World's Hottest Pepper?

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Doka
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World's Hottest Pepper?

Post by Doka » 12-26-2013 06:36 PM

South Carolina man grows the hottest pepper on Earth


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... cords.html

Brought to mind Cherry Kelly and Voguy, the preper pepper people.
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Post by Cherry Kelly » 12-27-2013 10:45 AM

Doka - the Carolina Reaper -- YES supposedly the hottest - but the Scoville still shows Moruga as hotter than the Reaper.

We grew both this year and the family members who are into these hot peppers said the Reaper was not as hot as the Moruga.

Scoville lists them as:

1,500,000–2,000,000 Trinidad Moruga Scorpion
1,474,000 Carolina Reaper

So still trying to figure out how the guy can claim the reaper to be the hottest - maybe because the reaper originated in the USA??

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Post by SquidInk » 12-27-2013 01:57 PM

"Hotness" can vary from pepper to pepper. When we're talking about 1.5 million versus 2 million Scoville units, the pepper perceived as "hottest" could easily jump back and forth.

The Scoville Unit itself is only an approximation based on the reaction of tasters in a controlled tasting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale
The Scoville scale is an empirical measurement dependent on the capsaicin sensitivity of testers and so is not a precise or accurate method to measure capsaicinoid concentration, however, capsaicin concentration can very roughly be estimated as ~18µM/SHU.


Image

Personally I've used some extremely hot concoctions on my food. This one in particular, The Final Answer, had the highest Scoville rating - that's hot.

In my opinion, the measurement should be not just of heat, but of "total combined discomfort". I have ingested less "hot" sauces that caused a lot more combined discomfort ~ mainly due to the viscosity of the capsaicin oils. If it's viscous, settle in for a lot of pain.

I have consumed habaneros, ghost chilis, thai chilis, Nagas, and a scorpion directly off of the plants. If you do this, avoid the seeds and the stem meat at all costs. But actually, I recommend not doing it at all. It hurts. I will say that as a class, habaneros are relatively mild, but I have had super-hot individuals. In fact, the odd super-hot habanero is probably the "hottest" thing I have ever eaten in terms of "total combined discomfort".
Last edited by SquidInk on 12-27-2013 02:12 PM, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Fan » 12-27-2013 02:14 PM

I like a little pain in my food, but not that much :) For me the pepper should be adding to taste, not just heat. If I want plain old heat I'll just use varying degrees of cayenne pepper. I tend to stick with simple jalapenos, habaneros, thai red chili, maybe scotch bonnets for jamaican and Caribbean food, that sort of thing. If I want it hotter I leave the seeds in, or put in two of 'em. I love hot food, but if the level of capsicum disables your taste buds, what is the point beyond a dare sort of thing?
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Post by SquidInk » 12-27-2013 02:18 PM

There's no (culinary) point. I did it to increase my tolerance ~ just in case one day kidnappers tried to get me to talk using capsaicin based persuaders.

Anything beyond a mild habanero is probably going to overpower any flavor profiles you are trying to build into a preparation.
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Post by Cherry Kelly » 12-27-2013 04:20 PM

YES, remove the seeds but even more important is to remove the little 'growth' HOLDING the seeds!! {some are on a small bud like area, some are on long skin type)

With the super hot peppers, they are okay to handle with bare hands when picking - but gloves are definitely required when cutting them. (Fact is I wore double gloves for the two hottest.)

What is even more "fun" is to find out all the different names used for the same peppers.

on the ebay site you can see pictures of the peppers. You will notice the Reaper has a "tail" - but sometimes it is not much of a tail. The Moruga has a stump type or even a rounded type. There is also a more 'bumpy exterior' on the Reaper than on the Moruga. However, even peppers growing on the same plant will vary a lot in final appearance. :)

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Post by Fan » 12-28-2013 12:32 AM

any pepper I am going to use in a stew or chili I blacken the skin of it first with a blowtorch or on the BBQ. Makes the taste amazing and hardly changes the heat.
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Post by Fan » 12-28-2013 12:33 AM

I have a back pain product which is pure capsicum in a roll-on applicator like deodorant. OMG it is ridiculously hot, feeling your skin burn like that is such a wrong feeling. To be fair, you do totally forget about your pre-existing back pain :)
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Post by Cherry Kelly » 12-28-2013 11:58 AM

FAN -- NO NO NO -- TOO HOT! Now you know I have a biz on internet -- magnet therapy. Took care of my back problem, thus got into biz and been on line full time since 1993.

----
ANYWAY - back to peppers --
Picking some of the Butch T peppers that are growing on one of the pepper plants in my sun room. Now they are not as hot as the Moruga or the Reaper, yet they are hot. They have a smooth outside skin but a tiny tail at the bottom...straight down, not curved.

The ghost pepper plant produces smaller size peppers indoors, but it too keeps on going...

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Post by voguy » 12-29-2013 10:39 AM

IMHO the use of peppers should not be one of tolerance, but to enhance the taste, or bring out flavors which are in the other ingredients.

Somewhere on the net resides my Au Gratin Potatoes recipe, and the last step is to lightly sprinkle red cayenne pepper over the cheddar cheese sauce. The purpose is to bring out the natural taste of the cheese, and not to heat it up.

The same applies with a rub that I've made with Habanero. The gentle use of this over a beef steak will bring out wonderful flavors without having to use steak sauces and other enhancements.

Things like Accent and other flavor enhancers are personae non gratae in our home.

FWIW, the Burpees catalog came today and I'm planning for what to plant next spring. My kids gave me another Nesco food dehydrator, so I'm upping my natural flavor enhancements two fold.

Then again, you could be like this jackass with peppers...


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Post by voguy » 12-29-2013 11:12 AM

Weapon of choice for drying peppers...
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Post by Cherry Kelly » 12-29-2013 11:31 AM

voguy -- yes a food dehydrator can help in the preservation of food items. However, the picture shown while colorful would not work well with the items shown. Each tray must have same foods, same sizes and have different dehydration times.

We have three different ones, one round one similar to the one shown quite working a few years ago and was replaced by another slightly larger one. It does not work very well, so we have a third square one we use for the peppers. A tray is shown with peppers on the ebay web site.

You are correct in that peppers - especially powders - are used to enhance tastes of foods. Different people like milder flavors, others like hotter type foods, thus powders, flakes or cut up hot peppers are often in demand.

The cayenne powders in stores are either extremely mild or not pure and you must use several times more to get the desired taste, than the pure cayenne powders. Cayenne powders come in a variety of heat levels.

One piece of advice with your dehydrator (besides reading thoroughly any instructions) is to find information on the internet for preserving those things you dehydrate. We found that several fruits and veggies do not keep as well as stated and were somewhat disappointed with the results. Let us know how yours does!

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