Matt Bray 
Have extra hot peppers sitting around? Hot pepper vinegar is easy to make and looks beautiful in the kitchen. And, best of all, it lasts a long time. It’s a southern dining table staple, often found next to salt and pepper and providing a mellow …
Don’t say we didn’t warn you. The Prairie Fire shot is one of those classic “I dare you” shooters. While Tabasco peppers have a significant medium punch, Tabasco hot sauce itself isn’t anywhere near as hot. But it’s the speed of the hot sauce intake along with the esophagus-coating warmth of the tequila that both ignite to light a brush fire in your belly. In fact, your entire core will burn.
Looking for a dip with a little kick, a little smoke, and some decent tang? A smoked paprika aioli fits the bill quite nicely. Whip this up instead of your basic aioli the next time your looking to dress up your fried appetizers. It’s a terrific french fries dipping sauce, and it’s a perfect spicy condiment for crab cakes, fried shrimp, calamari, and hamburgers, just to name a few.
What are Padrón peppers? Every chili pepper has a heat range, but very few pack the spicy surprise that the Padrón pepper does. 90% of the time these Spanish chilies (also known as Pimento de Padrón) are some of the mildest on the planet. And …
Scoville heat units (SHU): 1,000,000 – 1,500,000
Jalapeño reference point: 125 to 600 times hotter
Origin: India
Products and seeds: Naga Morich on Amazon.com
With a venomous bite even more intense than its cousin the ghost pepper, the Naga Morich (also known as the serpent chili and the Dorset Naga*) sits in rarefied air on the pepper scale. Calling it “fiery” would simply be an understatement as only a handful of chilies surpass it. Like with other super-hot peppers, don’t handle these chilies raw without taking safety precautions, and if you dare to eat it, be ready for the pain!
The savviest heat-lovers grow their own chili peppers, and rarely have to go without that extra kick. That’s especially true for some of the hottest chili peppers, like the habanero, that may not be available at your local store. If you seek the heat of this spicy chili more often than most, growing habanero may be your best choice. Below, you’ll find some simple tips that’ll help you grow these chilies at home.
Heat-lovers already know hot sauces are delicious in all their many varied forms, but what exactly are they doing to your body? Is hot sauce good for you? Or is the flip side true? Is hot sauce bad for you?
The short of it: Hot sauces are actually very good for you, but there are a few caveats. Read on to get the skinny about these kickin’ condiments.
Habanero peppers are hot, make no mistake. They’ll kick you around. But a Carolina Reaper? It’s like a solar flare erupted in your esophagus. Yes, there’s a humongous heat difference here, but is there more to compare? How different do they taste? Does the heat act similarly? What about products in the marketplace? We dive in with another PepperScale Showdown.
Don’t be lured in by the cartoon alligator on the label to thinking this is some mild mannered mix. Gator Bite hot sauce by Pepper Palace will bite…and bite hard. Its mix of smoky sweet habanero pepper and cayenne, along with gritty Cajun spices, has surprising depth. There is big heat in a bottle, too, so be ready for its teeth.
Molten green… Looking for a way to up the spice of your tangy tomatillo-based salsa verde? Adding in habanero pepper is a sure-fire way to create a salsa with sweat in mind. This habanero salsa verde recipe also has a layer of sweetness, too. It …