Ever watched one of those videos of someone biting into a pepper and breaking out in tears? That’s not acting; that’s your nervous system telling you something is wrong. At an average of more than 1.6 million Scoville Heat Units, the Carolina Reaper top the hot-pepper list. When you read about that amount, it sounds like gibberish… Until you feel it.
The chart shows that this pepper are much hotter then any other kind, including popular ones such as serranos and jalapeños. Pain isn’t all there is to heat, it’s also chemistry and biology. Everyone considers spice on a linear scale: hotter = hotter. But it isn’t realy that way.
What Is the Carolina Reaper Pepper?
The infographic shows why we eat such painful food and how the Reaper compare to other hot peppers like the ghost pepper or habanero. The chart depicts the anatomy of the pepper. It has a characteristic tail, and very wrinkly skin. Those features show that inside contains lots of capsaicin oils. That thin flesh ensures that the pepper’s heat gets all over your mouth with each bite; the rough spots catches the heat.
Now: Here’s the thing about growing these peppers: They test the patience of most home gardeners. Seeds may take three weeks to sprout (warm soil temperature, hot summers required). Then, they needs full sun and rich soil. And you have to treat them with care, literally, and wear gloves when you do. Not just any gloves, but something like rubber or nitrile ones, since the oils from the capsaicin will adheres to bare hands for hours, potentially even a day. If you haven’t worn protection while working with a pepper, touching your eye will hurt.
As the chart cautions, water doesn’t help. It won’t dissolve into water; that’s why the chemical name is hydrophobic, or “water fearing.” What would of dissolved it? Fat, or protein like dairy products. Ice water isn’t going to work; try milk. It is basic chemistry.
Within seconds, it’s hitting your tongue. Within minutes, it’s making your eyes water and tightening your throat. That’s your body’s defense mechanism kicking in. Next thing you know, adrenaline rushes into your system, followed soon by endorphins. These chemical compounds is what make people feel euphoric, known as the “heat high.”
The heat doesn’t stop at your mouth though: It irritates the stomach lining (sometimes leading to hiccups and cramps). Finally, relief usually doesn’t come until the capsaicin pass out of your body.
The hottest peppers has been world record holders in history. For years, the ghost pepper was the champ, but then the Carolina Reaper dethroned it in 2013. Then another hotter one came along: Meet Pepper X, the new hottest. But there’s still nothing more similar to crazy spicy than the Reaper.
Whether you make a dry powder, put it in a hot sauce, or just want to impress people at your next party by showing them how hot it is, respect the Reaper and be careful with it. Wear your gloves while working with it. And if you witness someone sobbing over a pepper, just know, they’re having natural body reaction that the plant wanted them to have.