Discovered in Pennsylvania, the Devil’s Tongue Pepper is a spicy hot chili pepper that is yellow, orange in color, and sweet and fruity in taste. It is similar in heat to the habanero or fatalii pepper and is often used to make sauces and salsas.
However, there’s a reason it was given this name. This pepper is not for the faint-hearted, so caution should be taken when consuming anything with Devil’s Tongue peppers.
How Hot Is It?
The Scoville heat units found in this pepper range from 125,000-325000 units. To give you an idea of how hot that is, a jalapeno measures around 5,000 Scoville heat units. That means the Devil’s Tongue is around 65 times hotter.
If a jalapeno pepper is too hot for you, then it’s best to avoid this pepper altogether.
However, delicacies with this pepper as an ingredient would be enjoyed by someone who does enjoy spice and can seriously handle the heat.
How To Use Devil’s Tongue Peppers In Cooking
Due to these peppers being super hot, you need to be careful if you are cooking with them, as their oils can cause sensations of burning on your skin. To avoid accidents, it’s important to wear gloves if you are cooking with these peppers.
If you were to get any of the oil on your skin, and you are feeling that burning sensation, here are a few things to do to alleviate the burn.
Firstly, apply some rubbing alcohol to the affected area of your skin. This helps because capsaicin, the oil that makes chili peppers spicy, is soluble in alcohol, so rubbing some on your skin will help get rid of it.
Once you’ve done that, try soaking your skin in milk or anything else containing dairy. This will help as dairy contains casein, which is a chemical that will combat the effects of capsaicin.
If you don’t have any rubbing oil or dairy, then you can try some regular dish soap and water. These are good at removing oils from kitchenware, so they could help in removing this hot oil from your skin.
The main purpose of Devil’s Tongue Peppers for cooking is to create hot sauces. They can also be ground into hot spicy powders. As they appear to be from the habanero family, whatever you use habaneros for, you can use Devil’s Tongue Pepper’s for that too.
For those brave enough to try, here are a couple of hot sauce recipes that use the Devil’s Tongue:
This spicy hot sauce carries a sweet flavor with a serious kick! It’s mixed with sweet bell peppers and garlic to create an impressive flavor, but you are warned to keep your nose away from the food processor as the fumes will seriously hit you.
This vibrant yellow hot sauce is super spicy for those who can tolerate high levels of heat. It’s super flavorsome as it includes honey and ginger, along with some garlic and onion.
Growing Devil’s Tongue Peppers
If growing your own peppers is something of interest to you, then Devil’s Tongue Peppers are easily growable in your own home.
Their seeds are available in many seed stores, and it is advised to start them around 8-10 weeks before your last frost date. Most soil mixes are fine for pepper seeds, and you should plant them around ¼ to ½ inch deep in soil that is moist.
Cool soil can delay germination, so planting them indoors, preferably in a greenhouse would be best.
The soil must be kept at 75-90 degrees F for them to germinate. Be sure to keep the soil moist and water it once you notice the surface is beginning to dry. The estimated germination, if done correctly is around 4 to 12 weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Does Devil’s Tongue Taste Like?
Similar to the habanero or fatalii, this pepper has a fruity sweet taste. Its citrus flavor fits its vibrant yellow color and carries a tangy undertone.
How Hot Are Fatalii Peppers?
Fatalii peppers are very similar to the Devil’s Tongue. Similar to Devil’s Tongue, they carry 125,000 to 400,000 units on the Scoville scale, making them just as hot, if not even hotter than the Devil’s Tongue.
What Is The Most Flavorful Hot Pepper?
The habanero is considered one of the most flavorful peppers out there. It carries a lovely flavor and absorbs smoking well, which gives it even more of a comforting flavor. Its spice level is at around 100,000-350,000 which makes it very spicy, on a similar level to the Fatalii and Devil’s Tongue.
What Should I Do With Hot sauce?
You can use hot sauce for a number of things, such as drizzling it over meals or using it as a dip for some chips. However, you can get creative with how you use it and incorporate it as a base for many meals.
You can do this by incorporating them into your pasta sauces. Mixing them with your favorite meats such as meatballs will ensure the meat has that kick.
Final Thoughts
It’s safe to say that this pepper really earned its name, due to its fiery hot taste and tongue-like appearance.
This doesn’t mean to say that one can’t enjoy a vibrant hot salsa made with Devil’s Tongue Peppers, but they should be left to those individuals who can handle the heat.
