As Halloween approaches, big-box retail stores are offering costumes from Wonderwomanto Zombie Cheerleaders. Halloween is an unofficial national “holiday” that celebrates the strange side of life, and sometimes slides off into the lugubrious world of the undead.

Almost forgotten is the religious origin of the holiday and that Halloween is a contraction of All Hallows' Evening, also known as All Saints' Eve. The weird and haunted twist to the holiday is an inheritance from ancient pagan rituals that were celebrated the evening of October 31. So once a year the hoary underworld of witches, warlocks, wizards and zombies becomes undead until the dawn of day November 1.

Here at Beef Jerky Outlet we have our own weird side that certainly is appropriate for celebrating Halloween, thanks to artist John Rios. His representation of The Reaper for the label of our beef jerky of the same name is outstandingly scary, to say the least.

Beef Jerky Outlet Reaper Smoked Beef Jerky is made with Smokin' Ed's Carolina Reaper, the World's Hottest Pepper. Developed by Mad-Scientist & Chef Smokin' Ed Currie in his Rock Hill, South Carolina greenhouse, the pepper measures over 1.5 million on the Scoville Heat Unit Scale. Smokin' Ed's Carolina Reaper was awarded the Guinness World Record in November of 2013.

The plants that we know as hot peppers each come from a separate genus (singular); the three genera (plural) are the piper, capsicum and pimenta. Black pepper comes from the genus piper and allspice from pimenta. The Reaper is a cultivar of the genus capsicum, which includes most of the familiar super-hot peppers. The bell pepper also belongs to the genus capsicum. Check out the links below to learn more about the world of hot peppers.

In a previous blog, Warm It Up with Beef Jerky Outlet Chili, we offered some recipes to put a little heat in our bellies to offset the change of seasons. The Group Recipes Jerky Chili offers a great opportunity to put some real heat in the pot with The Reaper Beef Jerky. Where the recipe calls for jerky, just use The Reaper. If you’re the cautious type, hold out the 2 tablespoons of chili pepper until the pot has simmered for 20-25 minutes and then add to taste.

The Reaper Beef Jerky Chili is a dish fit for witches, warlocks, hobgoblins and zombie look-a-likes; just remember to keep the heat age appropriate:  what’s good for adult zombies might be too hot for the toddlers.

Group Recipes Jerky Chili

http://www.grouprecipes.com/32997/jerky-chili.html

Black Pepper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pepper

Carolina Reaper: World’s Hottest Pepper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Reaper

Pepper Plant and Products
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper

This Guide to Hot Peppers Will Keep You from Burning Your Tongue Off
http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/805359/types-of-hot-peppers

The Ultimate Guide to Peppers
https://www.chowhound.com/food-news/55198/know-your-peppers/

A Guide to Common Hot Peppers
http://www.thekitchn.com/a-guide-to-common-hot-peppers-ingredient-intelligence-206412