Last weekend we saw Chilli Fest AKA 'Chilly Willy' make a return to the town of Willunga and with it the second annual Shifty's Straight Fire Challenge!
For all of you who think, 'yeah no stress I can smash that, I bet it's not even hot...' here is a quick recap so you can roll in next year with your tail wagging ready to smash our 'Just as hot as sweet chilli sauce' hot sauce!
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What the Challenge was:
Contestants had 10 minutes to eat 3 chilli chicken strips, fries and a Carolina pepper popper. If they were able to complete the first stage of the competition they then needed to brave 10 more minutes of the 'afterburn' without consuming water or milk.
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DAY 1 - SATURDAY the 19th of Feb 2022 by Bec (Brewstillery VM)
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CONTESTANT #1 - STUART
The day kicked off with a walk-in contestant (a brave man considering he had never entered a chilli challenge before) Stuart. Although giving it a good go bowed out in the 6th minute after finishing his first chilli chicken piece. Kudos to you Stuart.
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CONTESTANT #2, 3 and 4 - ERIC, DANIEL and PHILLIP
Entering the competition together with a cohort of fans, these guys were not only up against the clock but also their mates and a large sense of pride on the line!
Dan went into it like a stoic God, he smashed through a couple of tenders seemingly easily. But with 6 minutes to go, the gloves we off. It’s reported that he spent a couple of minutes cuddling the bucket and staring into the void. However, he walked away having kept it down, accompanied by a couple of follow up brews.
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Phil opted out with 8 minutes to go. He hit struggle town fast with the gloves coming off at the 7-minute mark. Philip was later reported to have been going back for a few more nibbles after the official competition was over.
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Eric started off slow, but like the majestic tortoise Eric kept a steady pace and tore through the majority of his challenge, clearing almost the entire three tenders and chips. The Reaper Popper was his undoing though, after one bite he thought better of it and threw in the towel with a minute and a half left on the clock.
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DAY 2 - SUNDAY the 20th of Feb 2022 by Elliot (Hard Days Night VM)
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CONTESTANT #5 - JOE
Joe was our first man to kick the day off and while he came in hot on the final 30 seconds, he made the decision to save himself and not finish his Carolina Reaper Popper. To quote Joe directly “This is the worst decision of my life, and I immediately regret doing this. These guys are going to drive me home”, all with a dead pan straight face. Apologies to the nice elderly lady that was trying to eat next to Joe while he redistributed his spicy chicken into a bucket.
Apologies about the photo Joe :(
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CONTESTANT #6 and 7 - RYAN and BRETT
Simultaneously, we had Ryan and Brett from the lovely Adelaide Craft Beer Scene group giving it a crack. Starting with all smiles, at the 7-minute mark with a good portion of Chilli Chicken left these craft beer lovers bowed out but did take their leftovers home for “A tasty snack at a leisurely pace later on”.
Yeah, okay boys.
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CONTESTANT #8, 9 and 10 - SCOTT, DAVE (THE CHILLI KING) and TERRY
Next up we had Dave “The Chilli King” with his Chilli Banditos, Scott & Terry “Big Tez”.
Dave was our only returning champion from last years challenge and sadly this year had to pass his 1800-ChilliKing phone number over to Terry for the win.
Not only did Terry beat the boys in speed, but also consumption! He was miles ahead of Scott & Dave and completed his meal with 1 minute 50 seconds left on the clock. Tez started his 10-minute afterburn period and while he had a cheeky moment of hallucinations, he did the dash and came out on top.
Scott on the other hand was the first to call it quits at the 6 minute and 45 second mark stating “It’s so flipping* hot, and too much food. I know I won’t eat it all so why put myself through the pain.”
Dave. Oh Dave. You alluded so much confidence until we told you that it wasn’t the same challenge as last year.
New Chef. New Recipe. New Heat.
I saw the fear in your eyes and instant regret.
But you came in strong, with your mini-Dave’s cheering you on.
We believed in you. We put faith in you. We gave you a bonus 5 minutes. Big Tez was your hype man. You made it so close but never quit. You let the clock run you out and for that we applaud you.
While you don’t have back-to-back wins, we welcome you back every time.
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CONTESTANT #11 - LUKE
Lastly, but by no means least, we had Luke. Yep, our chef, the creator of this devilish delight. Luke, we apologise for lying to you about no one completing the challenge, moments after Big Tez had just completed it. In light of this lie, Luke put his money where his mouth was, and stepped up to take on his own challenge.
He came in even faster than Big Tez and despite a whole crowd cheering this legend on, he didn’t quite finish it. He did better than most, and that will always stand as a testament to how spicy this sauce was! It seems the after math was not a pleasant one as at the time of writing this recap, Luke is home off work unable to get out of the house...
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So to sum it all up, out of 11 contestants we had a total of 1 completion. Big Tez. The man.
See you all in 2023!
