Another round! Can you tell which chilies are hotter than a cayenne?
Nearly everyone has that bottle of cayenne pepper powder in the spice rack, but can you put a finger on how hot it really is? Can you look at other chilies and say “hotter or not” than that common kitchen spice?
Let’s test that knowledge once again. Our original Hotter or Not quiz featuring cayenne featured 25 peppers (and if you haven’t tried it, give it a go here!). Its sequel brings 20 more chilies to the table. Can you tell which are hotter (or not) just by their names and images?
Where to start? Study our hot pepper list which features over 125 peppers (including their heat levels). You may learn some new chilies along the way. Have fun!
Guajillo Pepper
The guajillo pepper sits at the lower end of medium heat - 2,500 to 5,000 SHU. That's at least six times milder than a cayenne.
Pequin Pepper
It's little but powerful. Pequin peppers range from 40,000 to 60,000 Scoville heat units - just slightly hotter than a cayenne (30,000 to 50,000).
Banana Pepper
The banana pepper is a pizza and sandwich favorite, particularly because it's a mild level of spiciness (0 to 500 Scoville heat units). The cayenne is much spicier, starting at 30,000 SHU.
Hungarian Wax Pepper
The Hungarian wax pepper sits in the medium pepper zone, like the cayenne, but it's at the lower end of medium (5,000 to 10,000 SHU). Cayenne peppers are easily three times hotter at least.
Bulgarian Carrot Pepper
While it looks like a carrot, there's more to the Bulgarian carrot pepper than meets the eye. 5,000 to 30,000 SHU. It's a nice medium-heat, just not as hot as cayenne.
Lemon Drop Pepper
While definitely not as hot as a cayenne, the lemon drop is hotter than many think! 15,000 to 30,000 SHU. Its hottest is a cayenne's mildest.
Naga Viper Pepper
The Naga Viper definitely bites 900,000 to 1.38 million Scoville heat units. The cayenne (30,000 to 50,000 SHU) is nowhere near the heat.
Infinity Pepper
Heat forever and a day - that's the Infinity pepper. It's a total super-hot: 1.067 million to 1.25 million SHU. It's in a different blistering world than the cayenne.
Chipotle Pepper
The deliciously smoky chipotle pepper is simply a dried, smoked jalapeño so it shares a comparable heat profile - 2,500 to 8,000 Scoville heat units, at least four times milder than a cayenne.
Hatch Pepper
The Hatch pepper has a devout following, but it's not for its super-spicy heat. It only ranges 1,000 to 8,00o SHU, at least four times milder than a cayenne.
Black Pearl Pepper
The Black Pearl is a beautiful dark ornamental and it's close in heat to a cayenne, but not quite. 10,000 to 30,000 SHU. It's hottest potential only meets the mildest cayenne.
7 Pot Pepper
The "7 Pot" is the hint here - the Trinidad 7 pot pepper is enough to heat seven pots of stew (where it got its name). It's a ton of heat - 1 million to 1.2 million SHU, well more than the max 50,000 of cayenne.
Medusa Pepper
Bold name, not so bold in the heat department. The Medusa pepper only ranges from 1 to 1,000 Scoville heat units, well below the 30,000 minimum SHU of the cayenne.
Trinidad Perfume
It may look like some of the Trinidadian super-hot peppers that top the pepper scale, but the Trinidad Perfume barely ticks the needle. 0 to 500 SHU. That's more bell pepper than hot pepper in terms of heat.
Cajun Belle
The Cajun belle (500 to 4,000 SHU) is not as hot as a cayenne (30,000 to 50,000 SHU), but its heat does surprise many due to its bell pepper-like looks.
Puya Pepper
The puya pepper - while in the medium heat level category (5,000 to 8,000 SHU) - falls well short of the upper-medium heat of the cayenne.
Bishop's Crown Pepper
The bishop's crown pepper has one of the more unique looks on the pepper scale, but it does fall short on heat compared to the cayenne. It ranges from 5,000 to 30,000 Scoville heat units.
Fatalii Pepper
It's in the name, for sure. The fatalii pepper is plenty hot - 100,000 to 350,000 Scoville heat units.
Goat Pepper
The name is unassuming in terms of heat, but the goat pepper is most certainly extra hot: 100,000 to 350,000 Scoville heat units.
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion
In terms of heat, the super-hot Trinidad moruga scorpion leaves the cayenne pepper in the dust. 1.2 million to 2 million Scoville heat units vs. 30,000 to 50,000. No contest.