They’re not. Just use less or cook a big pot. They make decent sauces, too, of course.
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Competitiveness
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Machismo
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Competitive machismo
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Macho competitiveness
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Curiosity
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Cooking inedible food
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Making inedible hot sauce
NOTE: These are all perfectly good reasons, as reasons go. There’s nothing wrong with a little machismo over food, and the curiosity of simply seeing if you can do it is valid for those who have that.
So, basically a pissing contest.
More or less. Note the safety gear.
Put the reaper in a condom and swallow whole.
Well, sometimes, but not always. Like I said above, you can just use less of the darned things if you want. They are not completely “macho only” peppers. Yes, eating one on its own is a pissing contest, but the peppers themselves do have culinary use. The last few years, I’ve taken my excess supply of hots and ultra-hots (fataliis, habaneros, ghost peppers, Trinidad scorpions, chocolate scorpions, Carolina reapers) to a local bar/barbecue restaurant, and the guy uses them in his cooking and hot sauces, and has no problem using them up (and I usually get a night’s round of drinks on him for the effort. 
) I mostly end up using them dried, and crush and sprinkle them with my fingers on stuff I want to add a good kick to. They are nice, as they add the heat I want, with a noticeable bit of their Capsicum chinense flavor, without overpowering the dish with that flavor.
Yeah, basically for dick swinging contests.
Emphatically, no, this is not the only reason they’re used for. I grow these peppers and I use them in my cooking, and I don’t have anybody to compete with in a dick swinigng contest, being in a family of all women besides me. Would people just stop assuming this is all they’re used for?
We grow Ghost Peppers because, unlike Habaneros (yucky tasting) and Jalapenos (not enough heat), we like the taste and the heat. We dry and powder them to preserve them plus make salsa and hot sauce. Turning them to powder involves my dehydrators set up outside because otherwise the teargas effect can really hurt you.
I put a sprinkle of the various colors (GP comes in various colors, heat and taste) into just about anything we eat. I accidentally made a pasta dish using GP salsa (instead of just salsa) and boy did it have a Bite but… the whole big bowl got ate.
It burns your mouth for a second or 3 but I have not noticed it affecting my throat, tummy or other nether regions later unlike what too many Jalapenos or Pepperocini can do.
A month ago hubby’s BFF challenged Middle Child to eat a GP fresh off the plant and he ate one, too. They both threw up less than a half hour later 
This year I grew an attractive and very productive sweet pepper variety that produced a ton of two-inch green peppers ripening to deep red.
I picked the first ripe one while out in the garden and ate it.
It wasn’t a sweet pepper after all. :eek::smack:
Now we’re talking only medium heat here, probably 1/100 the heat index of a Carolina Reaper. But it still wasn’t a pleasant experience. And I also like spicy food.
Interesting. To me, those are both the same types of flavors, with ghosts being a bit more bitter, but smokier than habs. They all have that distinct capsicum chinense flavor to them.
1: Gradually work up to it, no matter how much it sucks on the way up. It will acquaint you with the experience so you don’t get too apprehensive and will allow you to practice being impervious so unpleasant sensations.
2: If you’re going to choose to do something difficult, what’s the point of spending so much thought into making easy on yourself beyond physical safety?
3: Post it on Youtube.
(post edit)
The easiest way to game this is to poke holes in the pepper with a fork or toothpick and soak it in Sprite overnight. This removes most of the heat and leaves the yummy flavor. I’m a weenie when it comes to spicy foods, but I can easily eat a habanaro after they have been treated.
So you’re saying you grow them to impress women?
The best way to do this depends on your level. If your party is high enough, a Neutralize Poison spell would probably be your best bet, or failing that, at least a Delay Poison for long enough to get it out of your system. Otherwise, you’ll want to buff your Fortitude save as much as possible: Resistance and Bear’s Endurance both come to mind.
Pepper plants have evolved to have their seeds distributed by birds - who do not react to capsaicin.
In fact, when we kept suet blocks for birds to eat, we could only get the kind laced with hot pepper, otherwise the squirrels would eat 'em all.
So, the answer is: have your DM transform you into a bird before coducting the experiment :D.
You’ve never been a Dungeon Master, clearly.
this reminds me when I was at the lunch buffet at the old mandrain gate restaurant
me mom and my disabled brother were eating and I was eating “house” kung pao which had all the meats in it … well I thought I had taken the dried chilies/peppers out (I know the ywere dried and red ….) I was feeding sweet n sour chicken to my brother and not paying attention ….guess what I ate a mouth full of ………… I was gagging choking my nose ad eyes were running, got the meal free because they were supposed ot be removed ……well mostly removed anyways
Hah! The women I know (wife, two kids) are definitely not impressed by this, and would prefer less hot peppers in their lives.