Hey man, if you're totally hooked you can buy pure capsaicin. Follow the link to the pure stuff.

Then again, at $500/g, maybe you should purify it yourself and make some major $$ selling it on the black market.

Here is a link that might be useful: Capsaicin >95%

IIRC, There's a commercial product that claims to be 90+%. "Satan's Blood"? Stopper is an eyedropper?

Ed,

I would think it would be easier to find 190 proof Everclear... Unless you're in one of those pansy states that won't allow it to be sold.

Durn close to pure ethanol.

I was going to ask if you were planning on mainlining it once distilled, but heck, $500/g I'll distill it myself! That's outrageous.

Everclear, just walk into our local liqueur store. ;-) always been tempted to try the stuff.

and, ps, I think you should turn that around to "going from "what is wrong with you?!?" to insane"!

Well yeah, "food grade ethanol" is the PC way of saying "shine that'll make ya blind".

Everclear, PGA, White Lightning, anything in that 180-190 proof range should be quite sufficient.

And its not $500/gram. You can get 2 grams for $50 off ebay if you trust ebay enough for something like that. Otherwise most reputable places will sell it to you at about $40 per milliliter of crystals.

NOTE to Edymnion' wife:

Bump up the life insurance on you husband to 5 million. I'll help with the premiums if you give me a 1/5 cut!

Why? Just because I'm moving from weaponized fruit into highly enriched uranium level for fruits of mass destruction? Its perfectly natural to twist innocent fruits into frankensteinish monsters of perverted science run amock, right?

moving from weaponized fruit into highly enriched uranium level for fruits of mass destruction

Love it.

Hillarious and I am sticking with INSANE!!

I should have thought to check E-bay. The most common commercial hit for "capsaicin" I found was the link below. I never knew it was sold as an analgesic, LOL.

FWIW, one reason the >95% product is so expensive is that it is (mostly) pure capsaicin. The other products contain a lot of dihydrocapsaicin and other capsaicinoids, which are all extracted together using the procedure you describe.

Let us know how it goes.

Here is a link that might be useful: capsiacin ointment

Sounds like a fun experiment if you ask me ;-)

And White Lightning is no fun to drink, just for the record.

Josh

Had an uncle that used to do some shining. Brought us some corn squeezings he made one year for New Year's. We decided to test it come midnight, so we poured some into a metal measuring cup and tried to light it on fire.

At first we thought we failed, until we realized there was an awful lot of heat coming off that cup.

Damned thing wasn't even burning in the visible spectrum, but it was definitely burning. We proceeded to light fireworks off a quarter cup of that stuff for at least a half hour straight before we blew it out and dumped what was left out.

Why anyone would DRINK that stuff is beyond me.

We drink it because it has ethanol in it. Q.E.D.

Must have been high proof stuff. Why drink 2 glasses of vodka when one of shine will do the trick? That way you only have to say, "Yech!" once.

Instead of going for the crystals, why not just leave them in suspension and make the "World's Hottest Cocktail"? Fun on two fronts.

It would probably make one heck of a Bloody Mary. Hold the black pepper, we're using Ghost Pepper.

LOL

Straight ethanol and pure capsaicin, sounds like fodder for a real fun night. I think I'd rather pass on the day after, though.

Brings a new meaning to the phrase "I'm a purist".

Well, I already soak ghost peppers in vodka to make a drink, so don't really need another one of those.

I still don't get it.
Why waste months of growing peppers and waste them by eating one by itself only to brag about eating a pod or extract online...

I eat a LOT of super hots that I grow.
I always make something out of them that I enjoy eating (Ya some people say I have no taste buds - my cooking/smoked stuff is too hot or whatever...).
If you like Bloody Mary's infused Vodka is a great way to add an extra kick.
I brew an Ale that I put Smoked Habaneros,7 pot or whatever in the boil.
I really like a wheat Beer I make after it ages/blends a while with peppers in it.

Good white Lighning is Killer stuff,I like it when they add a handfull of Rye to it between the still and the keg or Mason Jar.
Some add rye to the corn mash but I've been told adding it to the shine after distilation adds a different taste especially to keg aged whiskey.
Something about the starches added an extra something in the keg.
Some Shine was basically run through a Rye filter.
The corn Squeezins picked up a bit of the rye as it went through the filter(filter was a sack of Rye in a paint strainer in a funnel).The funnel ran into the bucket that filled the jars.
Others added a handfull or three to the corn mash...

The rare times anyone got blinded by moonshine was because it was cut with wood alcohol back in the prohibition days.

A lot of Lead Poisoning went on too because people used old car radiators for cooling tubes for their stills.

These days most people take pride in their shine.

I don't know what the black market is these days but most Vodka,Tequila,rum and whiskey I've had was made in small batches by people keeping great grand dads recipe or the counties they came from recipes and traditions alive.
When you get the chance to drink these peoples home brews you'll wish it was legal to sell.
I've had shine that was made and aged by people who only break it out for special occasions.
I had the pleasure of tasting some shine that was in a wood keg that was said to have been made just after the civil war.
Shine is sippin Whiskey.
You don't drink it to get drunk(though you do get drunk)not made for chugging.

I look at peppers the same as I do Shine.
Why waste either in a way that ends up in displeasure?
A balance of heat and taste for peppers and taste and whatever for shine.
All in moderation...

Well said.

I enjoy growing the nuclears purely for the fun of growing nuclears. There is nothing I could make out of them that couldn't be made better by using cooler peppers.

If I'm going to keep growing peppers that I can't eat, and that no one I know can eat, why throw them in the trash? Dehydrating lets me extend their shelf lives dramatically, and grinding them down into a powder lets me store them much more densely.

I already grow these things for the fun of having weaponized fruit, and I don't have any legitimate use for the powder I make, so why not render it down even further?

Heck, sell powders on eBay. Small quantities, high prices. Use proceeds to buy more land for peppers. Could be a new industry.

Edymnion, I totally understand why you like to grow them even though you can't enjoy eating them.

A friend once asked why I grow so many different varieties. I explained that even though I may not enjoy some as much as others, I enjoy the diversity of the various species and try to grow a few new ones each even though I may not like their flavour/flavor.

Yeah! Just tell him (and the IRS, though that joke might be lost on our brothers north of the 42nd parallel) that this is hobby farming, not subsistence farming. (Translation for the Canucks - it is a tax shelter.)

Bought my mason jars, filters, funnel, evaporation vessel, everything but the high grade hooch. For some reason they don't sell that on Sundays down here in the Bible Belt.

Bought my mason jars, filters, funnel, evaporation vessel, everything but the high grade hooch. For some reason they don't sell that on Sundays down here in the Bible Belt.

We will need many pictures once you get into production!

Okay, bought my solvent today.

1.75L of Golden Grain 190 proof. Fully a third of the label is "Extremely Flammable, Not Intended for Human Consumption" repeated over and over in a half dozen different phrasings.

Now, I don't drink. I'm just not a fan, so my only thought upon seeing this rocket fuel in a bottle is "You'd have to be brain damaged to drink this. If you weren't, you would be by the time you finished it!"

Even the guy at the liquor store took one look at it and flat out asked me what the hell I planned on doing with it. You know its bad when even the liquor store guy goes "Dude, you aren't actually going to drink that, are you?"

There is a legitimate use - in punch in lieu of more expensive liquor. Punch is an application where you don't want taste; you're only going for effect. And it is very effective, but you have to be careful of the stealth. My brother and I made the punch for a "dry" wedding (dry at the tea-total preacher's insistence - everyone else drank) and got his wife and kids tipsy. They were a hoot, but the preacher wasn't amused. At all.

Speaking of flammability, the flames of the pure stuff are nearly invisible. DO NOT use near an ignition source.

How do you plan to heat the evaporating flask? They make electric lab blankets and heaters especially shaped to a certain size boiling flask (the globe with a neck), but those are pricey and impossible to find outside a lab supply. Or if you have an Erlenmeyer or other flat-bottom, you could use an electric stove burner with an insulating pad. Don't go too fast.

This is going to be interest. Take pics?

Dennis

I don't plan on heating the evaporating vessel at all. Was planning on just setting it outside in the shade and letting the wind and the high surface area of the bowl do the work for me.

Nice slow evaporation should lead to large crystal growth, if the purity stays high enough.

Great, sounds like I'm making meth again. -_-

Ahem, let me clarify that last statement.

It once again appears that I am making meth. Not "It looks like I'm making meth, again".

Very important distinction to make, as I have never made meth before, I am not making it now, and do not intend to do so at any point in the future.

Very important thing to make perfectly clear when I'm talking about evaporating vessels and rocket fuel quality solvents.

It once again appears that I am making meth. Not "It looks like I'm making meth, again".

Very important distinction to make, as I have never made meth before, I am not making it now, and do not intend to do so at any point in the future.

Some authorities might consider making meth less of a problem.

Pure, unadulterated SHUs could be fatal in the wrong hands.

Public Service Announcement

How to Identify a Meth Lab

Bill, my Golden looks like a cross between upper left and lower right...

Friendly dog, but she gives new dimension to the term "dumb blond".

Ha!!! that is hilarious!!!!
Looks like a Weimaraner though. Can you imagine that launching itself at you, all slobbers & feets comin' at you at top speeed! 0_*

Love it.

That my friends is why you should be able to edit a post.(wink wink) LOl Ed. You crack me up and Bill you are killing my gut.:)

Can't wait to se the finished product. And Ed I love superhot powder so send some my way. Just kidding I have more than I know what to do with.

The actual experiment is going on over here, if you haven't found it already:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pepper/msg1020321721480.html?20