The Official Scott Roberts Web Site

The Machine Sets Two World Chile Pepper Eating Records - Enter to Win an Autographed Poster and Hot Sauce!

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-25 20:40:50

This year at the Pepper at the Beach Tailgate Party, the man with the seemingly heat-retardant digestive system known as Steve "The Machine" Smallwood took down one World Record and set another one: respectively, the record for The Most Ghost Chile Peppers (also known as Bhut Jolokias) Eaten in One Minute, and The Most Trinidad Scorpion Chile Peppers eaten in One Minute. Although as of this writing it's still unofficial by Guinness, with the meticulous camera work, the timing and weighing of the chile peppers by Eat More Heat and I Love It Spicy, his daredevil gastronomical feats should be a shoe-in as officially Official very soon.

On Saturday, May 19, 2012, Smallwood demolished the previous Ghost Pepper record of 3 peppers by consuming a mind-boggling (not to mention lip-numbing) 8 chile peppers in a minute. What's even more extraordinary is that approximately one hour later he downed 8 Trinidad Scorpion chiles within a 60-second period and created a new World Record (there had been no previous record yet set).

This successful World Record Weekend was sponsored by High River Sauces, Chile Pepper Magazine, Endorphin Farms, ScottRoberts Web.com, and lastly Peppers.com, where the event was of course hosted.

When I hung out with The Machine this weekend, his demeanor and composure couldn't have been more calm; in fact, he was almost stone-cold...or, yes, machine-like. This guy was ready to make mincemeat out of super-hot chiles! But simultaneously, Steve is one of the nicest and most humble individuals I've ever come across in our Chilehead Nation. After he accomplished his feats, I asked him how it all went down...

Copyright 2011 ScottRobertsWeb.com.

Review - Texas Brew Salsas

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-24 15:38:07

Any attendee of ZestFest or the Fiery Foods Show can tell you there is no shortage of salsas among the products sold by vendors. A few superb, some good, some mediocre...even if you're a diehard salsa devotee, you might suffer from salsa fatigue once you reach the back of the showroom floor. Therefore, if you're an exhibitor at one of those shows, you had better make sure your product is up to snuff or else you'll be quickly and easily forgotten.

One of the better salsa slingers I encountered at ZestFest 2012 was Texas Brew Salsa an outfit that uses honey roasted ingredients in the vast majority of their wares. If visions of the Zane & Zack's World Famous Honey Co. dance in your heads when you hear the word "honey", then you may be in for a surprise. The presence of honey merely gives the tomatoes, tomatillos, and other components found in their products a slight sweet edge, and certainly not the distinctive sugary honey flavor most people can detect right off the bat. It's because of this that they keep themselves from falling headfirst into the "dessert salsa" category (not that that distinction is a bad thing).

But who is Texas Brew? Here's what's list on their company profile page:

"Texas Brew Products is a San Antonio, Texas based company founded by Brenda Craig.

"THE innovative, versatile company opening doors and building bridges into culinary wonderlands. Why? Because only Texas Brew Products uniquely combines authentic, historic preparation techniques with the freshest and finest ingredients, creating a flavor explosion like never before experienced.

"We are focused on producing 'Simply Salsalicious' all natural, gluten free; gourmet salsas (condiments) made with fresh fire-roasted vegetables and smoked spices the old fashioned authentic Mexican way."

For this review I tried four of Texas Brew's products - Honey Roasted Peach Salsa, Hot Iron Habanero Salsa, Honey Roasted Pineapple Salsa, Honey Roasted Chipotle Salsa - No Heat Mild, Honey Roasted Chipotle Salsa - Slow Kick Medium, and Honey Roasted Chipotle Salsa - Slow Burn Hot. ..
Copyright 2011 ScottRobertsWeb.com.

The Future of Hot Sauce and Condiment Bottles? MIT's Non-Stick LiquiGlide Coating

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-23 16:15:59

MIT PhD candidate Dave Smith and a team of mechanical engineers and nano-technologists at the Varanasi Research Group have been held up in an MIT lab for the last two months addressing a common dining problem...condiments sticking to the inside of a bottle. The result is a genius, non-toxic super-slippery substance called LiquiGlide.

To demonstrate how revolutionary this is, first take a look at regular ketchup and mayo bottle WITHOUT the LiquiGlide coating.

Ketchup:

Mayonnaise

A New Event...The Heat of Summer Fiery Foods Festival

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-22 14:03:22

There's a new spicy foods event being kicked off this year. Where is it taking place? Those lucky folks who live in Central Ohio, aka the Columbus metro area, are able to be host to yet another festival exhaulting fiery cuisine (the other being Columbus' North Market Fiery Foods Festival). This one is being held in a town east of Ohio's state capital called Pataskala and is dubbed the Heat of Summer Fiery Foods Festival.

The Details

On July 21, 2012 the Pataskala Lions Club will hold their first ever Heat of Summer Fiery Foods Festival. They would like to invite different companies from all over the state of Ohio and beyond to attend. The initial focus of the event will be on all things hot and spicy. This will include salsas, hot sauces, rubs or dust, and other products. They also want vendors that offer any other kind of products to also attend. Their thrust is to put on an event that the whole family can enjoy, so that while someone is trying their hand at the Jalapeno Eating Contest, their friends and family can shop at the vendor stations.

Not only will there be vendors selling pungent and tasty products, but there are some additional activities planned for the day, such as a chili cook off for anyone - both professional and amateur alike - to enter. For those brave enough, and with an iron stomach, there will be a Jalapeno Eating Competition. Cool prizes given out to the winners in these competitions. The public will also judge different vendors and this will determine a...
Copyright 2011 ScottRobertsWeb.com.

Peppers at the Beach 2012 Photos!

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-21 14:42:17

Another Peppers at the Beach is in the record books. And speaking of record books, Steve "The Machine" Smallwood will soon have the official records for having eaten the Most Ghost Chiles in One Minute and Most Trinidad Scorpion Chiles in One Minute!

As always, it was great seeing ALL of my fellow chileheads, all the vendors, to Chip & Luther Hearn and staff of Peppers, and everyone else involved. There are WAY too many names to mention, so if you were there - you rock!

I do want to specifically thank Brian and Marilyn Meagher of Hot Sauce Daily for all the help and friendship you have provided, for giving me rides to and fro, and for being like an older brother and sister to me. Without you guys I couldn't have witnessed a single minute of fun this weekend.

You can view the photos I took (with the help of a few others such as Sue Hard of CaJohn's) in slideshow format here:

Photo Slideshow

Copyright 2011 ScottRobertsWeb.com.

This Weekend - Peppers at the Beach 2012!

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-16 10:14:35

In just a few short days the Peppers TAILGATE PARTY At The Beach will be here! If you're a chilehead and live ANYWHERE in the Mid-Atlantic, don't miss this event!

Peppers at the Beach will be held at:
Peppers, Midway Galleria, 18701 Coastal Highway Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

Join us Friday, May 18, 2012 through Sunday, May 20, 2012

Here is a full list of vendors on hand to give out samples and sell of their products:

Extreme Foods
Texas Rib Rangers
Defcon Sauces
Heartbreaking Dawns
Captain Thom's Chile Pepper Co.
Bonafatto's Wing Sauces & Marinades
Rizzoti Foods - Rippin' Red
Suzanne's Kitchen Pepper Jelly
Fat Kid Sauces
High River Sauces
T-Rev's Stiff Willi Chili Co.
Cajun Island Sauces
Cape Seasoning
Ashburn Sauce Co.
Red Lion Spicy Foods Co.
Eagle Wingz
Progressive Sauces (JT Pappy's)
The Murph's Bloody Mary
Crazy Steve's Pickles & Salsa
Tom's Roid Rippin' Hot Sauce
DragonFire Sauces
Red Hawk Premium Peppers
Mr. Bar B Que
CaJohn's Fiery Foods
Crazy Uncle Jester's Inferno World
Griffin Wing Sauces
ASAP Designs
Ole Ray Sauces
Wicked Cactus Sauces
Deano's Jalapeno Chips
Backyard Jams & Jellies
Madison Chocolatetiers West
Matteo's Restaurant
Born To Hula Hot Sauce
Black Woods Wings
Patter Fam Sauces
Evil Seed Sauce Co.
Wy's Wings
Rivas Salsa....
Copyright 2011 ScottRobertsWeb.com.

Review - Royito's Hot Sauce

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-14 20:59:56

I know what you first thought; maybe Scott did a typo and accidentally called this jarred salsa a "hot sauce" instead. I assure you, this was no typo. Yep, this is one of those rare instances of a product billed as a hot sauce is sold in a jar. Kind of fitting, and perhaps a little confusing, as Royito's Hot Sauce could possibly be considered either a salsa or a hot sauce because of it's ingredients, texture and taste. That's certainly not a fault, because I often like it when cooks and chefs do fusion dances in their kitchens when creating new food enhancers.

The person responsible for this product is Roy Spence, one of the founders of the large Austin, Texas ad agency called GSD & M. Roy took his 60-year-old family recipe of all-natural ingredients, and applied his childhood nickname of Royito that his father gave him as the company moniker to his spicy condiment. John Blackington, Royito's employee and Self-described "friend of Roy", submitted a jar of which I will review right now...
Copyright 2011 ScottRobertsWeb.com.

Jim Campbell Reports on the Indiana Hotluck and Fiery Foods Expo

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-11 13:30:40

In the historic and scenic river town of Madison, Indiana, lies a gem of chile pepper culture - the Indiana Hotluck & Fiery Foods Expo. It will be celebrating it's 17th year of existence next year, and this post concerns a description and re-cap of this year's, the 16th.

For those of you that have never heard the term before, a "hotluck" is like a potluck but featuring spicy dishes. Hotlucks have a long history on the email group [CH] Chileheads, and have been held all over the country. Most are simple affairs, hosted by chileheads in their own home. The "cost" of admission is to simply bring a chile related dish, a recipe (if you can't cook), or to just bring a plain love of spicy things and the willingness to chat about all things chile with anyone & everyone.

The Indiana Hotluck was built on that tradition with a few differences...
Copyright 2011 ScottRobertsWeb.com.

Firetalkers - Interview with Steve 'The Machine' Smallwood - The Peppers Preview

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-09 06:00:00

During the Peppers At The Beach Weekend this coming May 18 - 20 in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the well-known chilehead known as Steve "The Machine" Smallwood will attempt to set or break a couple of Guinness World Records when it comes to speed eating super-hot chile peppers.

But who exactly is the man known as "The Machine"? Well, he was given the nickname by "Firehead" Thomas Gately of I Love It Spicy! because of two things. One, Smallwood's superhuman tolerance for capsaicin-included heat in challenges that would leave a vast number of experienced chileheads go running for a carton of milk to soothe the burn. For example, just look at how The Machine handles 11 million Scoville Heat Unit extract - the guy is so calm, cool and collected he makes The Fonz look like a panicking little wuss. Two, Smallwood possesses incredible speed and stamina in spicy eating contests. Go against him in a burn battle and chances are that this no-nonsense Kentucky boy will trounce you.

To help ramp up for the Peppers At The Beach Weekend, I recently talked to The Machine to get to know the man behind the myth and the legend. Many of us in the online chilehead circles already know him as a humble guy, a friend, and as a reviewer for the aforementioned I Love It Spicy!. But what exactly fuels this chile-chomping Machine and how does he keep it running so efficiently? Read on to find out...
Copyright 2011 ScottRobertsWeb.com.

Official Open Fields 2012 Details

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-07 19:03:35

At a secret location, somewhere in Indiana, a dedicated group of chileheads will gather for what has been best described as a "Woodstock for ChileHeads". In late September, folks with a love of the outdoors, spicy food, chile peppers, and good company, will gather in a rented farm field - rain or shine - and enjoy a weekend of socializing while strolling amongst 1,000 chile pepper plants. And, it is 100% totally FREE. For those unfamiliar with the event known as "Open Fields", a little bit of history.....

Open Fields started as a means for me to try and let others pick what they could from my fields after the plants had been frosted. Once the chiles have been nipped, there is a very limited window of "salvageability" to them before they became mush. Rather than them go to waste, I threw the fields open to one and all to help themselves. People could pick and take as much as they wanted (free) from as many as 50,000 chiles, mostly Red Savina� Habanero. As it was done on short notice (never could trust those weather forecasters to be accurate!) very few people showed up the first few years. The event then "morphed" into a fixed date based upon when I thought I'd harvested enough chiles to see the business through to the next year. This allowed people to actually plan to attend and the number showing up changed dramatically. Some years however, I had to announce harvest restrictions on particular varieties owing to the vagaries of farming. I didn't have enough for what I needed so there were a few years of "pick this, not that". Over the years, the popularity of the event continued to grow- hard to beat "free" after all - and was even featured on the Food Network a couple of times as well as several other shows. The event was required to evolve again. Starting somewhere around 2003, I decided to plant a field that was strictly for the event- no harvest restrictions, no limits, no nothing. In addition, the date was announced far in advance of the event allowing people to attend from quite a distance. It is truly amazing the distance that some folks have travelled to hang out in a farm field in Central Indiana for a weekend with fellow chileheads! There've been people from well over 35 States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, The Netherlands, England, & Argentina. They all come to either primitive camp in the fields or stay in the nearest hotel 20 miles away. Truly amazing! Most everyone comes prepared to cook "camp food" and share with anyone who walks by and there are some folks who can cook some amazing things with very few modern conveniences! In 2006, after the lunacy that was/is www.StepUpforCharity.org, an auction was added on Saturday afternoon that benefited the charity. Several overly generous chileheads donate a vast amount of gift baskets, chile trinkets, sauces, pepper plants, and you name it, that are raffled off...

Copyright 2011 ScottRobertsWeb.com.

Pyro Pete's Sauces Grill It Up On Fox 2 News

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-06 20:19:43

My fellow St. Louisan Peter McNees of Pyro Pete Sauces & Rubs has once again made an appearance on the Local Fox affiliate KTVI Channel 2. Last December he made his TV debut on the morning show. This time out he went on to do a little summertime grillin' with the morning show crew:

If you haven't tried his Ultimate Salsa, you're missing out on an all-around great dip and condiment. I gave it a 4 1/2 star review for its shear yumminess a while back. I would also like to point out to the metro St. Louis folks that Pyro Pete has picked up a new local retail store from which you can purchase his goods and save on shipping costs:

Nutrition Stop Inc
4101 Mexico Rd # K
St. Peters, MO
(636) 928-7550
nutritionstop.com

Eight-Year-Old Starting His Own Hot Sauce Company

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-06 10:06:07

I recently reviewed sauces made by 13-year-old Nolan Bebber. Now, there is an 8-year-old trying his hand at creating spicy condiments. His name is Jordan Brenner, and he calls his products Jordan Brenner's Hot-Cha WAA-Cha Sauces.

Of course, young Jordan has had his father, Kendell Brenner, aide him tremendously in starting up his fledgling business. And like many folks looking for aletnative ways to fund and promote their goods and services, they're looking towards Kickstarter.

Jordan Brenner's Hot-cha WAA-cha sauces are looking to raise a minimum of $3,500 dollars to offset the huge expenses that are involved in starting a line of hot sauces. The money raised will help them expedite the processing of their business venture. Some of the expenses this will cover are FDA schedule process, labels, upfront fees of bottles and first run production for one, if not all of the designed recipes insurance, advertizing and promotions.

Kendell and Jordan have already put in a lot of time and money with artwork design, tasting groups and research and development of sauces - not to mention milk and bread to ease the pain of getting hot sauce in your eyes!

The three flavors they have developed are Mango Maple Habanero, Strawberry Habanero and and their Original Garlic-Lime Habanero.

Weekly Firecast Episode 18 - Texas Creek Products Pure Evil 16 Million SHU Capsaicin Drops

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-04 07:45:34

You think you've tackled ultra-hot products before? Very few things have likely remotely close to Texas Creek Products Pure Evil SHU Capsaicin Drops. This stuff comes in a 1/2 ounce dropper bottle and contains pure 15-16 million SHU crystalline capsaicin, along with water, alcohol, ascorbic acid (aka Vitamin C) and xanthan. Although it should ONLY be used as a food additive (and even so it would be extreme), I tried about 6 drops straight on my tongue.

You would not believe the amount of heat from this. You know, I love a good chile pain and a burn, but this product crosses the line into "bad pain" territory. It stopped being pleasant. It's unreal. It's an absolutely unrelenting burn that, unlike super-hot peppers or extracts, doesn't go away until well after 30 minutes. At around 60-90 minutes after taking some of this, a lot of the discomfort went away yet I still felt the heat on my tongue where the drops fell and my lips were numb.

I would advise all of you, even seasoned chileheads, NOT to try this product like this. It's convinced me to never do another heat challenge or contest again. Where else would you go from here? there's nothing more to prove. I'm going to stick to nice, clean burns that come naturally from chile peppers. NO more extracts or capsaicin.

By the way, pure capsaicin does NOT thankfully have the nasty flavor of chile pepper extract. It's a good, clean taste. As I point out in the video, the only disagreeable taste is that of the alcohol used in the Pure Evil Drops. I don't think this would effect the overall flavor of whatever food to which you're adding this, such as a bowl of chile or a saucepan of taco seasoned beef.

The dropper bottle comes on a collector's tin and costs $19.99 plus shipping on the Texas Creek Products website.

World Record Weekend at Peppers At The Beach

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-02 22:36:14

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 2nd, 2012
Steve "The Machine" Smallwood Attempts Chile Pepper World Record At Peppers At The Beach

If you are a hot pepper addict and can't resist the call of Fiery Foods then you are in luck. Peppers, one of the biggest Hot Sauce Stores in America is proud to announce their Peppers at the Beach Tailgate Party at Rehoboth Beach on May 18th through May 20th. In their 3rd year, Peppers at the Beach is once again showing the Chile Pepper community why this is turning into one of the biggest shows in the country. Promising over 100 chefs and vendors in attendance showing off their line of products, free food tastings, chicken wing contests with jumbo wings provided by Mountaire Farms and topped off with the much anticipated attempt of breaking the world record for eating the hottest peppers in the world.

This year exclusively at Peppers at the Beach with the additional honor of Peppers Hot Sauce Store, Eat More Heat, High River Sauces, Chile Pepper Magazine, Scott Roberts and Endorphin Farms of sponsoring the living legend Steve "The Machine" Smallwood for attempting to break the Guinness Book of World Records. Steve will attempt to...

Copyright 2011 ScottRobertsWeb.com.

Review - Blue Ox Jerky Co. Peppercorn Smoked Beef and BLAZIN' HOT Smoked Beef Jerky

scott@scottrobertsweb.com (Scott Roberts) — 2012-05-01 15:15:00

With a slogan that reads, "our jerky punches gas station jerky in the face", you know that The Blue Ox Jerky Co. means business, or at least attempt to give the impression that they do. In a world of hyped-up marketing and a more irreverent style used by newer companies, can Blue Ox's claims be backed up by their product? I tested out a couple of their beef jerkies to find out. Blue Ox Jerky Co. sent me their Peppercorn Smoked Beef Jerky and BLAZIN' HOT Smoked Beef Jerky for review, and below are my humble li'l opinions...

Copyright 2011 ScottRobertsWeb.com.