract and noticed that I was trying to maintain a uniform level of "pain" in my mouth. I think I am lost and gone forever - gone over to The Hot Side of the Force!)

Rick - Take me to your leader

Tom - When you mix your powders or do anything with the hot peppers does your wife have to leave the room?? As soon as I start making my hot pepper sauce my wife starts coughing and the fan goes on immediately. I've learned to put the exhaust fan on before I start and lately I have been cooking the peppers out doors on my grill with the side burner. As for me, when I opened your package of powder I started to sneeze. that's what happens to me whenever I smell hot stuff.

I'm trying to eat 5 small meals a day to get some weight off and today I took 3 pieces of the blackened chicken with me in the car because I knew we would be out for hours. As soon as I uncovered the chicken I started to sneeze. LOL I have never tasted anything like those powders. they are very hot but they taste good and that's what it's all about right. ??

I just got back from lunch. I usually get General Tso's chicken "mild", but asked for "hot" this time. I could just about tell the difference, but it was still milder than the paper bag packing in your box!

It turned out to be what they call "4 out of 5" on their hot scale.
Now I need those pocket-powder-dispensers!

I truly am lost to The Hot Side.

(shhhhh-hunnh ... ... shhhhh-hunnh)

Bhut Vader sound effects.

When I cut the peppers in half and put them in the trays to dehydrate, I have to do it after she goes to sleep, and even then, many times I can hear her coughing in the bedroom. Once the peppers are dried and I have to grind them up, I have to do that in the garage. I wear eyewear and a big mask with filters that I might normally use for spraying poison, and after I am finished I can feel it stinging my face around the perimeter of the mask, because it is hot in the garage and I start to sweat. It of almost not worth it but when I do a full batch, I'm doing about $250 worth. I do my personal powder in August, so only a couple of batches are for personal use. Tom

My goodness. That is a formidable occupation!

I don't make powder all the time. Right now, I am selling the fresh peppers as fast as I can grow them. I already have paid orders peppers I will send out this coming Monday that aren't even colored up yet, but they will be by Monday. Sometimes sales are a bit off and if I don't sell them they will go bad on the plants waiting for people to buy them. During those times, is when I make the powder, and usually I have enough to meet the demand I have for the year. During the winter, the peppers are smaller than normal and people don't want them as much and that is when I go through most of my powder.

Tom -- the vision of you having to wear a respirator makes me think of the people working in horseradish factories I've seen on TV... maybe you can get on the "Dirty Jobs" show or something!! I'll certainly attest to the fact that even grinding up dried "normal" peppers (serranos, cayennes and the like) can pretty much choke a person! And for peppers (and garlic) I always have the dehydrator in the garage...)

Tom - I know I must have asked this question and got an answer but sometimes I have senior moments so I'll ask again. Before you dry the peppers do you take the seeds out to make your powders?? Just picturing you in your garage with your bio hazard gear on reminds me of those movies where bad guys are making meth in their garage.

These are the peppers that my supermarket was selling while ago and they were labeled "ghost peppers" the hottest in the world. can you tell by the photo what they are. I froze them but now I will defrost them and put hem into the processor to get them ready to freeze when I want to make more hot pepper sauce. All I have do is then add some to the hot oil.







Now for a serious question. Several weeks ago I made a very large batch of my pepper sauce and, after they cooled a bit I put the sauce into 3 large canning jars with their typical two piece lids and placed them on my counter like I always do.. Yesterday I opened up the jars to taste the sauce and little bubbles appeared as soon as the lids were taken off. I normally use regular jars with just the screw on lid and I never had that happen.

Should I be worried. these jars are for people I know when I visit Ocean City MD next week.

Frank, if the sauce wasn't processed and actually "sealed," and not refrigerated, I wouldn't consider it safe to use.

Here's an article that explains it pretty well --
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/...

Sandy - this is what I did. I put the peppers in the food processor and processed them until them into a very dice. I put the diced peppers into a pot and put enough oil in to over by one inch. I brought it up to a boil and let it boil for five minutes and then I reduced it low and let it simmer for 5 more minutes. after it cooled I placed them in the jars and simply closed the lids.

Like I said, I have used this method for years with no problems but this is the first time I used canning jars.

I did not put the jars in he oven or anything like that before I put the sauce into them

Frank, I don't know why the canning jars would make any particular difference -- but that mixture is extremely low-acid and would be extremely like to grow organisms that would cause it to spoil. E. coli and botulism come to mind...

Biohazard gear sounds just right to me.

Civilian "Mace" pepper spray is 2 million SHU.
Apparently, so is the Butch T Scorpion pepper.

15 Million SHU Pure Capsaicin
5.3 M SHU Police-Grade Pepper Spray
2 M SHU Typical Civilian Pepper Spray