Pepper Expert Scorches His Own Guinness Book Heat Record

[stopdiggin]

Ed Currie, the South Carolina hot pepper expert who crossbred and grew the Carolina Reaper that’s hotter than most pepper sprays police use to subdue unruly criminals, has broken his own world record with a pepper that’s three times hotter.

Pepper X was publicly named the hottest pepper in the world on Oct. 9 by the Guinness Book of World Records, beating out the Reaper in Currie’s decade long hunt to perfect a pepper that he says provides “immediate, brutal heat.”

Heat in peppers is measured in Scoville Heat Units. Zero is bland, and a regular jalapeno pepper registers about 5,000 units. A habanero, the record-holder about 25 years ago, typically tops 100,000. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the Carolina Reaper at 1.64 million units.

Pepper X’s record is an average of 2.69 million units. By comparison, pepper spray commonly holstered by police is around 1.6 million units. Bear spray advertises at 2.2 million units.

Pepper X has been in the works since Currie last set the hottest pepper record in 2013 with the Carolina Reaper, a bright red knobby fruit with what aficionados call a scorpion tail. The goal was to offer an extremely hot pepper flavored with sweetness.

Pepper X is greenish-yellow, doesn’t have the same shelf appeal and carries an earthy flavor once its heat is delivered. It’s a crossbreed of a Carolina Reaper and what Currie mysteriously classifies as a “pepper that a friend of mine sent me from Michigan that was brutally hot.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ap-us-worlds-hottest-pepper_n_652ea5ffe4b00565b6219bfd

(and for the 'record' - terrible pun - I think anyone that is within 20 yards of this kind of insane heat - is utterly and completely out of their tree!)

[Eko]

1. I bought this about 3 years ago.

And once a year I try it. It is so hot. Couldn't imagine anything hotter.

[Celerity]

2. That is 22,800 Scovilles, Pepper X is 11,800 per cent hotter (118 times hotter)

https://www.spicinfoods.com/brand/da-bomb.html

The Hot Sauce that everyone loves to hate - it’s Da’Bomb! Da’Bomb comes in four levels of pain: Ghost Pepper at 22,800 Scovilles, Beyond Insanity at 135,600 Scovilles, Ground Zero at 321,900 Scovilles, and The Final Answer at a killer 1.5 million Scovilles! They’re explosive! Also, try our deliciously dangerous Da’Bomb salsas!

[Eko]

3. Actually mines the Beyond Insanity.

And I'd say its as hot as I dare to go. It's kind of a once a year reckoning for me when I'm feeling daring.
Thanks Celerity!

[mitch96]

6. I watch "Hot Ones" on the telly and this is on there with every guest. All say it is very hot and

taste bad. No flavor, just hot.
m

[Eko]

10. Yeah, that is where I got the idea to order it.

Wanted to see how bad it was and its pretty bad for a few min. Feel like I could go hotter but I'm not sure by how much. Like I said I try it about once a year just as a challenge to me. Not my favorite hot sauce by far but it is quite an experience.
Thanks!
Eko.

[onethatcares]

4. do you toothpick it?

that is, barely put the tip of a toothpick in the sauce then touch your tongue with it? I can't imagine a full drop on bread.

[stuck in the middle]

5. I grow Carolina Reapers in our garden (nt)

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. For what?

[Chakaconcarne]

8. I don't quite understand the point...unless it's to make a more effective pepper spray.

[stopdiggin]

9. well, I'm definitely in your corner there

but clearly there is a 'crazy corner' out there that really does eat and cook with ...

And they have their own lexicon of 'qualities' - burn, after taste, fruitiness, etc. etc. (how can you tell when your taste buds have been cauterized .. ?)

I myself cook with (garden variety) pepper on a consistent basis. But, my aim is for a 'spice' level. And I would never go near a Reaper (or Ghost). And truthfully - I even consider habanero - as going for a 'different kind of experience'. One I don't understand.