Zeraph

I know one can grow accustomed to hot/spicy food to the point that peppers that seemed overwhelming before, barely register. How long does does it take? I'd like to get to the point where eating habanero chili peppers is no problem (I love the taste.) As it is I can barely stand them and usually need milk to cool off. Any tips? Experiences?

PS habanero cheetos mhmmm

Charlatan

No idea how long it would take to acclimatize. I suspect it's different for everyone.

In the meantime, keep milk and yoghurt on hand. They are the best antidote to the heat.

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Baraka_Guru

Yeah, it must vary person to person.

My tips?

Order something spicy at every opportunity and eat pickled peppers on things you normally wouldn't: salads, sandwiches, etc. I like eating pickled pepperoncini peppers whole. Start with those.

Put hot sauce on everything. For example, I often add some to my eggs.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Idyllic

Cream cheese works really well also and places a nice coat on your tongue. I go through a bottle of Crystals a week, a jar of Trappeys jalapenos every 10 days, and a bottle of Chipotle Tabasco about every two weeks, I LIKE HOT.... I like hot on everything, my favorite is just a can of albacore tuna soaked in crystals with saltines, crazy but good. My all time favorite hot sauce is Ring of Fire made with the habanero, it has way hot heat and an amazing flavor, I like it on everything meat, especially steak, but a little goes a long long way, thing is it tastes so good it's hard not to eat it and it burns something wonderful.

You can find Ring of Fire here and some other really good sauces, I can handle most of them, but I'm more about flavor too, not just hot for hots sake. Check out the Pure Cap, it has NO flavor, they made me sign a form to purchase it at a Scoville Hot House in FL, 500,000 Scoville Units, scary. Pure Cap is really only good to heat up LARGE pot of gumbo, chili, jambalaya and such without changing the flavor. I threw it away after my kids were born, I was terrified they would get a hold of it, I literally kept it in the medicine cabinet, it is truly that scary hot......

Hot Mama's XX-Hot Catalog

I want my crying towel.....

I eat hot at least once a day, most of the time more. If I were starting out new I would just start with a base cayenne, (like Crystals, Franks Red Hot or Louisiana Hot Sauce [I prefer Crystals because it is pure, no xanthum gum, Frank's would be 2nd]) and put it on everything, a little at a time, eat some jalapenos on the side, with all your meals, and try some Ring of Fire with your meat meals too. The more you use it the quicker you build you tolerance, just start a little at a time, all the time, and you will want more and more as you build your tolerance up. Good luck and enjoy this most delicious challenge, Yum!

p.s. I would suggest purchasing something like Prep H wipes to cool you there at the exit site too for a while, as sometimes heat like this can repeat like that, especially when you are starting out after not eating hot for a while or you plan on eating a lot of hot. Like the Ring of Fire slogan goes, "So Hot It Will Burn You Twice" they mean that, it's funny but not a joke...... seriously though.

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you can tell them all you want but it won't matter until they think it does

p.s. I contradict my contradictions, with or without intention, sometimes.

Idyllic

Apparently Hot Mama's XX-Hot catalog may be having difficulties, I ordered another bottle of Ring of Fire at the site below and found some more cool, or should I say HOT, sauces to try. I've tried Dave's Insanity Sauce before, it is HOT, Super, Super, HOT, you can barely get the flavor before the burn just melts your mouth and takes your breath away, eyes water and knees hit the floor hot, I'll stick with my Ring of Fire and the other milder ones, one flame is about good for flavor and intense heat for daily enjoyment for me. I love the Dave's ad though, "removes driveway grease stains."

I am floored by "The Source Hot Sauce" at 7.1 MILLION Scoville Units, I am just in awe of that, I will not be purchasing one though...... Wow, now that's HOT, not to mention it's $98.50 for a 1 oz bottle.

You can find these and a lot more here:

http://www.cosmicchile.com/site/ring...x-tra-hot.html

YUM!!!!

__________________
you can tell them all you want but it won't matter until they think it does

p.s. I contradict my contradictions, with or without intention, sometimes.

snowy

You sound like my SO. We keep a jar of pepperoncinis in the fridge at all times, and I've lost count of how many varieties of hot sauce there are in the fridge. I have to stick to things that aren't too spicy for stomach reasons, so the rule in our house is that my SO can add whatever level of hotness he'd like after the food is cooked (thank you, sriracha and sambal).

Other hot things he likes that are a good place to start: pickled jalapenos and sport peppers. While I don't like these things themselves, I do like the slightly spicy residue they leave on my food.

The one time I really managed to acclimatize to hot foods, I was eating medium salsa every day.

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Zeraph

update: its been a bit over 2 weeks since I started and I already notice a difference. The "normal" hotsauces like tabasco are barely noticeable now. Habaneros are still quite hot, but a little progress has been made. Now they aren't OMG PAIN and are more just HOT.

Baraka_Guru

Nice.

Good timing too. I thought about you as I was sprinkling chipotle sauce on my eggs this morning. Damn that stuff is good. You have chipotle sauce, right?

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Zeraph

Ohhh I almost forgot about chipotles! they are soooo good. I'll have to get some, I used to eat them on sandwiches all the time a year or two ago.

Zeraph

What is a step above jalapenos? They are definitely too mild now.

Baraka_Guru

Serranos, apparently.

Scoville scale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You know, you might be inspiring me to embark on my own spicy journey!


I've had many lovely experiences with bird's eye chilies and Thai peppers.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Zeraph

Ah thanks for the scale. I knew there was some kind of scale but couldn't think of the name.

World's King

You can train your palate to handle hot food.


But if you're body rejects it... there isn't much you can do about it. Know what I mean... ? I know people that can eat all the spicy food they want with no reaction... during or the day after. I can eat it with little pain... but the next day I will suffer. It just depends on what your stomach can handle. I grew up eating spicy foods... mainly Soul Food/Southern... My palate loves it... my guts do not.

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Baraka_Guru

Both my palate and my guts handle spicy well. For the longest time I thought the whole "ring of fire" thing was just a joke.

It's not a joke, is it?

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot