Superhot Peppers Over 1 Million SHU, Listed

What counts as a superhot pepper?

In this index, a superhot is any pepper whose average or range midpoint reaches 1,000,000 Scoville heat units. That's about 200 times an average jalapeño, which UF/IFAS puts at about 5,000 SHU¹.

The line sits at the top of the Scoville scale, and the label has history. When the NMSU Chile Pepper Institute ran its 2012 study, it called this group "super-hot" varieties and set out to measure their average heat, because no one had pinned it down in a field trial².

Below the list you'll find the published lab numbers, why they swing so much, and the short safety routine for cutting these pods. The band just under this one, 100,000 to 1,000,000 SHU, has its own extra-hot list, and the full ranking with every record holder lives on the hottest peppers in the world page.

How hot is each superhot pepper?

The figures you see on the ladder come from labs and record bodies, and they don't all measure the same thing. A Guinness average, a field-trial mean and a single plant's reading can sit far apart for the same variety, which is why the ladder at the top labels each bar with its kind of figure.

Three of them have full entries: Pepper X and the Carolina Reaper, both from the same South Carolina grower, plus the ghost pepper.

The others, such as the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion and the 7-pot, get entries once we have read enough sourced fields for them. UF/IFAS Extension prints 2,009,000 SHU for the Carolina Reaper and 2,200,000 for the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion without saying what kind of figure they are¹. We keep those two out of the ladder, because you can't compare a number without its method against the rest.

Why do superhot numbers vary so much?

Because heat changes from plant to plant, even in one field. The NMSU study grew every variety in the same research field and still found single plants far above the variety's mean².

The same seed can give you a pod near the average or one almost twice as hot. The environment moves the number too: the researchers behind the ghost pepper trial point out that where a pepper grows changes its heat³. That's why every entry here prints a range or an average, never the hottest pod someone once measured.

Why are superhots so much hotter than a habanero?

They make heat in more of the pod. In most chiles, the jalapeño included, capsaicinoids come only from tiny vesicles on the placenta, the pale tissue that holds the seeds. An NMSU team found that superhots over 1 million SHU also grow extra vesicles on the fruit wall⁶.

That changes how you prep them. With a jalapeño, cutting out the ribs and seeds takes away the part that makes the heat. With a superhot, the wall you keep makes capsaicinoids too, so seeding the pod tames it far less than you'd expect.

The receptor explains why it feels like a burn. The 1997 study that cloned it found that capsaicin causes burning pain by switching on sensory neurons, and that the same receptor responds to heat in the painful range⁷. Your nerves report a superhot the way they'd report a hot pan.

How has the hottest pepper changed over time?

Five peppers have held the title of hottest on earth since 2007, and if you follow the run, the last two came from the same grower in South Carolina. Pepper X's average sits about 1,050,000 SHU above the Reaper's 1,641,183, the biggest jump in the run⁴⁵. The record strip above shows the five in order.

What do superhot peppers taste like?

You taste fruit first, then the burn. The UC Master Gardeners of Ventura County describe every superhot on their list with some fruit or sweetness, and a few with odder notes such as celery in the 7 Pot and chocolate in the Reaper⁸.

Which species are superhot peppers?

Almost every superhot you can buy is Capsicum chinense, the habanero's species. The University of Guam lists ghost and scorpion types under it⁹, the genus monograph lists the Carolina Reaper⁴, and the ghost pepper paper notes that the hottest chiles have always come from this species³. Pepper X is the open question, since Guinness does not name its species.

Which superhot should you pick?

Start at the bottom of the band unless you already know your limit. The ladder gives you four steps:

• The ghost pepper: about 1,000,000 SHU in field trials, right on the line²³. Smoky and fruity, and the gentlest way into the band.
• The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion: a mean of more than 1,200,000 SHU, with single plants past 2,000,000². Expect big swings from one of your pods to the next.
• The Carolina Reaper: a Guinness average of 1,569,300 SHU in 2013¹⁰, with the chocolate undertones the table lists.
• Pepper X: an average of 2,693,000 SHU, which Winthrop University measured on pods from four years of crops⁵. Nothing in the index will burn you more.

For a sauce, any of them works in small amounts; the heat you taste depends on how much of the pod goes into the bottle.

Epicurious made this 2023 video in which breeder Ed Currie tastes superhots from 11 countries, so you can see how different the pods look side by side before you pick one for your kitchen; records and heat figures change, so use the numbers on this page, not the ones in the video.

Play video: Smokin' Ed Currie Tastes The Hottest Peppers From 11 Countries 17:47

Smokin' Ed Currie Tastes The Hottest Peppers From 11 Countries

From Epicurious

VideoPlays from YouTube when you press play.Watch on YouTube

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How do you handle superhot peppers safely?

Wear gloves, keep your hands away from your face and give the kitchen some air. The routine matches the one you'd use for a habanero; with a superhot, skipping it costs you a lot more. The safety band above gives you the short version; here is the full list from Poison Control¹²:

Eating too much brings its own trouble. Poison Control lists nausea, vomiting, belly pain, diarrhea and burning as the usual results, In the two cases it describes, a teenager felt normal again the next day and a woman with burned skin felt much better after five days¹².