I bought a ghost pepper from Esposito's here in Tallahassee which is billed as the world's hottest. Imagine my surprise when I was told at another Tallahassee nursery that there are actually two others that are hotter. He told me their names but I forgot. Who among us fig lovers, has tried a ghost pepper?  

I've had a piece the size of dime of both the ghost pepper and a scorpion pepper, the latter of which is supposedly hotter. Both were insanely, ridiculously hot, immediate pain followed by a numbness that lingered. The heat is like being punched in the throat. My stomach felt odd for hours afterwards. There's also a pepper called the Carolina reaper that tops them both. Once you get above a certain number of Scoville units, I can't imagine out matters.

I haven't had a ghost pepper. When I grew habaneros it would stay on my hands for days and everything I'd touch itd burn. I'm growing some lumbre chiles this year which is about as hot as I can really handle

I always thought Habaneros were hottest peppers, but then, i gathered that info from Food Channel stuff...I don't know.

My father grew these. They are good in a tomato or meat sauce or as an ingredient in chilli.
I think Seven describes the experience quite accurately.

Except he's missing the burning sensation you feel in your chest and your heart tends to beat a little faster.

The world hottest pepper is the Carolina Reaper.
1,569,300 on the Scoville Heat unit.
Seeds are on ebay. High dollar.
I choke on chilli peppers,...

Doug

I just bought seeds, holy crap $.
These peppers will be used as insecticide.
Hopefully a good investment.

Yes, the scorpion and Carolina reaper peppers are the ones the nursery guy mentioned to me as being hotter than ghost. My experience with ghost peppers occurred while on vacation in a Gatlinburg condiments store. They had dozens of hot pepper relishes lined up for sampling and ghost was in the forefront. You should know that I routinely grow habaneros and jar them in olive oil to eat with most of my meals, so I figured my system could certainly handle this hyped up pepper. I took a small piece of cracker, dipped it in the pepper mixture and put it in my mouth, quickly chewed and swallowed. Boy was I wrong! What Seven and Pino described is absolutely true. I thought I was having a heart attack with the chest pain and the sweating. I had to sit down and wait it out while my wife continued to shop. Man, can't wait until my little plant starts producing!

Taste really does matter and I've never heard anyone describe the flavor of these new fireballs.  I hate the taste of jalapenos.  I think serranos taste better.  Habaneros are somewhere in between.  I use 1 serrano for a quart of salsa.  I would squeeze a drop from one of these others, dilute it into a 3 egg scramble to see what they taste like before using them.  I want a pleasant heat, not a painful heat.  When I make a salsa I also make a heat concentrate that people can add into their own if they want.  3 serranos or habaneros, a big clove of garlic and a little olive oil in a food processor, scaled up as needed.  With a sign on it.  :)

There's great reading here

http://www.chilepepperinstitute.org/heat.php

I've grown the bhut jolokia (ghost pepper) and moruga scorpion over the last few years. Both are unbelievably hot. The moruga has very little flavor, just insane heat. While I wouldnt dare eat a fresh bhut, I like to add one to my chili. The bhut has great flavor and an interesting heat... it doesnt burn immediately like a habanero, it comes on slowly and lasts a while.

My favorite thing is to make jelly with the bhuts. It is probably one of the most delicious jellies Ive ever made, especially when I add strawberries.

The bhuts are the skinny red ones. The morugas are the short plump red ones.



Moruga scorpion



Ive heard the carolina reaper was a fluke and that while one pepper measured very hot, on average they are as high on the scoville scale as bhut or moruga.

Since on subject of hot peppers quick true story.
Grew Habanero's one season and was out picking them and had to go number 1 real bad so went in house and went to
bathroom without thinking.

Next thing i did was jump in shower right away because i felt like i was on fire down there.

No thanks ...
I once grew some (wrinkled) Habanero peppers and bit into one.
It almost (literally) killed me - red-face, sweaty-hair, running-nose, watery-eyes, burning-mouth and all!
From that day on, I only want mild/medium hot peppers ...
Currently Jalapeno is my favorite hot pepper.

(too hot for me) Habanero:


(perfect for me) Jalapeno:
 

BTW, seeds are 30% off here

http://www.crazyhotseeds.com/top-10-worlds-hottest-peppers/

The Carolina reaper had 1 pepper get up to 2.2 million Scoville units.

Carolina Reaper

That's way to hot to eat.
I'm hoping the deer will think the same if i grind boil and strain.
I will put it in a sprayer and test.


That is next year.
Will grow it and save seeds to trade.

Doug

Martin, If you'd like to try some of the ones I dried last year, shoot me a PM. Ground them and they add a nice spice to any dish. They arent nearly as hot dried as fresh either... but they are still very hot.

I'm worse than Gorgi..the Jalapenos are too hot for me......

A cheese factory (they make everything from plain Jane cheddar to artisnal cheeses) down south of KC makes a ghost pepper cheese with lovely bits of dried peppers. Named Hotter Than Hell, it's very good, definitely lets you know it's there, but not deadly. For me at least! Makes a great grilled cheese sammie with a slice of swiss, slice of sharp cheddar and slice of HTH. Dip the sammie in ranch dressing or bleu cheese dressing keeps the heat under control.
Not sure I want to try the Carolina Reaper. Check out You Tube vids, yikes.

Marie

I'll stick to large Jalapenios... at least I can have stuffed cheese grilled Jalapenios...

i find that washing your hands in dish soap for 2 verses of happy birthday

lets you touch your eyes with no pain.

I grow the purple and red Bhut Jolokia and the taste is fantastic but hard to describe. It adds a ton of flavor with the heat. If you don't use but a tiny bit in whatever you're making they're quite bearable. I wouldn't bite into one though. I pick them and care for the plants without gloves but unlike you poor guys, we don't have to grab anything...wink wink LOL

After I dry or smoke them I grind them and sprinkle it into or onto the food.

thanks for the info, nick. if they're that hot i'll give them a pass.

i'm more interested in taste than heat. i just use a mix of hot and medium hot to get that.