Do you like adding an extra zing to your food? If yes, your taste buds are going to love
this…Howdy, Bestie viewers! Chili is a widely used spice in a variety of cuisines. In addition
to delivering an extra punch, there are several advantages to putting more spice to your food.
While some people can stand the scorching heat of chillies,
others run to the fridge to grab the milk carton. If the latter part is the case for you,
it’s probably wise to stay away from Carolina Reaper. That’s what we’re going to be talking
about today. (Pause)
First things first, what is Carolina Reaper? (Pause)
The extremely fiery Carolina Reaper chilli pepper is nurtured from the
Capsicum chinense plant species. It gets its name from its tiny, sharp tail which resembles
the sickle of the Grim Reaper. Even a small quantity of this spicy pepper goes a long way.
But wait, do you know about the origin of this blazing
chilli? (Pause)
Also known as the HP22B pepper, the Carolina Reaper was bred by Ed
Currie, an American chilli pepper breeder and proprietor of the Puckerbutt Pepper Company.
A simple cross hybrid between a Ghost Pepper and a Red Habanero produced this. It was bred and tested
at Winthrop University in South Carolina, with a peak Scoville heat count of over 2.2 million.
Interestingly, by 2013 seven generations of the plant had already grown in Ed Currie’s South
Carolina greenhouse. (Pause)
Have you ever seen a Carolina Reaper pepper? No? Well, here’s a glimpse.
(Pause) The Carolina Reaper is rather petite in size,
with a width of one to two inches, and a length of two to three. The "scorpion's tail," which
is strongly defined in this pepper, is a trait shared by many exceptionally spicy chillies.
Some Reaper pepper pods can also have terrible lumps all over them.
While other pods have smoother skin. The nasty fruit comes in a variety of colors,
including red, yellow, peach, and chocolate. Although not every fruit will include the dreaded
stinger, most pods will. If you plan to add the Carolina Reaper to your favorite dishes, the oily
sheen and spiky lumps may be the warning you need. (Pause)
We’re sure by now you have a clear picture of this devilish chilli, but what about its taste?
(Pause) Normally,
superhot peppers have bitter chemicals. Most of the time capsaicin can be tasted, but this
isn't the case with Carolina Reaper. While the Carolina Reaper is known for being the hottest
chilli pepper on the planet, it also has an unexpected sweetness to it. This makes it perfect
for amplifying the heat in your meals, right? Well, it depends on how much spice you can handle.
Those who’ve tried, often compare eating a Carolina Reaper to swallowing lava.
The chilli gives your tongue a fruity-sweet hint before the severe heat kicks in.
One pepper has enough power to season hundreds of meals. It tastes best in stir-fries and marinades.
Despite being this intense, Carolina Reaper doesn't take away from the taste of the
original meal. (Pause)
Almost all chilli peppers pack heat, so what’s so special about the Carolina Reaper?
(Pause) The Carolina Reaper pepper is
anything from ordinary, as it was developed specifically for heat. The Scoville rating of the
Carolina Reaper is so high, it has outperformed other peppers twice in the previous decade.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, it’s the hottest pepper on the planet. Hot enough
to inflict contact burns. So needless to say, it’s important to handle the pepper with caution.
The intensity of a Reaper ranges from 1.4 million Scoville Heat Units to a scorching 2,200,000
Scoville Heat Units, making it the fiercest chilli pepper in the world. Sounds bizarre? Well,
the numbers make Carolina Reaper up to 880 times hotter than a regular jalapeño pepper,
which has a rating of around 5000. If you like super-hot peppers,
you may have heard about the ghost pepper, also known as bhut jolokia in India. These peppers
have an average of 950,000 Scoville Heat Units, making Carolina Reaper nearly twice as spicy.
The crazy thing is that some people actually seek out Carolina Reaper, to compete in
chilli-eating competitions. That’s gotta be one rough trip to the bathroom afterwards!
Oh wait, do you even know what Scoville Heat Units are, and where they come from?
(Pause) Let’s address this question quickly!
Have you ever wondered how spicy your peppers are? This is where the Scoville Scale comes in.
Wilbur L. Scoville established the Scoville Organoleptic Test
in 1912 while looking for a suitable pepper to use in a heat-producing ointment.
The scale is used to determine the quantity of capsaicin in peppers. This is the chemical
ingredient that gives the chillies their heat. Capsaicin is the compound that causes your
tongue to burn, your body to sweat, and your ears to hurt after eating a pepper.
It’s not only chilli peppers. Other plants that generate spicy hot compounds are
also measured using the Scoville test. Scoville Heat Units are a measurement
of how many times capsaicin must be diluted in sugar water. Basically, the hotter the pepper,
the higher the rating. (Pause)
So what happens to your body when you take a bit of this fiery pepper?
(Pause) Whether you
enjoy the heat or not, one thing is certain… The hotter the spice, the greater the pain.
Chilli peppers aren't exactly new. What is new is their popularity. It seems like everywhere
you go these days, people are adding it to their food. Every restaurant you visit has their own
type of special house-made “spice”. They even sell Carolina Reaper sauce so intense it will
have you running to the bathroom after just two chicken wings. But how exactly does this happen?
When you bite into a Reaper, the capsaicin skips your taste buds in the mouth and binds to the
pain receptors on your tongue. The spiciness is a mixture of pain and heat caused by a chemical
response between capsaicin and sensory neurons. It’s capsaicin that tricks your brain into
believing that your body's temperature has changed. Each breath makes you feel like a
human flamethrower. Even though the spice isn't actually burning you, the brain receives the
same signals and reacts as if it were. As a result, the body will attempt to cool off.
When you eat a Carolina Reaper, you may start panting and feel bullets of sweat
pouring down your forehead. Your body will try to expel the burning sensation
by increasing the production of saliva, mucus, and tears, in addition to cooling things down.
As soon as you swallow the pepper, it might activate more pain receptors in the membrane,
causing a burning feeling in your chest. This is not the same as heartburn,
but it may feel similar. However, the feeling is just fleeting and it won't actually burn you.
The heat from Carolina Reaper also impacts your lungs and creates hiccups as it travels down to
the stomach. Hiccups are involuntary spasms of the diaphragm caused by irritation due to capsaicin.
Moving ahead, capsaicin stimulates the development of gastrointestinal mucus and speeds up metabolism
when it reaches the stomach. You may experience pain or cramping while your stomach struggles to
digest the chilli, but it will not harm you. Also, Capsaicin causes a response in the
intestines, speeding up the digestion process. This can be beneficial if you're
consuming something that takes longer to digest, but it also has the potential
to speed things up a little too quickly. So how safe is it to eat the world’s hottest
chilli pepper? (Pause)
I wouldn’t worry. If you eat them in moderation, super-hot peppers, like the Carolina Reaper,
are very safe. In fact, eating spicy peppers has a ton of health advantages. On one hand, they’ve
been shown to improve your heart health and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. There’s
also some evidence to show that it can prevent diabetes, as well as certain types of cancer.
A lot of people out there eat peppers like the Carolina Reaper
just to compete in online competitions and demonstrate their spice tolerance.
But, before you go down this road, you should ask yourself, ‘how hot is too hot?’ The devilish
Reaper can cause major harm if eaten in large quantities, but your body may not allow this.
You'd have to keep eating it past the point of sweating, shivering, vomiting, and perhaps
passing out. As a result, it's safe to assume that the heat from the Carolina Reaper won't kill you.
Perhaps you've heard horror stories of individuals getting hurt while competing
in hot pepper contests. This serves as a warning for people on the fence about trying it. There's
no need to be concerned as these instances are not only extremely unusual, but also associated with
pre-existing health conditions. (Pause)
With all these details, it’s only logical to discuss how you can include Carolina Reaper
in your meals. (Pause)
When trying spicy recipes, the Carolina Reaper can be used, but be careful not to overdo it.
When dealing with the Reaper in the kitchen, you should wear gloves for your safety
and comfort. Whatever you do, don't touch your eyes while cooking with Carolina Reapers. At
least not until you've fully cleaned your hands. The Carolina Reaper fits into the recipes of so
many delicious foods. Maybe use them to make your own spicy sauce. Or, how does peppery jelly sound?
Carolina Reaper is everything you will ever need to spice up soups, stews, and chillies.
You can dry and grind a Carolina Reaper into powder form and add heat to your Thai, Mexican,
or Indian cuisine. All you need is a pinch. The Carolina Reaper's sweetness will only
lend itself to the flavor of your meal. Spice isn’t for everyone. It doesn’t matter
how mild it is. While some people are scared to even touch it, others need to slowly ease into it.
After a while, they put it on every meal. If you’re interested, you can
grow your own Carolina Reapers in your home. The plants survive for 10 years or even more!
If heat is what grabs your attention, here’s what else you might like.
Check out 5 hidden health benefits of spicy foods you need to know. Or how about 15 health benefits
of black pepper you need to know about? Go ahead, select one. Or, better yet,
watch both, and learn more about how spice can help you. Have you ever tried Carolina
Reaper? How was your experience? Let us know in the comments section below!