Posted on 10/21/2023 6:34:56 PM PDT by nickcarraway
It has an average rating of 2,693,000 Scoville Heat Units.
If you’ve ever choked down a piece of Carolina Reaper pepper or sweated your way through a splash of Carolina Reaper hot sauce because it was “the hottest pepper in the world,” we hate to break it to you, but that’s not the case anymore. Ed Currie, the South Carolina hot pepper grower (and apparently a full-time spice masochist), has just claimed a Guinness World Record for Pepper X, a fiery hot pepper that is so spicy, it makes his Carolina Reapers look borderline harmless.
According to Guinness, Pepper X, which, like the Carolina Reaper, was developed by Currie and his PuckerButt Pepper Company, has an average rating of 2,693,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). That absolutely incinerates the Reaper, which has an average rating of 1.64 million SHU. (By comparison, a jalapeno can have a Scoville rating of between 3,000 to 8,000 SHU, while hotter habaneros typically clock in at around 100,000 SHU.)
Currie unleashed the Carolina Reaper on the world a decade ago, and he told the Washington Post that he had been working on Pepper X even longer than that. He wanted this pepper — a crossbreed between a Carolina Reaper and one he only described as "brutally hot" — ready in case another pepper breeder developed something hot enough to dethrone the Reaper. That never happened, so he decided that he'd have to be the man who broke his own record.
Pepper X was revealed (and Currie was presented with the Guinness Record) during a recent episode of the YouTube series "Hot Ones." During the program, Currie said "a lot of people" deserved credit for the pepper's development. "People said it couldn't be done, they called us liars, and we proved to them that Pepper X is actually the hottest pepper in the world, officially from Guinness," he continued.
Until Currie brought his peppers to the “Hot Ones” set, he was the only person on earth who had eaten an entire Pepper X. So how bad is it? VERY, VERY BAD. “I was feeling the heat for three-and-a-half hours,” he admitted to the Associated Press. “Then the cramps came. Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain.”
So, how can you get your hands on Pepper X? For now, you can’t. When Currie released the Carolina Reaper, he did not protect his intellectual property, allowing thousands of people to grow — and profit from — the pepper he developed. He is not (currently) releasing any Pepper X seeds, and a scrolling warning on the PuckerButt Pepper Company website further emphasizes that. “Pepper X seeds and plants are a patented variety,” the bright red text reads. “It is not available for purchase or use by the general public.”
For now, you can only try the record-setting pepper by purchasing one of PuckerButt’s Pepper X-infused hot sauces, wing sauce, or salsa. “Everybody else made their money off the Reaper,” he told the AP. “It’s time for us to reap the benefits of the hard work I do.”
Might as well stick a roman candle in your arse.
How is this even consumable?
I can’t handle much more than a jalapeño. And I like hot stuff
Recently it was reported that several people died as a result of consuming these super peppers. They were reported to have taken bets on being able to eat one. Unfortunately, some people have no sense of danger when challenged to consume them. That fact that these peppers were hybridized and are not natural should indicate that they might be quite dangerous to our circulatory system. Peppers and other natural items use the ‘hotness’ to protect them from predators who are generally not human but insects. Even applying the peppers to your skin causes an effect.
TikTok challenge in 5, 4, 3,...
Sounds like a bio-weapon.
He should rename it the “IQ Test” pepper.
I like spicy food. But for me, the point of diminishing returns probably begins before even the habeneros.
Zackly.
Small dice added as you see fit.
I grew some Gohost and Reapers, and they were darn near useless. Habaneros work fine for my cooking.
I grow Reapers, but only for export to friends who don’t have space for a garden. The hottest I’ve eaten is my Red Savino Habanero which check in at only 900K. And I only them mixed in something else, in small amount and over very long intervals.
This pepper would be insane and I’m guessing dangerous. But someone will start a challenge for people with room temp IQs.
I'm sure Pepper Joe will have Pepper X seeds soon. I like the satisfaction of growing them from seeds.
I had a couple plants produce like crazy, then just went away.
Y’all got any sources for keeping the pants healthy and producing?
PM if you want.
I like spicy stuff. But if it’s too hot. It ain’t pretty, if you know what I mean lol. I can eat it. That’s not the problem lol.
Just imagine the effect Pepper X would have in a pepper spray repellant or as a bear spray!
How long till there is a 12-step program for Pepper Addicts Anonymous? People that consume this stuff...dude, sumthin jus ain raght!
If they can only be tolerated when heavily diluted, then what's the point? Use a greater quantity of less hot pepper.
I roasted up some hot Hatch chilis last year (the charts say scoville rating is only 1000-8000) I can't believe these were only 8000 because I quickly learned I need to wear gloves when peeling them and taking the seeds out... My hands were still on fire 24 hours later. Luckily a Hispanic friend told me I should have washed them in salt water... I did it then and it still helped immensely!!
I grow birds eye chili peppers and they are rated at 50,000 to 100,000 scoville units... they are tiny, about 1/4" in diameter and maybe 3/4" long and a few times one whole chili pepper pretty much ruined a can a chili, so I bought a chili pepper mill after breaking one up with my fingers and then wiping my face a couple hours later (after washing my hands).
I love his “ass kicking Carolina reaper sauce”! A drop on an omelet is perfect.
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