Here's How Much Hotter A Ghost Pepper Is Than A Jalapeno
Ghost peppers, which are also known as Bhut Jolokia peppers, are some of the hottest peppers in the world. They even earned the title of "World's Hottest of all Spices" from Guinness World Records in 2006, though they have since been topped by the Carolina Reaper. These incredibly hot peppers originate from Northern India and grow to be roughly 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches long (via Chili Pepper Madness).
There's actually a scale to show how hot different peppers are, which is known as the Scoville scale. The scale, which was invented by a pharmacologist in 1912, shows how much dilution is needed for the pepper's heat to go away. Apparently, ghost peppers are so hot, the Indian Army uses them as the base for their chili grenades (via Alimentarium).
According to Pepper Scale, ghost peppers are 107 times hotter than jalapenos. On the Scoville scale, ghost peppers rank between 855,000 to 1,041,427. By contrast, jalapenos only rank between 2,500 to 8,000. That's definitely a huge difference in spiciness.
Other differences between the peppers
While the difference in spiciness is enough to catch anyone's attention, there are some other differences between ghost peppers and jalapenos. If you can hold on and taste anything beyond searing heat, there's a distinct difference in flavor between the two peppers. Jalapenos tend to have a crisper flavor while ghost peppers have a sweetness that jalapenos do not have. In this sense, jalapenos are more like bell peppers, while ghost peppers are more like habanero peppers — both of which are milder than their spicier counterparts.
Apart from the color, jalapenos could almost be mistaken for ghost peppers. Ghost peppers are bright, wrinkly orange, while jalapenos tend to be a smooth green. Jalapenos do, however, grow to be a similar size to ghost peppers. The milder peppers originate from Mexico and average about 2 to 3 1/2 inches long. Some jalapeno peppers have grown to be up to 6 inches long, though (via Chili Pepper Madness).