Infinity chili facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Infinity chili pepper |
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|---|---|
| Species | Capsicum chinense |
| Breeder | Nick Woods |
| Origin | Grantham, Lincolnshire, England |
| Heat |  Exceptionally hot |
| Scoville scale | 1,067,286 SHU |
The Infinity Chili pepper is a super-hot chili pepper. It was created in England by a chili grower named Nicholas Woods. He grew it in Grantham, Lincolnshire.
For a short time in February 2011, the Infinity Chili was the world's hottest pepper! It even held a Guinness World Record. Its heat was measured at 1,067,286 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). But on March 1, 2011, another pepper, the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper, took its place. That one was even hotter, at 1,463,700 SHU.
Nicholas Woods didn't plan to create a new super-hot pepper. He had been growing chilies for his hot sauces for five years. He grew different types of peppers in a greenhouse. Sometimes, different chili plants can mix their genes naturally. This is how the Infinity Chili likely came to be.
What It's Like to Taste
Nicholas Woods described trying his new pepper for the first time. He said it tasted fruity at first. But then, the extreme heat hit him! He felt a burning in the back of his throat. It was so hot he couldn't speak. He even started to shake and felt sick. He definitely doesn't recommend eating it raw!
The World's Hottest Curry
A restaurant in Grantham called Bindi once made a special curry. It was called "The Widower." This curry used 20 Infinity chilies! They claimed it was the world's hottest curry.
More than 300 people tried this super-spicy dish. But only one person, Dr. Ian Rothwell, managed to finish it. It took him just over an hour. He even said he felt like he was seeing things for about 10 minutes! This was due to a rush of natural chemicals in his body.
How Chili Heat Is Measured
The heat of the Infinity Chili was tested in March 2010. This testing happened at the University of Warwick's Crop Centre.
Measuring chili heat accurately is very important. Scientists use the Scoville scale to do this. For a pepper to be called the "world's hottest," it needs to be tested very carefully. It also needs to show that it's consistently hot. This means every pepper of that type should be super hot, not just one.
After the Infinity Chili and another pepper called the Naga Viper were tested, there was some discussion. Some experts felt that more tests were needed. They wanted to make sure the peppers were truly stable and consistently hot.
Because of these discussions, Guinness World Records now asks for more proof. They want to be very sure about the heat levels. They also want to know that the pepper type is stable. This helps make sure that the "world's hottest" title is given fairly.
