Infinity Chili
Cultivar · 7 Pot Infinity, Infinity 7 Pod / Infinity 7 Pot, Infinity Chilli, Infinity Pepper
The Infinity Chili was bred by Nick Woods of Fire Foods in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and briefly held the Guinness World Record for the world's hottest pepper in 2011 with a peak measurement of 1,176,182 SHU. This Capsicum chinense hybrid is notable for its extreme heat that builds slowly but intensely, and its characteristic fruity undertones typical of superhot chinense varieties.
History & lineage
The Infinity Chili was bred by Nick Woods of Fire Foods in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and held the Guinness World Record for hottest chilli for two weeks in February 2011 - one of the briefest record reigns in superhot history. Recorded at a peak of 1,176,182 SHU, the variety dethroned the Bhut Jolokia and was itself dethroned by the Naga Viper just weeks later, which was in turn replaced by the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T within months.
The extraordinary rate of record-changing during 2011 reflected the explosion of superhot breeding that had begun in the late 2000s. Multiple British, American, and Australian breeders were simultaneously crossing Bhut Jolokia, Naga Morich, and Trinidad Scorpion stock to produce ever-hotter cultivars, with several genuinely superhot varieties reaching maturity in roughly the same window. Guinness verification could not keep pace with the breeding speed, and several record claims overlapped or were superseded almost as soon as they were verified.
Fire Foods, the Lincolnshire-based hot sauce producer behind the Infinity, used the brief Guinness recognition as the basis for a successful commercial product line - the "Infinity" branded sauces and dried chilli products that built the company's reputation in the UK chilli market. The variety remains commercially available and grown by enthusiasts, even though its record-holding days were short.
The Infinity represents one of the genuinely UK-bred superhots of the 2010s, alongside the Naga Viper (Cumbria), Dragon's Breath (Wales), and a handful of others. The brief British dominance of the world's hottest chilli rankings in 2011 was a notable moment in UK chilli history - though the global centre of superhot breeding has since shifted decisively to the US, with Ed Currie's PuckerButt Pepper Company dominating the modern record-holder list.
Culinary uses
Used extremely sparingly in superhot hot sauces, extreme challenge dishes, and as a component in competitive hot sauces. Requires careful handling and should be used in minute quantities. Popular among chiliheads for testing heat tolerance.
Growing it in the UK
Chinense is the slow one. Seed can take three weeks to germinate and wants steady warmth to do it, so sow in January or February with a heated propagator and expect to ripen the fruit under cover. Germination is given as 7-21 days. 90 days to maturity is an ordinary season here — sow in February and it will ripen without a fight.
At 90–120 cm this is a substantial plant. Give it a 10-litre pot or a greenhouse border, and stake it before the fruit sets rather than after. Yield is moderate, so a single plant is a taste and two or three are a supply.
This is superhot territory, and the handling advice is not decorative: wear gloves when cutting it, keep your hands away from your eyes for the rest of the day, and open a window before frying it — capsaicin in hot oil will clear a kitchen. Thin walls dry quickly, which makes a glut easy to deal with.
Read from this variety's own record — the figures are in the panel opposite.
