

Just a small slice or two of this pepper can light up your whole dish. It is also important to start small when cooking with Carolina Reapers. The white pith of the pepper contains the highest concentration of capsaicin (the compound that makes peppers spicy) so removing it will make a significant difference in the heat level. If you want all of the flavors of a reaper with only a fraction of the heat, you can remove the membrane and seeds from the pepper. Wear gloves when handling the peppers to avoid contact burns, and be sure to wear goggles and a facemask. When cooking with Carolina Reapers, keep in mind that this is an EXTREMELY spicy pepper, and take appropriate precautions. The experience has been described as biting into something fruity at first, but then it quickly turns into lava in your mouth. The sweet/heat combo makes it a favorite among hot sauce makers. Remember: this pepper was initially bread to be a sweet pepper with a little extra kick. What do Carolina Reapers taste like?ĭespite its extreme heat, the Carolina Reaper is surprisingly sweet and fruity. While jalapeños are often the benchmark that we compare spicy foods to, they are 175 times weaker than the mildest Carolina Reaper, so it’s not a very helpful reference point. Its heat is not for the faint of heart and should be approached with caution. In fact, at its peak, it can be as hot as or even hotter than standard pepper spray used by police. The Carolina Reaper pepper packs an intense punch with a range of 1,400,000 to 2,200,000 Scoville heat units, making it one of the hottest peppers in the world. This number is an average of a tested batch, and the individual hottest pepper they tested was 2,200,000 SHU, showing just how much they can vary in heat. The official SHU score as recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records is 1,641,183 SHU, which was verified by a test conducted at Winthrop University in 2017. How hot are Carolina Reapers?ġ,400,000-2,200,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU) With its incredible heat, it’s no wonder that the Carolina Reaper has gained such popularity among chili enthusiasts. History of the pepperĭid you know that the Carolina Reaper was bred in a greenhouse in Rock Hill, South Carolina by Ed Currie, who owns the Puckerbutt Pepper Company in Fort Mill? This pepper has certainly made a name for itself, as in November 2013, the Guinness Book of World Records named it the hottest pepper in the world, beating out the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion for the top spot.

New variations in different colors like brown and yellow have been popping up recently, so you may see Carolina Reapers in a variety of colors. One distinctive feature of Carolina Reapers is their scorpion-like tail, similar in appearance to a scorpion pepper. They mature to vibrant red color and tend to have a bumpy texture, though some can have a smoother texture. Common characteristicsĬarolina Reapers have relatively small pepper pods ranging from 1 to 2 inches wide and 2 to 3 inches long. The pepper was named “Reaper” because of the shape of its tail. But Ed and PuckerButt are no stranger to the hottest peppers in the world, they also cultivated the Pepper X and Apollo pepper, which are also notably spicy. Ed didn’t set out to breed the spiciest pepper on the planet, in fact he was looking to develop a sweety pepper with more significant heat.

The Carolina Reaper, a cultivar of the Capsicum chinense plant, was developed by a man named Ed Currie. What is a Carolina Reaper, and who invented it?
