Carl takes on world’s hottest Pot Noodle challenge for St Catherine’s!

One of our volunteer chefs was hot under the collar when he took on the extreme challenge of eating six of the world’s hottest chillies to raise money for the hospice.

Carl Redman, who gives his time each week working in our kitchen, wanted to support the cause further by carrying out a Man vs Food style fundraising feat.

Using chilli flakes and powder, from buying ‘super hot’ rated chillies online, he took on the world’s hottest Pot Noodle when he added the eye-watering ingredients to one of his favourite snacks.

Watch him in action below.

The dad-of-six, from Walton-le-Dale, said: “You can’t buy these chillies from a supermarket – there’s a huge following online of ‘hot heads’, and I look out for independent growers online.

“To put it into context, a jalapeño chilli is rated as being 7,000 on the Scoville heat scale. One of the chillies I added to the mix, the Fatalii Gourmet Jigsaw, is 2.3 million.

“I put that and five others into the Pot Noodle, including the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion which is two million, and the Carolina Reaper which is 2.2 million, so I was eating close to 10 million combined Scoville units in one go.”

Carl, 42, a former builder, now runs a food blog, called Contemporary Cooking At Home, as well as volunteering at the hospice, and already has a strong following of around 5,500 foodies from all around the globe.

“I’ve done a few chilli challenges before, including eating the Fatalii Gourmet Jigsaw raw, and got 14,000 views just on my own Facebook page for that,” he said. “A few months ago I was searching on the internet for the world’s hottest Pot Noodle, and couldn’t find any extreme heat challenges.

“I thought it would be something a bit different to do to raise money for the hospice.

“Working in the kitchen here for the past 15 months has been a really good experience and I’ve learnt so much. And St Catherine’s really helps people at the toughest of times.”

Watch the aftermath of Carl’s challenge below.

Speaking after completing the fiery feat, in which he had to rely on the ‘emergency’ milk to soothe his tingling tongue, Carl added: “It was ridiculously hot. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.

“Most of the time I enjoy hot food – I always add chillies to my food – but this was something else!”

Emma Jacovelli, community fundraiser at St Catherine’s Hospice, said: “Even just watching Carl’s chilli challenge made our eyes water!

“This is certainly one of the more unusual fundraising stunts someone has pulled to raise funds for us and we’re extremely grateful to Carl for putting himself through it.

“Along with giving his time and skills each week to help us in the hospice kitchen as one of our 600-strong volunteer team, Carl has really gone the extra mile on this occasion to show his support. All the money raised will help us to fund our specialised care for local people and their families.”

To support Carl’s chilli challenge, text ‘Hospice’ to 70444 to donate £3, or click here to make a donation online. 

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