The Creator of Pepper X Feels Success in His Gut
Smokin' Ed Currie has built a career around peppers — growing them, cooking with them, and pushing the limits of heat. His creations have been featured on Hot Ones and he is the Guinness Book of World Records holder for creating the world's hottest pepper, Pepper X. But Ed's mission goes beyond starting fires in people's mouths. He's just as focused on taking care of his family, his employees, and his customers. In this episode, he shares why his sauces are about more than pain — they're about serving a higher calling.
You can listen to our conversation here or wherever you get your podcasts. And check out some highlights, which have been edited for length and clarity below.
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Dan Bova: What does success mean to you?
Smokin' Ed Currie: Success means my immediate family, and the family that God has brought together in this company, are all happy. Success for me has nothing to do with business or money. It's that I am being a good man and supporting the people I love.
Has that changed for you over the years? Was there a time when you were more focused on having your nose to the grindstone?
Well, we're still nose to the grindstone. Gotta get things done. But a little background, I was a drug and alcohol addict for a long time. I've been clean 26-plus years. I've matured in my recovery, and I realize that the God of my understanding — everybody's got their own God — has a plan. And whether things go the way I planned or the way He plans, it's always his will that I'm trying to follow. So it gets less and less important to focus on the success that most people think about in business and more and more important to focus on the success of being a productive member of society. Being the one who takes care of the group of people that has been brought together, the one who makes sure that the doors stay open no matter what. And if I need help, I ask for help. I get on my knees and they ask for help. If I don't need help, I still get on my knees and thank Him.
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Can you explain the science of rating the hotness of peppers?
Heat is measured in Scoville Heat Units, and things are rated on averages. So we pick a lot of peppers and get averages. For example, a jalapeno that you get at the store will be 3,000 to 7,000 Scoville Heat Units. Habaneros start in the 60-80,000 range. So you know those skates that kids strap to their shoes? That's those. Pepper X is 2.693 million Scoville Heat Units. We're talking ballistic missiles, right? Shooting through the sky at super supersonic speeds.
Why did I make it? I mean, part of it's ego. It's nice having the Guinness World Record, don't get me wrong. But really it's about economies of scale. If I needed to use 55 gallons of jalapeno to heat something up the way I wanted to, it'd take a pint of Pepper X to do the exact same thing.
People are always asking you to eat super hot stuff. Do you ever have moments where you're like, "Man, I wish we just made like yummy chocolate"?
Yeah. Well, this past year, honestly, was the first year I started telling people no. It was my ego that was keeping me from saying no. But yeah, it's literally everywhere I go. My wife and I were at a wedding in New York not too long ago. We didn't get 10 feet down the street without someone wanting to take a picture. People were pulling bottles of my sauces out of their pockets on the street. I was in the bathroom just a week ago and this guy says, "Hey, you're the pepper guy. Can I get a selfie?" And I'm like, "Can I finish peeing please?" But I never say no to that kind of stuff. And I never say no to talking to a kid. If I have the means, I support every charity that asks me because this is all part of the blessing that I've been given with this company.
Listen to the rest of our conversation, and learn what Ed says is actually the best way to calm a pepper-induced fire in your mouth. (Spoiler: it isn't milk!)
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