TAMPA , Florida ( CNN ) -- Some Florida minimum-security inmates want to know : Can you handle the heat ? Inmates work with peppers at the Hillsborough County Jail in Tampa , Florida . Hot sauce heat , that is -- Jail House Fire Hot Sauce , cooked up by inmates at the Hillsborough County Jail and now offered for sale . The idea to make Jail House Fire Hot Sauce came from a Cuban former inmate who thought food in the big house was bland . Allen Boatman , the head of the jail 's horticulture program , remembers what his former trusty said : `` We 're growing these peppers . Why do n't we use them ? '' Peppers are grown as part of the jail 's horticulture program , which is voluntary and offered only to minimum-security trusties . The inmates learn about growing plants , ornamentals , trees , herbs and vegetables -- including more than 1,200 varieties of peppers . `` I thought that was a great idea , so I started doing research on some of the recipes , '' says Boatman . The research led to a variety of hot sauces that can be bought for $ 7 a bottle at the jail in Tampa , Florida , or online at www.jailhousefire.org . There are three different sauces for sale : . Coming soon is a fourth sauce : Misdemeanor . Watch the inmates at work on hot sauce » . Orders for the Jail House Fire sauces have come in from as far away as Germany , England and even Australia . The inmates make no money from this product . The money goes back into an inmate fund that pays for things like the greenhouse where the peppers are grown . The horticulture program pays for itself , says Boatman , so no taxpayer money is used . Several times a year the program hosts a sale of its ornamentals , shrubs and trees , and the locals turn up to support the program . The money raised is used to purchase necessities like fertilizer and soil . A green thumb is not the only thing that inmate and program member Deline is developing , he says . `` We learn a lot about professionalism , respect , teamwork , ya know -- all that helps , '' Deline says . And working in the fields is good for the inmates ' self-worth , Boatman says . `` They actually see something growing that they 've been involved in . It gives them a lot of sense of pride and accomplishment , '' says Boatman . `` Possibly that 'll give them some momentum when they are released to go and get a job and start being a productive member of society . '' Boatman does n't just wish his trusties a good future ; he gives them an opportunity . When the inmates are released , they are given a certificate of completion in vocational horticulture . This certificate comes from the school board , with no mention of the program behind bars . Deline hopes this will work in his favor when he starts looking for a job . `` Florida is full of a lot of landscaping [ and ] landscaping companies , a lot of nursery companies , '' Deline says . `` Maybe I can use the experience to better myself in the future . ''
Florida minimum-security jail raises peppers , uses them in hot sauce . Three inmate-produced sauces available : `` Original , '' `` Smoke '' and `` No Escape '' Proceeds from sale of sauces goes back into jail 's horticulture program . Jail program also teaches job skills to soon-to-be-released inmates .