The Hottest Pepper Blog

April 9, 2010

Organic Food-It’s More Nutritious

Filed under: Ask Jamie,Health,Information — admin @ 2:30 am

Aloha,

Several months ago I received a comment online that disagreed with my contention that organic food is more nutritious than commercially grown food.  I finally found the research I had used regarding this information.

According to studies comparing 11 main nutrients by scientists at Washington State University, and the University of Florida, organic food averages 25% higher in content of these 11 nutrients.

The comparisons studied numbered 236 between food grown organically, and commercially and the scientists used all available data at that time. The report titled  ’State of Science Review: Nutritional Superiority of Organic Foods’ can be view by going to the following website- www.organic-center.org.

Jamie

April 5, 2010

The Slug Fest

Filed under: Ask Jamie,How to,Information — Tags: , , — admin @ 2:14 am

Boy ‘ol boy, what a night! I was on the Mainland for 3 days and tonight was the first time since I left that I was able to hunt slugs in the garden. Those little SOB’s were everywhere. I must have killed more than 70! Makes one wonder how fast those little destroyers reproduce. We had a lot of rain during those 3 days which makes them more active. There was also a 10″ long centipede, many cockroaches, and some rock lizards who couldn’t sleep. So, it will be about a week before I get the slugs back under control and then won’t have to worry about the destruction they can do in a very short period of time. Yeah, I have tried beer, upside down cantaloupe, cardboard, salt, etc. Nothing works better than a sharp pair of scissors, a good set of eyes and a bright flashlight.
Aloha and Mahalo,
Jamie

March 30, 2010

Bhut Jolokia Smoke Grenades–OUCH!!! Go Indian Army!!!

Filed under: Ask Jamie,Information — Tags: , , — admin @ 3:03 am

chili bhut pepper 300x200 Bhut Jolokia Smoke Grenades OUCH!!! Go Indian Army!!!Aloha Gang,

Well, by now I am sure a lot of you have heard about the Indian army getting approval to use the Bhut Jolokia pepper as the main ingredient in smoke grenades.  They will be used as an anti-terrorist defense that will hurt but not kill.  I am sure that it will be used to disperse crowds,  force perts out of holed up locations, etc.  I can tell you from first hand experience that it will work.  Go get ‘em Indian Army–Bhut Jolokia rules!

During our harvest season, we sometimes harvest 1,000 peppers in a day.  Each and every Bhut Jolokia pepper has the seeds taken out by hand.  We wear 4 layers of vinyl gloves, a respirator, and long sleeve shirts.  Further, there is a beach towel covering our laps.  Those peppers are juicy and somehow, that hot,hot capsaicin squirts out everywhere when slicing the peppers open.  The 4 layers of gloves lasts only about an hour before they have to be changed. What I am saying is that they are very dangerous and can give you an unbelievable amount of pain and suffering.  During the harvest season, my friends don’t stop by, my girlfriend won’t get near me, and frankly, it’s a lonely, lonely time of year.  I am toxic, and I leave a trail of Bhut Jolokia pain and suffering everywhereI go.  It’s on every part of my body eventually, and I mean every part. Sometime at night and I writhing in pain as I try to go to sleep.  Yes, the peppers have somehow gotten into my bed, and believe me that’s not funny.  I wake up tired the next morning with dark circles under my eyes, wondering how in the world I got into this mess.  I keep hearing the Oliver Hardy quote- “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into.”  But the problem is, I have gotten into it all by myself!

So, it’s the Bhut Jolokia pepper and the Indian army joining forces to keep the bad guys in check.  So, throw those Bhut Jolokia smoke grenades and more power to the Bhut!

Keep those questions coming,  and keep planting those Bhuts!  And, if any of you out there make a Bhut Jolokia hand grenade, please send me a sample!

Jamie

March 28, 2010

Soak the Bhut Seeds Please

Filed under: Ask Jamie,Bhut jolokia garden,How to,Information — admin @ 12:50 am

Aloha Everyone,

Mahalo for all of your questions.  And best of luck with your newly germinating, or planted Bhut Jolokia pepper plants.   Very good to hear that just about everyone is having great luck.

Hey, you two who did not soak the Bhut seeds overnight before germinating. You know who you are! You gotta listen to the old man. These seeds are a bit strange as far as germination goes.  It helps tremendously to soak the seeds in water the night before.  You will get faster germination and a higher percentage of success.

Out of all of the orders we have received, we have had only 2 instances of sub par germination.  And that’s a tiny percentage of our sales.  So, good for you.  You are listening.  Now soak those seeds!

March 25, 2010

Hot Peppers Help With a Diabetes Breakthrough!

Filed under: Health,Information — Tags: , , , — admin @ 5:25 am

capsaicin Hot Peppers Help With a Diabetes Breakthrough!Since childhood we have been told to eat our veggies, that an apple a day can keep the doctor a way, and just what and how we eat plays a monumental part in our well being.  The other big portion to our equation of health, is how our bodies react and process various things that can either inhibit or activate certain ailments.

“In a discovery that has stunned even those behind it, scientists at a Toronto hospital say they have proof the body’s nervous system helps trigger diabetes, opening the door to a potential near-cure of the disease that affects millions..”

This study was first based on the structures of what happens within the body in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.  In Type 1, which is usually first found in children or young adults, the body does not produce insulin.  The most frequent form of diabetes is Type 2, where the body’s cells ignore insulin, or not enough is produced.

Scientists in Canada found that  “diabetic mice became healthy virtually overnight after researchers injected a substance to counteract the effect of malfunctioning pain neurons in the pancreas.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Dr. Hans Michael Dosch, an immunologist at the hospital and a leader of the studies. “In my career, this is unique.”  The substance in which was injected was ” Capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot chili peppers, to kill the pancreatic sensory nerves in mice that had an equivalent of Type 1 diabetes.”

The researchers are astonished at their findings but admit that there is much studying to be completed before human test subjects are introduced, but this marking event gives hope for the future that there could be a groundbreaking discovery to help millions suffering with diabetes.

To read the entire click here.

The immense list of health benefits that come from peppers are ongoing, visit our “fun facts” section for a little crash course on “hot food health info.”

Quality

Filed under: Ask Jamie,Bhut jolokia garden,Information — admin @ 12:09 am

Aloha Everyone,

Today I would like to discuss the quality of our products here at The Waimea Bay Chili Pepper Company.  Here in Hawaii we have the luxury to be located in the Pacific Ocean 2,200 miles away from the closest continent.  We have clean air, and clean water,  and our soils are rich and loamy.  Our climate is perfect,  not too hot nor too humid, and we can wear shorts and a T shirt 365 days a year (if we wear the T shirt).  Here on the North Shore of Oahu our temperatures range from about 72-85 in the winter and about 80-92 in the summer months.  Of course, it does dip down into the 60′s every once in a while in the winter, and hits 95 once in a great while in the summer.  But all in all, we have perfect weather, and clean, clear water.

At the Waimea Bay Chili Pepper Company, we are 100% organic.  No chemicals of any kind. PERIOD.  All of our peppers are pampered, and our peppers are picked at the peak of their ripeness.  Our Bhut Jolokia peppers average at just under 900, 000 SHU (tested by HPLC)  and I personally put our peppers against any and all comers for heat and taste, and size.  Our Bhut Jolokia pepper plants produce more than 300 peppers each and are more than 6 feet high.

I have tested many of our competitors products and I am not impressed.  I don’t bad mouth anyone, but I would like to know if anyone out there is actually getting a good product that is grown in the USA.  So if you are, please email me and let me know where you are buying it, and I will order from that company to see what I think.  And I don’t even want to talk about product from India.  Enough said about that not to mention the chemicals they are using to grow the peppers.  Remember, a lot of foreign countries are still using pesticides, and fertilizers that have long been banned in the USA.

Our peppers are the best plain and simple.  They are hotter than any other peppers out there and they are grown with care and aloha. We are now working on a cistern that will hold our fresh, clean rain water.  This rain water will then run through a charcoal filter and will be gravity fed into our gardens.  Our peppers and other vegi’s in the garden will benefit from this as there will then be absolutely nothing unnatural in our water.  The plants will grow faster, stronger and produce more fruit.   I am so excited to see this come to fruition.  And this cistern will also supply our drinking water. We are also getting bids now on solar heating so we can get off of the grid.  We have had a solar water supply for 10 years and we are very excited to have new solar panels that will produce electricity.

Once again,  quality is our number one priority.  Our products are 100% guaranteed.  Please read the testimonials on this site and please watch our videos.  I am here to help in any way I can- growing tips, pest problems, etc.   I welcome any comments, questions or suggestions.

Mahalo nui loa,

Jamie

January 22, 2010

HURRY, HURRY, HURRY–Last of the Fresh Peppers

Filed under: Fresh garden eating,Information — admin @ 11:42 pm

Aloha Everyone,

I hope all of you are staying warm on the Mainland.  As I wrote  earlier this week, we have harvested the last of our fresh peppers.  We are selling them at a very, very fast pace and will be out of stock within a week.  I suggest that if you would like to try our fresh organic Bhut Jolokia peppers, you order now.  They are the best, plain and simple.  We will not have fresh peppers for at least 6o days and that’s if the weather cooperates.

Once again, thanks for the business and hope to hear from you.

Jamie

January 13, 2010

Last of the Peppers

Filed under: Information — admin @ 10:22 am

Aloha Everyone,

Well, another huge swell has just hit the North Shore and that means that salt spray has completely inundated our gardens.  This is the 2nd swell that has produced 40-50 foot waves in the last 30 days.  When this happens we have to rinse our pepper plants off with fresh water every 4 hours.  Our beautiful Bhuts will survive this storm, however, we are going to have to cut all of them back immediately.  This means that our supply of fresh Bhut Jolokia peppers will end after this harvest.  We still enough supply of semi-dried peppers and dried flakes available for approximately the next 60-90 days.

Our next harvest of fresh peppers will be in approximately 60 days assuming we have great weather and no more huge swells.  I will keep everyone informed via this website.

The bottom line is that we have a very limited supply of fresh Bhuts available so if you would like to order, you will have to do so in the next week.  All of our orders are vacuum packed so a 2 day “overnight” ship is not a big deal.  Your peppers will arrive in beautiful shape.

Aloha and mahalo for your continuing support.

Jamie

December 22, 2009

Why are my peppers so expensive?

Filed under: Ask Jamie,Information — admin @ 6:36 pm

Aloha Everyone,

Thank you for all of your support over the past year.  We have had a successful 2009 and look forward to 2010.

Many of you have asked me why my peppers are so expensive.  The reasons are many-

1) We are a totally organic company and the man hours per plant equal about 3 hours per week just to keep them going.

2) We use organic Neem oil to spray our Bhut’s every 10 days or as needed to keep the white fly in check and Neem oil is very expensive.

3) We have 3 types of fruit flies in Hawaii and this requires us to rinse our Bhuts off every 3 days to rid the plants of their larvae.

4) Bhut take at least 4 months to produce peppers and we fertilize every 10-14 days with organic horse manure, kelp, fish emulsion, etc.

5) The ripe Bhuts are hand-picked at their bright red stage.  Since the peppers ripen at different times, this requires us to harvest just about everyday.

6) The Bhuts are then washed and air dried. Next we take the seeds out of the peppers by hand which takes about 60-90 seconds per pepper. This requires 4 layers of vinyl gloves, a respirator, goggles, long sleeve shirts  and a lot of patience.

7) The peppers are sent to market 3 different ways:

1. Fresh which requires one day overnight air to the West Coast only.

2. Semi-dried. Dehydrated for approximately 4 hours. The peppers will take a 2 day “overnight” flight to the remaining parts of the USA.

3. Dried flakes. Dehydrated for 8-12 hours then ground into flakes.

All of this labor is done by hand.  Our Bhut Jolokia peppers are the best in the world, period.  I will put the taste, the heat, and the size of our peppers against any other grower in the world.  Our peppers average 7 grams (1/4 ounce) per pepper when fresh. Our “heat” testing via High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) averages just under 900,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU).  The peppers that most other companies sell are no where near as hot and many times don’t even test at 500,000 SHU.  The reason for this is our rich organic soil which I have personally been amending for 14 years and our warm, tropical climate here in Hawaii.

Here is some useful information on the peppers.

1) Average weight fresh= 7 grams, 4 per ounce, 65 per pound

2) Average weight semi dried= 2.5 grams, 12 per ounce, 130 per pound

3) Average weight dried= 1 gram, 28 per ounce, 454 per pound

So, when you order an ounce of flakes, this takes 28 peppers and a lot of labor to get to this point.  I hope this makes sense to all of you and explains why our peppers are the most expensive.  They are the best, and if you want the best, you have to pay the price.  BTW, we are the only company that supplies fresh organic Bhut Jolokia peppers 12 months a year. Most of our peppers go to 4 and 5 star restaurants, private chefs, and to Organic Food suppliers.  We have had a good year and can now supply our peppers via online sales.

Once again, mahalo for your support and happy holidays!

Jamie

December 7, 2009

Update–1:40 AM

Filed under: Bhut jolokia garden,Information — admin @ 4:42 am

The surf is huge!  We are looking at 40′ and the salt is thick in the air.  I am sure that is has washed over Kam Highway in many places.  The lower portion of the garden that is actually on the beach has be covered in sea water many times over the last few minutes.  White water rushing from the reef looking for anywhere to go.  I have the house completely buttoned up to keep the salt outside.  I have just finished spraying the garden with fresh water to try and alleviate the harmful salt spray which will kill everything.  I think that I am fighting a losing battle as the swell is still building and high tide is not for another 5 hours.  Yikes!

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »