A homemade hot sauce recipe made with a variety of superhots, including the Carolina Reaper, 7-Pots and Scorpion peppers. Very hot!

OK, my friends. It is time to reveal one of the hottest hot sauces I have ever made in my own kitchen. Yes, it is homemade and it is crazy hot. Crazy hot in a good sort of way, the way only a serious chilihead can enjoy. Or any true heat lover.

The story is this. I was putting the finishing touches on my new cookbook, “1 Million Plus! Cooking with the World’s Hottest Chili Peppers” and I had acquired a couple of pounds of superhot chili peppers to complete a photo shoot for the cover and promotional materials.

We took our photos and when everything was wrapped up, I had the wonderful benefit of having a LOT of superhots to work with. I also grew a slew of peppers in our own garden this year.

We’re talking Carolina Reapers, Scorpions, a couple of 7-Pot Chili Pepper varieties. And that was what I had. A big variety.

Let’s Talk About the Hot Sauce Heat

With superhots, you can expect a wide range of heat, though the majority of them start at over 1 Million SHU. Some will approach or surpass 2 Million SHU, which is somewhat insane, but again, these are ranges so you can typically expect your pepper heat to fall in the middle somewhere.

The heat depends on many factors, such as soil and growing conditions of the particular peppers.Well, my leftover peppers must have been grown under some ideal conditions, because they were HOT. Yeah! Nice and hot! Top of the range. I didn’t not want them to go to waste, so I turned the majority of them into a hot sauce that I still have today.

This is a Louisiana style hot sauce with a few extras added in for flavor. A Louisiana style hot sauce consists of peppers and vinegar, and they’re extremely popular.

With good reason. This superhot version brings in the variety of superhots and adds in roasted garlic and basil. That’s it, with a bit of salt. You can expect variable results depending on the chili peppers you choose to work with.

To push for the top end of the scale, use only Reapers or 7-Pot Brain Strains if you can get them. Pure Scorpions would be crazy killer hot. Or vary it up like I did. You can also make this with roasted jalapenos, or pretty much any pepper you prefer. Choose your peppers with love. That is always a good place to start.

Tips for Making Superhot Hot Sauce

A word of caution. Aside from the obvious heat you will achieve with this sauce, you must also beware of fumes in the kitchen. Make this sauce in a well ventilated room.

Open the windows if you can. Pepper fumes can be rough, especially with superhots. Consider a mask and/or goggle to protect your eyes.

Also, wear gloves. I cook with superhots all the time and the oils usually do not bother my skin, but when cooking with a large amount, cutting them open, handling them, you will get some on your skin. It may burn, but if not, it can still burn other parts of your body that you touch. So, be careful. Learn How to Stop the Chili Pepper Burn.

Once you’ve made the hot sauce, jar or bottle it and let it sit a week or two for the flavors to truly meld, though you can eat it right away if you’d like. Enjoy!

Patty’s Perspective

There is an MC Hammer song playing in my head right now. “Can’t Touch This!” Seriously, I was afraid to get near it to even take a photo. Mike is crazy.

Frequently Asked Hot Sauce Making Questions

Here are some answers to the most common questions I get about this and other hot sauce recipes:

How long will this hot sauce keep?

It should keep a few months easily in the fridge, or even longer. It’s all about the acidity. To be technical, target level ph for shelf stable foods is below 4.6 ph, but should probably be lower for home cooks, around 4.0 or so, to account for errors. I have not measured the ph of this sauce, but I won’t have it around very long anyway. If you’re concerned, add more vinegar to lower the ph.

The best ph meters that I recommend are from Thermoworks. Get yourself a ph meter from Thermoworks today. I am a happy affiliate.

Where’d you get that hot sauce bottle?

I find them locally sometimes, but I also order through Amazon. Here is a link to some bottles I like (affiliate link, my friends!): Swing Top Glass Bottles, 8.5 Ounce – Set of 4 . If you like the smaller bottles that most hot sauce makers use, here’s another link: Hot Sauce Bottles, 5 Oz – 24 Pack .

Can I process this hot sauce for longer storage?

Absolutely. Just be sure to use proper canning/jarring safety procedures.

Can Hot Sauce Kill You?

It is possible to overdose on capsaicin, the chemical that makes chili peppers hot. However, the only way you can die from eating hot sauce is if the sauce if sufficiently hot and you eat it in sufficient quantity. A study performed in 1980 calculated that it would take consuming 3 pounds of superhot pepper powder to kill a person weighing 150 pounds. It is highly unlikely anyone could consume that amount, as their body would react before reaching such a limit.

There have been reports of people ending up in the hospital in extreme situations after eating superhot chili peppers, particularly those with previous medical conditions. There is also the story of a man who burned a hole in his esophagus from eating super hot peppers, but that was from vomiting, not from the peppers themselves.

While it is true that eating extremely hot peppers and hot sauces can cause vomiting, nausea and stomach pain, the reality is that they cannot tear or burn through any of your body parts.

What should I do with hot sauce?

Aside from drizzling it over anything you please, here’s a post I did about How to Cook with Hot Sauce. As if you need even MORE reasons to eat hot sauce. I hope you find it helpful!

Relevant Superhot Chili Pepper Information

TRY SOME OF THESE CAROLINA REAPER RECIPES

TRY SOME OF MY OTHER POPULAR HOT SAUCE RECIPES

If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.