Red Ghost pepper: lab-tested Scoville rating and flavor
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The Red Ghost in our Ghost Kit tested at 527,676 Scoville heat units (SHU). That is the hottest of the three ghost peppers in the kit and above our numbered ghost grinder: no. 5 Ghost tested at 417,166, so the Red Ghost came in about 1.3 times as hot. On the SpiceQuest scale it sits between no. 5 Ghost and no. 6 7-Pot Brain Strain at 650,785.
Reading the number
527,676 is in our Superhot tier, which runs from 350,000 to 999,999. It is about 3.1 times as hot as no. 4 Habanero at 171,446, and just under Chocolate Ghost at 549,403, the hottest ghost we have tested.
The lab figure is for one lot. The kit label gives a range, 400,000 to 550,000, because heat moves between harvests and batches of the same pepper. The lot we tested sits near the top of that range. The flakes in the SpiceQuest chili grinder are pure pepper, with no salt and no preservatives, and the number comes from an HPLC lab test. Our lab-tested Scoville chart has every result.
Smoky, sweet, then a slow burn
Red is the ripe color of the ghost pepper, and the red pod is the one most people mean when they say ghost pepper. The flavor is smoky and sweet, with apricot and a touch of earth under it. The heat arrives late, builds over a minute or so, then covers the whole mouth and stays.
Because the heat starts slowly, press once and wait before you press again. Try it on chili, barbecue, a beef stew or a tomato sauce that can carry some smoke. How the three colors differ is in Red vs. Yellow vs. Green Ghost.
Who it suits
Red Ghost is sold in the Ghost Kit with Yellow Ghost and Green Ghost, each in its own SpiceQuest push-button grinder. The product page shows whether it is available.
It suits someone who already likes no. 5 Ghost and wants the same smoky taste with more heat. For someone new to ghost peppers, Green or Yellow is the easier place to start.
Questions people ask
Is the Red Ghost hotter than no. 5 Ghost? In our tests, yes. The Red Ghost tested at 527,676 Scoville units and no. 5 Ghost at 417,166, two lots of the same kind of pepper tested at different times.
Is the Red Ghost the hottest pepper in the Ghost Kit? Yes. Green Ghost tested at 360,498 and Yellow Ghost at 285,998, so Red is about 1.5 times Green and about 1.8 times Yellow.
How does it compare with a Carolina Reaper? Our pure Reaper, no. 9 Reaper X, tested at 975,612, about 1.8 times the Red Ghost. Ghost pepper vs. Carolina Reaper has that comparison.