How hot is the world's hottest hot sauce?
Real heat, measured. The Mad Dog 357 lineup ranked up to 9,000,000 Scoville - from the brand featured on Hot Ones, Seasons 1–3 and 5.
The lineup, ranked by Scoville
- 019,000,000
- 026,000,000
- 035,000,000
- 044,000,000
- 053,000,000
- 062,000,000
- 071,000,000
- 081,000,000
- 09750,000
- 10600,000
- 11357,000
Scoville Heat Units (SHU) as rated by Ashley Food Company. Extracts are food additives, used by the drop.
What is the Scoville scale?
The Scoville scale measures the heat of a chili or pepper product in Scoville Heat Units (SHU) — the concentration of capsaicin, the compound that makes peppers hot. A jalapeno sits around 5,000 SHU. A Carolina Reaper, one of the world's hottest peppers, is roughly 1.6 million. Pure pepper extracts climb far higher: Mad Dog 357's Plutonium No. 9 reaches 9,000,000 SHU — about 1,800 times hotter than a jalapeno.
Hot sauce vs. pepper extract
A hot sauce is made to be eaten — flavor first, with serious heat behind it. A pepper extract is concentrated capsaicin, added to food by the drop to push heat to the extreme. Mad Dog 357's flagship sauces run from 357,000 to 1,000,000 SHU, with pepper-forward sauces like Ghost, Scorpion and Pure Ghost below that. Its extracts run from 1,000,000 all the way to 9,000,000.
Frequently asked
What is the hottest hot sauce in the world?
The hottest products sold to consumers are pure pepper extracts, measured in the millions of Scoville Heat Units. Mad Dog 357's Plutonium No. 9 reaches 9,000,000 SHU — one of the most concentrated pepper extracts sold direct-to-consumer, and the hottest product Mad Dog 357 makes.
What is Plutonium No. 9?
Plutonium No. 9 is a 9,000,000 Scoville pure pepper extract — a food additive, not a sauce. It is meant to be used by the drop to add extreme heat, never eaten straight.
How hot is 9 million Scoville?
For scale: a jalapeno is about 5,000 SHU and a Carolina Reaper around 1.6 million. At 9,000,000 SHU, Plutonium No. 9 is roughly 1,800 times hotter than a jalapeno.
What is the difference between a hot sauce and a pepper extract?
A hot sauce is made to be eaten — flavor plus heat. A pepper extract is concentrated capsaicin used by the drop to add heat to food. Mad Dog 357's flagship sauces run 357,000 to 1,000,000 SHU, with pepper-forward sauces like Ghost, Scorpion and Pure Ghost below that; its extracts run 1,000,000 to 9,000,000.
Is Mad Dog 357 on Hot Ones?
Yes. Mad Dog 357 was featured in Seasons 1, 2, 3 and 5 of Hot Ones. The New York Post has written that people pay hundreds for a bottle.
Featured on Hot Ones
Seasons 1, 2, 3 and 5People pay hundreds for a bottle of this hot sauce
New York PostReviewed by the heat experts
PepperScale and Pepper GeekFamily-owned, brand-direct
Ashley Food Company, since 1991