Having recently bought some absolutely knock-out habenero sauce I found myself wishing for such a device. The habenero sauce was far far too hot and the resulting chilli con carne was all but inedible (In fact I have blended it up and know use it, from the freezer, as a chilli sauce in its own right). A way of measuring the burn of chillis before you inadvertantly make radioactive food would have saved me a few bob.
-- dare99, Dec 31 2001

(?) Cool Chilli Company http://www.shopsolu...co/chilechillie.htm
Purveyors of scary chilli products (and some very nice ones) [dare99, Jan 01 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

The Introduction to the Bradford Curry Guide http://website.line...ryguide/frintro.htm
An English example of the language of hot food. [Aristotle, Jan 01 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

The piss of Wotan http://www.subgeniu...007_PISS.WOTAN.html
A habanero recipe - not for the faint hearted [madradish, Jan 02 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

its called a laboratory, unfortunately I have just a small kitchen and my cauldron
-- po, Dec 31 2001


I had a look before I posted it. I couldn't any similar ideas. I don't think that the concentration of chemicals would really cut it as the toungue dosn't appear to work linearly. Also it'd be mixed up with a load of other stuff, especially in sauces.
-- dare99, Dec 31 2001


The Scoville rating has been around for a while. As far as what happens when a spicy food is mixed with other foods, maybe averaging by volume would work.
-- phoenix, Dec 31 2001


Out of idle curiosity, how much habanero sauce did you put in the chili? In fact, what was the entire recipe for disaster?
-- thumbwax, Dec 31 2001


My brother had a hot sauce named 'Jamaican Hellfire'...He put some into chili while cooking it, and it too turned out to be inedible. Even he could only manage a couple of bowls. He said cooking it made it mad.
-- StarChaser, Jan 01 2002


Tasting it as you add the sauce is, by far, the most accurate way to gauge the hottness. By the way, which Jamaican Hellfire sauce was it? They make 3 or 4 with the hottest being in a lavendar colored bottle and called "Hottest Hellfire."
-- bristolz, Jan 01 2002


Well I used the habenaro sauce as a marinade for theh cubed beef I used, hoping that they would retain the heat of the sauce. The sauce came off into the rest of the chilli (in fact the cubed beef ended up the coolest/most edible part of the chilli). Like StarChasers Jamaican Hellfire, this sauce seemed to get hotter when you cooked with it. It was from the cool chilli company, who have a stall in Borough Market (London). (link to their site)
-- dare99, Jan 01 2002


All this talk of chilli is a foreign language to us curry-eating citizens of the mother of parliaments, although as [dare99] suggests Jamacia is our link to this topic.
-- Aristotle, Jan 01 2002


My 'other half' and I collect habanero sauces, we love them - in small doses. I can't believe you MARINATED the meat in habanero sauce, that must have hurt.

I've added a link with the recipe for the 'piss of Wotan' basically habanero peppers pickled in vinegar. We made some of this and it's currently aging under my sink. A mere whiff will clean your sinuses with extreme prejudice.
-- madradish, Jan 02 2002


Out of idle curiosity - how did you find out about this place, madradish?
-- thumbwax, Jan 02 2002


Bristolz; it was the 'Doc's Special' hellfire...At the time it was the hottest in the line, they may have added to it...

Saw a hot 'sauce' in a childproof bottle the other day...'Pure Cap', apparently 100% capsacin...<for reference, the pepper spray one can buy runs 5-10%, and the police have 15-20%...> It is apparently dangerous in itself, which is why the bottle...
-- StarChaser, Jan 03 2002


I (we) have a bottle of Blair's 5AM hotsauce at 6,000,000 Scoville. It was $100.00. Hubby collects.
-- bristolz, Jan 03 2002


In restaurants there should be this person called The Chilli Rater, who's hired to taste your food and who'll point out on a scale from 0 to 10 the actual Chilli Rate.

X--- 'Waiter, can you call the Chilli Rater?'

Y--- 'Of course, one moment please'

Z--- 'Hello, I'm the Chilli Rater, can I help you?

Y--- 'Yes, taste this sauce for me please'

Z--- 'Mmmm, oooh, that's, let's see, it's ok, but...., wow, wait a minute, it kicks in now, AHHHHHH, definitly a 10!'
-- BartJan, Jan 03 2002


I still don't understand why people like painful food. A bit of spice is one thing, but stuff like 'pure cap' is just dumb.

But every absurdity has its champion...
-- StarChaser, Jan 03 2002


SC: Those hot sauces are merely things people collect. The 5AM sauce was $100 for the bottle. Probably has a COG of about $3.00

I do like pretty spicy food, though. The way to do it is to start small and work your way up. The more you eat the less sensitive you are to the spice.
-- bristolz, Jan 03 2002


I semi agree. I have found that over time I have been able to enjoy hotter and hotter food, to the point now that I'll happily eat a phall (v.hot curry, vindaloo with big hob nailed boots on for those not in the know). Unfortunatly my digestive system just dosn't deal with the spice and I get a ring of fire the next day. It is to avoid this that I need the chilli rater.
-- dare99, Jan 04 2002


Bristolz: But why? Keep working at painful food so you can eat MORE painful food? It seems pointless. I'll just stick to my non-painful stuff, thanks...
-- StarChaser, Jan 04 2002


Because it causes a euphoria of sorts, I guess. I quite like it despite it taking years to get used to the heat. I went through a phase where everything had to be really spicy. Now, it's just when it makes sense or I am craving the bite.
-- bristolz, Jan 05 2002


Chilli's got a weird macho thing. It seems to be the only thing many men can cook. It's as though it's sissy to care about the taste of food, when you can measure its quality by temperature. In Britain, there's a similar thing around Indian food like Vindaloo curries, where groups of men are supposed to go for a curry together and order the strongest one possible. In France, it's ok for a man to care about the taste of his food, but in the English-speaking world, apparently not: heterosexual males need a scale of quality that women don't appreciate (apart from bristolz, it seems; I think women are much less keen on very hot spicy food in general, although they might be more adventurous eaters.)
-- pottedstu, Jan 05 2002


I don't get a rush of any sort, it just hurts. An acquired taste I don't see the point in acquiring, I guess.
-- StarChaser, Jan 05 2002


Well, it's not about pointless heat, [SC]. There must be flavor in there, somewhere. Plus there is just a coziness about good food from the spice zone. It makes me feel good to eat it.

True, pottedstu, the men seem to prefer high-spice more than women, but I know plently of women who enjoy very spicy food. It doesn't strike me as particularly macho.
-- bristolz, Jan 05 2002


Spices are fair enough in Oriental cookery (although some people have an erroneous idea that all Indian food has to be really really hot, when in fact that's far from the case). But chilli con carne isn't oriental, and as generally prepared isn't haute cuisine. Maybe eating curries for their strength is a British thing, owing to the large number of cheap Indian restaurants in Britain, and the binge-drinking antics of lager louts. But from what I understand of America, there's a similar culture revolving around chilli-eating, where being as hot as possible is the goal, rather than tasting nice.
-- pottedstu, Jan 06 2002


I agree with SC, if I want the top of my head blown off, there must be a better way
-- po, Jan 06 2002


If your chili con carne is too hot, just mix in some sour cream or yogurt or cottage cheese.
-- mighty_cheese, Jan 06 2002


I hate chili
-- bristolz, Jan 06 2002


You've obviously never had my chili.
-- thumbwax, Jan 06 2002


[thumbwax] - if you mean the halfbakery, I stumbled across it and it suited me very well.

if you are referring to the piss of Wotan recipe, the Shanmonster (one of my favourite websites) linked to it.
-- madradish, Jan 07 2002


Thumbwax]: If your chili even remotely resembles common chili, I'd have to say "blaugh".
-- bristolz, Jan 07 2002


Proper chili contains no beans
-- thumbwax, Jan 07 2002


Assuming there is such a thing . . . .
-- bristolz, Jan 07 2002


1984 World Champion Recipe of International Chili Cookoff

2 lbs beef chili grind
1 8-oz can Hunts Tomato Sauce
1 onion finely chopped
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Πcup Gebhardt Chili Powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1œ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
Πteaspoon Tabasco Sauce
œ teaspoon cayenne pepper
œ can beer
1 tablespoon Wesson Oil

Instructions:
Sear meat in covered 2 quart pan with Wesson Oil. Add tomato sauce, onion and garlic powder, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining ingredients and stir, simmer for one hour. Add water if necessary.

Optional
Serve with side dishes of pinto beans, chopped onions and grated cheddar cheese for garnishes.
ENJOY!

Servings:
6-8

Also Optional

5 1/2 beers
-- thumbwax, Jan 07 2002


All right. I'll try it. Thx.
-- bristolz, Jan 07 2002


I'll give it a go too, it sounds good!
(what is Wesson oil?!?)
-- madradish, Jan 09 2002


wesson is just a brand name - I'm quite positive I'll never post a recipe again - this was an emergency though.
-- thumbwax, Jan 09 2002


Emergency?
-- bristolz, Jan 09 2002


Four Alarm Chili, heh
-- thumbwax, Jan 09 2002


Whoops. If an idea gets half-baked twice, does it... never mind.

My recently created/deleted Capsaimeter expands a [very] little:

This discrete, sanitary probe accurately measures the fiery goodness of spicy victuals. Use in the kitchen, at a restaurant, or at the home of your favorite practical joker.

Also available in the form of a isothiocyanate-reading chopstick for our wasabi-loving friends.
-- nilstycho, Mar 08 2004


[ben], you are either psychic or sneaky. The last line of my entry, which I did not include above, was:
"Accent on the third (syllable), I should think?"

Maybe not psychic enough...
-- nilstycho, Mar 08 2004


Copied over from my later posted idea, which I will be deleting:

I envision this working one of two ways, the first might not be feasible. This is a simple paper strip coated with TRPV1 protein. Each protein receptor that binds to a capsaicin molecule would (magically) change color slightly, such that the overall strip would adjust color similar to a PH meter. As I said, I'm not sure this is a viable approach, since I am uncertain if it is possible to trigger the color changing as a result of this binding. If it isn't then the more expensive and complex approach will work. This uses a test card containing conductive pins which are coated with the binding protein. When the pepper is rubbed across these pins, the binding will produce a change in conductivity proportional to the number of bound sites. This approach is used to detect various organic components in modern diagnostic devices, so it is viable. The cost of cards and the tester may put it into the range of professional chefs only, however.
-- MechE, Sep 29 2009


While you are coming up with a way to test for the hotness of a food, you should also develop a test for how much is felt by various people.

I can try one single pepper and have Eyes streaming and Mouth on fire, and then watch with blurred vision the others eat them as though they were after dinner mints.

When comes to peppers, one size does not fit all.
-- popbottle, Mar 22 2017


S’pose we have this these days
-- dare99, Feb 25 2021


I had a burrito with some ghost pepper in it last week. Exactly how much ghost pepper was included I'm uncertain, but it was enough to be unpleasant. When the pepper is *all* you can taste and your lips become numb then it's simply too much for enjoyment.
-- RayfordSteele, Feb 25 2021


There's an element of flavor to the heat IMO. I like hot food, but I'm no masochist.
-- Voice, Feb 26 2021



random, halfbakery