carolina reaper trinidad scorpion pepper scoville scale

Chili peppers contain capsaicin oil, the extract used in mace, which is the only thing hotter than a Reaper pepper. So Schueller gave me a little lesson in chili anatomy. It’s the second bite that gets you because you’re biting into the vein and that’s the hottest part of the chili pepper. “The tip has very little heat and that’s what most people eat first. “That’s the mistake everyone makes,” he said. Then I popped the whole thing in my mouth. I explained to him that after biting off the tip of the pepper to taste it, I was surprised that it wasn’t as hot as I had expected. The pain usually lasts only an hour,” he said in disbelief and wondered why I would ever eat one. “No you didn’t! I’ve never heard of that before. That explains my physical distress and the reaction of Robert Schueller, general manager of Melissa’s World Variety Produce in Vernon, when he learned I had consumed one whole. (Pepper spray can be up to 5 million units or more.)

The next pepper down on the scale is the Ghost pepper at 1 million. A jalapeno measures 8,000 Scoville units, the Carolina Reaper measures 2.2 million and the Scorpion measures 2 million. The Carolina Reaper was specifically bred for heat.Ī pepper’s heat is measured in Scoville units. My painful episode lasted nearly six hours after eating an entire pepper, and not just any pepper. Doubled over in pain, I asked myself, “What did I just do?” Plus, my insurance probably wouldn’t cover my random act of stupidity. Calling for paramedics? I was at work and that would be embarrassing. It had already entered my digestive tract. Vomiting felt like an exorcism because my body was desperate to rid itself of the demon inside.īut it was too late. I panicked as I made my way to the bathroom, hoping I wouldn’t black out. Chills ran down my spine and the pain in my stomach became unbearable. After two hours, the burn cut like a knife. Within an hour, my stomach began to burn. Finally the pain subsided and it was over, and I felt like a stud.

Water ran profusely from my eyes and nose as beads of sweat broke out on my forehead. My throat began to swell and my eyes felt like they were popping out of their sockets. For the first 20 minutes, each breath I took felt like I was fanning white hot coals inside my mouth.

Carolina reaper trinidad scorpion pepper scoville scale