The Hot Zone Online salutes the lifelong chileheads who have the gumption to go into business for themselves with their passion, as evidenced from this article from the Henderson Gleaner. Kudos to Bill Barker and his Devil Breath Chile Company:

Quiet town turns red hot, spicy sauces heating up region

By Garret Mathews (Contact)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008

BROUGHTON, Ill. — There isn’t much going on in Broughton, a community of about 200 souls in Hamilton County. The sporting goods store closed a while back, and the nearest grocery store is six miles away in Dale.

But commerce lives in the form of Bill Barker’s hot peppers.

Barker, 48, who calls himself a “lifelong chilehead,” oversees the growing of several different varieties of peppers used in the preparation of such products as Werewolf Steak Sauce and Devil’s Breath Hot Sauce.

He sells the spicy sauces and condiments online at www.chilestuff.com, and regionally at stores in McCleansboro, Eldorado and Carbondale.

“Last year, I planted 3,000 peppers, and I’m almost sold out,” he said. “We started out word of mouth, and then we went to several fairs and festivals across this part of the state.”

He got hooked on hot peppers when he was 5 years old.

“My father put down a gallon jar of jalapeno peppers and challenged me to an eating contest,” he said. “It wasn’t that time, but it wasn’t too long until he couldn’t keep up with me.”

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