To me, the issue isn't what the rules are, it's that they changed the rules.In other words if someone grows a variety of pumpkin that is 400 pounds, I don't expect my variety to reach that. That's what Guinness is all about. The individual. So I really don't take issue with it like you guys.
But if you proclaimed to have the largest biceps in the world,Guinness would come and measure them. They wouldn't let you measure them yourself. It's akin to Lance Armstrong testing his own urine samples. Just something that struck me as odd from the start. Not that I give one single fraction of a fuck about designer peppers. Most of the folks involved in this hobby measure their Peter Peppers up against each others.The Guinness was built on one-offs! So-and-so ate 300 apples in one hour. Or, the longest banana (size here) was grown by... the largest pumpkin was grown by... the largest pancake was cooked by... so the Guiness seems to be doing it right. In other words, the hottest pepper (pepper variety here) was grown by... Boom, done. Its's a one-off. You can call it the world's hottest in your marketing if you want, but in Guinness it attributes the grower and mentions the variety. So all is legit.
They wouldn't let you measure them yourself.
Actually, I tried for a record many many years ago. They didn't send anyone out - they simply can't do that for all the record attempts people do. But they had very specific witness and reporting requirements for it to be a valid attempt. I would be interested to see what their requirements are for peppers.
regardless of whether or not Ed Currie created the hottest pepper ever, regardless of what can be said, one thing is certain it was also thanks to the fact of having entered the guiness that many came to the world of peppers, it was the trail to trigger a frantic search for the creation of new species, so thank you Ed, and you should also be grateful for that, I started around 2005 and at the time I know the difficulties there were to find seeds, varieties and information, and nowadays there was a tremendous boom in all of this.
Anyway this is my humble opinion.
And don't forget about the role the internet has had in all of this.
Interesting take, I must admit I've never thought about it that way. But it seems reasonable that it brought a lot of attention into growing peppers for new people. I know in my own country "Chili" Klaus, I don't know if he's famous overseas, but he made a huge impact in Denmark and helped make peppers more mainstream in the danish kitchen. Perhaps Ed did the same over thereregardless of whether or not Ed Currie created the hottest pepper ever, regardless of what can be said, one thing is certain it was also thanks to the fact of having entered the guiness that many came to the world of peppers, it was the trail to trigger a frantic search for the creation of new species, so thank you Ed, and you should also be grateful for that, I started around 2005 and at the time I know the difficulties there were to find seeds, varieties and information, and nowadays there was a tremendous boom in all of this.
Anyway this is my humble opinion.
Regarding chili klaus, I know it because of having made an appearance on the hot ones channel, but just like it, it needs to appear more so that there is even greater interest in peppers, for there to be more development, both in terms of varieties and new cultivation methods. sauces etc.Interesting take, I must admit I've never thought about it that way. But it seems reasonable that it brought a lot of attention into growing peppers for new people. I know in my own country "Chili" Klaus, I don't know if he's famous overseas, but he made a huge impact in Denmark and helped make peppers more mainstream in the danish kitchen. Perhaps Ed did the same over there
I think you’re right MarcV. The only truly objective way to compare these chili varieties would be to have one growing site, with standardized procedures testing multiple pods from multiple plants and measuring the average SHU. Even then we would still be limited to say that we calculated the average SHU values of those specific samples of the varieties tested. Other samples of the same varieties might vary."My pepper is hotter than yours"
10 peppers... from 1 plant? Or from 10 different plants of the same variety? From 10 different farms? How to rule out other variables like growing conditions?
I think that, if you want to compare pepper x with pepper y and z, you'll have to grow them all together under the exact same circumstances, then take an average of pods from different plants of the same variety and take measurements of these samples.
I always find it funny when a seller advertises bhut jolokias to have a SHU of 1,001,304 up to the last digit, as if each bhut has this exact shu value