[slackline]

Just received the following from the in-laws as a b'day pressie...

12 x Naga Morich seeds
12 x Bhut Jolokiua seeds
12 x Fatalii seeds
12 x Red Savina

All varietes of Capsicum chinense species

Can't wait for next years growing season to come round 

[Fultonius]

I tend to do that.  Recipe says 4 green finger chillies, I bung in 2 nagas.  You'd think I'd learn, the wife won't eat half of it

It's the only way...

Just binned the rest of the Nam Prik Pao, going to make it again with more of everything bar the chilli and use the kashmiri chillies this time!

[slackline]

Article in NY Times on chilli's and "our" love of them

Had some Thai Bird Eye's off one of my plants the other day, chopped up and eaten raw they had quite a kick.

No sign of pollination on my Naga plant 

More annoyingly I can't remember what safe place I put all the seeds I got earlier in the year.  Hopefully I'll have remembered/found them by early next year when it comes time to germinate them.

[slackline]

Xmas saw a bit of a bumper haul on the chilli front for me with a bag of dried bhut jolokia, bag of dried & chopped bhut jolokia, harrissa sauce, a Chinese burn chilli sauce and two rather special sauces that I'm approaching with caution.

The first is this crazy concoction...



...and a write-up here suggests its weaker cousin, the 10-minute burn, has been banned from three chilli shows!   I tried a tiny dab straight off the lid the other day and it is certainly very hot, but after the heat its very flavoursome and fruity, just as I've come to expect from the jolokia.

Today see's its first outing in my standard sandwich fair (marmite + boiled egg w/salad cream/black pepper/chilli sauce, try it, its nice ).  Opted for four small drops mixed in with the egg & salad cream and whilst hot its not overwhelming and very tasty.

The other silly thing I got was some liquid chilli extract that purports to be 15 million SHU.  Not quite sure what I'm going to do with this, but I certainly won't be trying any neat.  Possibly a few drops in a chilli when I next make one, or a few drops to spice up some home-made chilli-sauce later in the year.

Speaking of home-made chilli sauce I still haven't found where I stashed a load of seeds earlier in the year, but got a variety of naga, jolokia & chinensis seeds for xmas so will be starting those soon to give them optimal growing time before the peak of summer when they start flowering (and hopefully pollinating).

[Adam Lincoln]

(marmite + boiled egg w/salad cream/black pepper/chilli sauce, try it, its nice ). 

I'll report back 

[chris05]

Did any on else read the bottle as 15 minute bum?

[andy popp]

I was given several South Devon Chilli Farm products for Xmas - a standard jalapeno, some dried Bhut Jolokia and their 'Extreme Bhut Jolokia Sauce'. The latter is disappointing compared Dave's Gourmet Ghost Pepper sauce - not as hot but also a thinner, somewhat acidic taste (indeed, cider vinegar is the first ingredient listed).

[Jaspersharpe]

Did any on else read the bottle as 15 minute bum?

That's what is says isn't it?

[slackline]

Did any on else read the bottle as 15 minute bum?

That's what is says isn't it?

I'll report back on that at a later date.

[slackline]

I was given several South Devon Chilli Farm products for Xmas - a standard jalapeno, some dried Bhut Jolokia and their 'Extreme Bhut Jolokia Sauce'. The latter is disappointing compared Dave's Gourmet Ghost Pepper sauce - not as hot but also a thinner, somewhat acidic taste (indeed, cider vinegar is the first ingredient listed).

I'm not a fan of the very runny sauces, and attribute it to excess cider vinegar in the mixes.

Whilst Dave's are hot, I find they're not as flavoursome as others, often due to the extract being the predominant source of heat.

I also forgot I got a bottle of this stuff which is the bee's knees.  Mate got two bottles from Chilli Pepper Pete at the Good Food Show  .  Great for frying eggs for breakfast    Yet to use it in conjunction with balsamic vinegar for bread dipping though.

[GCW]

Whilst Dave's are hot, I find they're not as flavoursome as others, often due to the extract being the predominant source of heat.

I agree entirely, as I've mentioned before.  Although recently I've moved to making up my own sauces rather than using bottled.

[Reprobate_Rob]

On the growing front...

I got given a bunch of seeds back in September and planted them, with the intention of them growing big and strong over the winter, then producing big time this summer. For some reason though they grew, flowered and are currently sporting some not-very-rapidly-growing fruit.
I'd figured they would flower going by the change in daylight hours moving into summer, but I guess they're just programmed to grow a bit and then get going 

Anyway, should I let em grow, or snip the fruit off and remaining flowers off now in the hope that they will give it another go in the summer?

And when would be the best time to start another batch off from seed?

[slackline]

Whilst Dave's are hot, I find they're not as flavoursome as others, often due to the extract being the predominant source of heat.

I agree entirely, as I've mentioned before.  Although recently I've moved to making up my own sauces rather than using bottled.

Making your own is great fun, think I posted my approach further back in the thread.  Repeated again this year, although with a variety of chillis (Thai bird eye, Tobasco, black pearl) as oppossed to Habanerro's and its been well received again.

The most fiddly part I find is bottling it up (and finding enough bottles in the first place!

[andy popp]

Whilst Dave's are hot, I find they're not as flavoursome as others, often due to the extract being the predominant source of heat.

I agree entirely, as I've mentioned before.  Although recently I've moved to making up my own sauces rather than using bottled.

I'll have to do more sampling then as I thought the Ghost Pepper one has pretty good flavour - that said fresh pepper (not extract) is the top ingredient in that particular line.

[slackline]

On the growing front...

I got given a bunch of seeds back in September and planted them, with the intention of them growing big and strong over the winter, then producing big time this summer. For some reason though they grew, flowered and are currently sporting some not-very-rapidly-growing fruit.
I'd figured they would flower going by the change in daylight hours moving into summer, but I guess they're just programmed to grow a bit and then get going 

Anyway, should I let em grow, or snip the fruit off and remaining flowers off now in the hope that they will give it another go in the summer?

And when would be the best time to start another batch off from seed?

My experience (which is only a few years worth of growing) is that chilli plants like warmth and a lot of sun but can and will grow anywhere and will flower whenever they want.

I've never managed to get any of mine to over-winter as I'm plagued by green and white-fly (going to try Pyrethrum this year as soapy water just doesn't work).

If they're doing fine then I'd say keep them, they'll start soaking up the rays as the days get stronger.  Be wary of them getting huge though, so consider snipping the tips, which will make them branch out more.

Plenty more tips on the web, I found South Devon Chilli Farm to be clear and straight-forward.

[fatdoc]

i have 6 plants planted last feb, 2 v mild big pepper, 2 thin red ones... and 2 jalepenos... OK not hot... but they randomly keep bearing fruit  I think they just went perennial on my windowsill... tomato feed and warm water are all they get

[GCW]

I'll have to do more sampling then as I thought the Ghost Pepper one has pretty good flavour - that said fresh pepper (not extract) is the top ingredient in that particular line.

The Mad Dog 357 Ghost Pepper is much nicer, Andy.

[Zods Beard]

I got a guy at work this for secret Santa after hearing him constantly boast about how hot he likes his food.



Watching him sample it was the highlight of my day, he claims he's had nothing that comes close. More info here.

http://www.chillipepperpete.com/products/Sauces/Extreme_Sauces/Dragons_Blood_Batch_13_Special_Edition_-_100ml.html

[slackline]

  Great to hit someone who brags about chilli with something they can't handle.

That sounds very similar to the Dragon Slayer (both having 15million SHU extract) which I've had before, it was indeed damn hot!  Must get another bottle, or perhaps try this fabled batch 13.

[slackline]

Spotted this in the supermarket last night and just had to buy some, yet to try any yet though...

Shito by slack---line, on Flickr

[Fultonius]

Just buckled and shelled out the £5 for Dave's Ghost Pepper Sauce. 

Well, it wasn't as hot as I was expecting (I've made chilli's that have rendered me more incapacitated in the past) but it actually has some decent flavour going on. I've still got tingling lips, but my mouth and throat seem fine. Might have to try more than 2 drops on my next cheese & chutney cracker...

[slackline]

Just planted out my first batch of chilli seeds to germinate this year as I was reading the other day that C. Chinense sp (the really hot ones like Red Savina, Naga's, Seven Pods etc.) need a long growing period and as mine didn't pollenate last year I figured it may have been down to planting late.

This selection consists of

Naga Morich x4
Red Seven pod x4
Cayenne x6
Black Pearl x4
Yellow Seven pod x4
Tabasco x4
Miscellaneous labelled as "Yellow" x4 (seeds from a chilli I'll have eaten at some point).
Sweet Red x4 (bell shaped, not too hot)
Fire Finger x4 (small bird-eye type chilli's)
Miscellaneous x6 (I think these could be Habanerros seeds that I kept from last year)

Will probably do another set or two after these have been potted up.

Any other chilli-heads growing their own this year?

[Fultonius]

I've never tried growing chilies, do they take a lot of care? I'm often away for a week or 2 with work and it's not always easy to keep them watered. Can you grow them next to herbs ok?

[slackline]

Tips & pointers on growing chilli's

They're quite resilient, but like lots of sunshine & warmth, can withstand being dry for a day or so, but too long and they wilt much longer and they then die.

[Fultonius]

I will have to train my new flatmate to keep them watered then