First, allow me to say I don't own a CookShack smoker. I own a Bradley unit. I'm not here posting to banner back and forth the merits of these units.
I'm posting to give you all a warning as I believe we are all food smokers under the sun.
There are Spice Merchants out there today that are marketing under the catagory "Peppercorns" an item called Pink Pepper. I suggest you take a few minutes to read this copy of what I posted on the Bradley forums concerning this so called Pepper.
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My order came into from World Merchants today. ( http://www.worldspice.com/ )
Everything was as promised. The Worcestershire Powder is just unbelieveable. Everything I ordered is outstanding except one item. Now if you use Worcestershire Sauce in any of your recipes you owe it to yourself to get a couple of ounces of this powder.
Now on to the warning~~! When I ordered the Pink Pepper I overlooked on their web site that it is listed as coming from the Schinus bush!!! Bush??? Hell the thing will grow to over 30 feet tall.
Given I'm a major gardener--and in the world of organics I'm considered somewhat a guru, and also given the fact that this berry almost killed me as a child I take full blame for not reading the print before ordering it. As soon as I tasted one of them I knew what it was, and I could not get it out of my mouth fast enough.
Common Names: Brazilian pepper, Florida holly, Christmas berry, pepper tree. EDIT There is a true Florida holly, don't confuse it with this plant.
Quote: (see Ref. below)
Brazilian pepper is a member of the Anacardiaceae family. Contact with most parts of Brazilian pepper can cause an itchy skin rash and sometimes inflammation and swelling of the face and eyes. The flowers and fruits can cause respiratory irritation. Just trimming Brazilian pepper, especially when in bloom, can cause these allergic reactions in many people.
****Ingestion of the berries causes vomiting.****
As a kid I could to testify to that part about vomiting. I vomited past the point of dry heaves I threw up to the point I saw my own bowel. I ended up in a hospital so I could be given fluids to rehydrate by body. As I said, that berry damn near killed me. I was one sick little puppy for several days.
Quote: (See Ref below)
Possession and cultivation of Brazilian pepper is illegal in Florida where the species is listed on the state's official Noxious Weeds List.
Quote: (dictionary.com)
nox�ious (nkshs)
adj. Harmful to living things; injurious to health: physically harmful or destructive to living beings.
We have tons of Brazilian peppers plants growing in Florida. Which gives me rise to question their $5.00 per ounce cost. I'm going to go ahead and pay these foks as I have spoken with them on the phone concerning another matter and I believe they are honest people. However, I'm going to link them to this posting as perhaps they do not know about the dangers of eating this berry.
Click To Enlarge
This is one tough tree to kill. You can cut it down, spike the trunk with whatever you want. It will come back. I got rid of the two we had by covering the trunk, and base root area in heavy black plastic and then covered it with much compost to hold it down. It took the better part of a year to kill it. Not much will live without sunlight.
In closing I will add this. I'm not a weak person. As a kid I use to chew the young stems of this bush/ tree for it flavor and jucies--the very things that give allergic reactions to so many people. I never got sick until that one day I decided to eat those berries.
A number of years back my neighbor was cutting one down and he had a strong reaction. When things settled down I went over there with my chainsaw, got that sap all over me and nothing. No reaction...but damn those berries~~!
Ref: http://www.floridata.com/ref/S/schi_ter.cfm
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The people at Spice Merchants I believe to be good folks. I will order from them again. FYI they do not take credit cards, nor do they require pre-payment. They send out your order with an invoice for you to pay--!
As I said, I believe we are all just food smokers under the sun--smokin' units withstanding or not.
Good Smokin' to ya and let's Smoke On~~!
