The World's Hottest Pepper (or, you won't even have time to scream)

[derby378]

Fiery food mavens seeking to one-up each other now have to gear up for a whole new test of culinary bravado: the world's hottest chili pepper.

Yes, the Naga Viper, the latest claimant to the world's-hottest-pepper crown, outdistances its predecessor, the Bhut Jolokia, or "ghost chili," by more than 300,000 points on the famous Scoville scale of tongue-scorching chili hotness. Researchers at Warwick University testing the Naga Viper found that it measures 1,359,000 on the Scoville scale, which rates heat by tracking the presence of a chemical compound. In comparison, most varieties of jalapeño peppers measure in the 2,500 to 5,000 range -- milder than the Naga Viper by a factor of 270.

You might think the Naga Viper would hail from some part of the world with a strong demand for spicy food, such as India or Mexico. But the new pepper is actually the handiwork of Gerald Fowler, a British chili farmer and pub owner, who crossed three of the hottest peppers known to man -- including the Bhut Jolokia -- to create his Frankenstein-monster chili.

"It's painful to eat," Fowler told the Daily Mail. "It's hot enough to strip paint." Indeed, the Daily Mail reports that defense researchers are already investigating the pepper's potential uses as a weapon.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20101203/sc_yblog_thelookout/worlds-hottest-pepper-is-hot-enough-to-strip-paint

As a personal comment, I've tried eating a raw habanero pepper in the past (made it about half-way through), and I do have a nice ghost chili hot sauce at home, but I. MUST. TRY. THIS!!! AAAAAIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!

Mmmmmmm. Peppers. :evilgrin:

[Gabi Hayes]

1. mo' hotta mo' betta?

[derby378]

3. Have you seen this?

Adam Richman takes on the "Stupid Wings Challenge" at Caliente's in Richmond, VA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y_fHTFhm-w

[lumberjack_jeff]

8. "It tastes like burning" n/t

[tammywammy]

14. Those wings were nuts

I don't know how he did it. And the after burn must have been awful.

[TheMadMonk]

29. Johny Cash moments the next day are always fun. /nt

[lumberjack_jeff]

40. "And it burns, burns, burns"

"The Ring Of Fire
The Ring Of Fire"

:rofl:

[a la izquierda]

51. HAHAHA

I have tears pouring down my cheeks. Thank you, you made my day.
A buddy of mine used to freeze baby wipes before going out for really spicy chiles. I suppose it worked. We'd still occasionally hear yelling from the loo.

[meow mix]

46. The Container of Poor Judgement ha ha

to hot for me!

[eleny]

2. OMG

[Sonoman]

4. I'm in.

I am a fool (literally) for screaming hot. We have a wonderful (real) Mexican place here that serves a clear habanero salsa that is so mean that they will only serve it to people they know can handle it. A tourist would never know it exists. A few drops on some Cochinita Pibil and my entire scalp sweats. My hair hangs past my shoulderblades and by meal's end is pretty much soaked. Every time I eat there I have to come home and wash my hair. I cannot stay away from that stuff. The restaurant won't sell it to me because they worry that one of our friends might get into it at our house.

You would love it.

Sonoman

[derby378]

7. Sounds yummy

If I'm ever in your neck of the woods, please share the name of said establishment with me. :hi:

[boppers]

21. Oh, in Sonoma? I get there about twice a year...

Please do tell!

[driver8]

32. I used to go to an indian restaurant that would make your curry as hot as you wanted.

one star was the mildest, ten stars was the hottest.

The owner told me he had a customer who though ten stars was too mild, and wanted his curry twice as hot (twenty stars!). The owner said when they cooked this food, they wore a faceshield and thick rubber gloves.

I cannot imagine how hot that food was.

[Beetwasher]

5. I might be able to handle it going in

it's the other half of the equation that would have me worried.

[derby378]

10. True...

...and even with my own habanero challenge, I didn't take any chances. Cold sodas may feel great on your tongue, but they're practically worthless for washing down pepper oils. My best results have come from eating something that could possibly soak up the oils, like the bun of a decent cheeseburger. I'm not going to say it's foolproof, though.

As for the eventual aftermath, I think we're all on our own - but I might suggest a liberal dose of Medicated Gold Bond.

[Subdivisions]

6. I looooves me some hot peppers. Bring it on! n/t

[Ian David]

9. Try putting a drop right in the opening of your penis.

No, really.

Don't try that.

Ever.

[derby378]

13. ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lITBGjNEp08
:rofl:

[Subdivisions]

17. That got a reaction just reading it. YEOUCH!

[lumberjack_jeff]

41. Kids, if you're handling peppers...

... wash your hands BEFORE using the lavatory. Seriously.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

11. Almost seems impossible to be hotter than something called the "ghost chili."

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/ffximage/2007/08/01/470chili,0.jpg

Farmer Digonta Saikia shows a Bhut jolokia or ghost chili from his field in the northeastern Indian state of Assam.
Photo: AP

'When you eat it, it's like dying'
Tim Sullivan | August 1, 2007 - 11:46AM

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/08/01/1185647946289.html

CHANGPOOL, India - The farmer, a quiet man with an easy smile, has spent a lifetime eating a chilli pepper with a strange name and a vicious bite. His mother stirred them into sauces. His wife puts them out for dinner raw, blood-red morsels of pain to be nibbled - carefully, very carefully - with whatever she's serving.

Around here, in the hills of northeastern India, it's called the "bhut jolokia" - the "ghost chilli." Anyone who has tried it, they say, could end up an apparition.

"It is so hot you can't even imagine," said the farmer, Digonta Saikia, working in his fields in the midday sun, his face nearly invisible behind an enormous straw hat. "When you eat it, it's like dying."

Outsiders, he insisted, shouldn't even try it. "If you eat one," he told a visitor, "you will not be able to leave this place."

:spray:

[Posteritatis]

16. It even looks vaguely frightening. (nt)

[lumberjack_jeff]

42. Guatemalan insanity peppers

http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Guatemalan_Insanity_Pepper

[Warpy]

12. Jalapenos are really quite mild. I generally use those for flavor

and use serranos for heat. I really can't see using something that's so potent you don't taste anything because your mouth is on fire.

[derby378]

18. There's a shop down in Austin called Tears of Joy

They sell nothing but hot sauce, salsa, etc. They even make some of their own, including a habanero sauce with the deceptively romantic name of "August in Austin."

If you want any of the sauces that rank over 2,000,000 on the Scoville scale, they'll probably have them in stock, but behind the counter and for more cash than you'd normally shell out for three bottles of your usual blend.

[Warpy]

25. We have stores like that here

with the stuff behind the counter for the locals, the stuff out on the shelves for the tourists.

[Bombero1956]

37. ever hear of The Source hotsauce?

It measures 7.1 million on the Scoville scale. It sells for $85 an ounce and 1 drop is all you need for a plateful of food. By comparison law enforcement grade pepper spray measures 5.3 million Scoville units.

[pinboy3niner]

38. Sounds like you can only get it from a defense contractor...

...judging by its heat--and by its price. :evilgrin:

[billyclem]

22. Habeneros have flavor.

Alone they have a fruity, apricot like aroma and taste; but, it doesn't stand up to other ingredients. All that is left is the heat. To enjoy hab's alone, have whole milk handy for when you are finished. Does anyone know if the ghost peppers have any flavor?

[derby378]

30. I have a bottle of ghost chili/habanero sauce at home...

...and my brother and I tried some drops on tortilla chips. Not sure I could pick out a distinctive ghost chili flavor, though.

The University of New Mexico bottles and sells their own pure ghost chili sauce, IIRC. I'll have to get some and try it out.

[boppers]

23. I like to mix it up, for a variety of flavors.

My current batch of salsa has 9 kinds of peppers, 4 kinds of garlic, 5 kinds of tomatoes, 4 kinds of onion (etc. etc.)

That way, there's a whole variety of heats/flavors, occurring over 2-60 seconds.

[Posteritatis]

15. And to think they evolved that stuff so fewer things would eat them

Somewhere, plant evolution is going "doh!"

[derby378]

20. Maybe that arsenic-eating critter in Mono Lake will take a crack at it

:rofl:

[mainer]

35. Actually, that's not why they evolved hotness

I remember an article about how birds have no problem eating chilis and spread the seeds around. The hotness, I think, is a protection against fungal diseases.

[Posteritatis]

36. Birds, yeah, but not many other animals can deal with them. (nt)

[TK421]

19. I WANT IT!!!! .....but my ulcer won't n/t

[Freetradesucks]

24. Nice,

Love hot stuff. Love it.

[Matariki]

26. I ate one of those whole recently. Ask me anything.

Ghost pepper - popped a raw one in my mouth, chewed it up, swallowed it. Yeah.

[awoke_in_2003]

27. "potential uses as a weapon"...

of course, can never have too many weapons. :(

[derby378]

31. Unlike bullets, this stuff is biodegradable

And in the event global peace ever becomes a reality once again, you just add a couple of drops of the "weapon" to the hot sauce used to flavor the salsa and chicken wings of those yahoos from Texas and southern Japan over at that banquet table.

[WinkyDink]

28. This could kill. No, really.

[madmom]

33. Serious question, WHY do people like these things? If they are so hot you

can't taste anything, what is the purpose? I like my food spicy, but not HOT. I just don't understand the "hot".:hurts: :shrug: :nopity: :crazy:

[RandomKoolzip]

34. Everyone's tatste buds are different. I know people who even like bleu cheese.

I, for one, would rather attempt to eat a live, rabid wolverine with my bare hands than eat bleu cheese. I throw up even smelling it.

But I do loves me some hot, hot, sauce.

[Dreamer Tatum]

39. Because it's less obnoxious than flexing muscles but serves the same purpose.

"Look how awesome I am!"

[-..__...]

45. There's "Look how awesome I am!"...

and then there's the videos on YouTube of drunk, brainless frat boys putting hot sauce in their eyes...

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hot+sauce+eye&aq=f

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0nGjerGUQI

:crazy:

[fishwax]

43. well, the endorphins are enjoyable

:bounce:

[jberryhill]

44. As a "hot stuff" fan, I've never understood why people seem bothered by it

By "it", I mean my proclivity to eat hot stuff.

It's kind of annoying to sit down to the "high octane" vindaloo or whatever and have others at the table going "How can you eat THAT?" as if I was eating roasted human babies on a spit.

[madmom]

49. Doesn't "bother" me, just trying to understand it. I also have people ask how I can eat fill-in-the-

blank, not such a big deal IMO!

[meow mix]

47. maybe good parrot food..

birds love peppers lol

[delightfulstar]

48. Hell on a vine LOL!!!

It's not the heat that bothers me, it's the afterburn. Yeeeeowch!

[bleever]

50. I grow Peruvian rocoto peppers.

Who knew there were so many hot pepper lovers on DU?