How hot is Fried Chicken?

Capsi’s sourced range is 800,000–1,500,000 SHU (Vendor Claim). Capsi uses a sourced range and a trust tier, not a single marketing number. How we verify heat: https://web.thecapsi.app/learn/heat-and-capsaicin/how-we-measure-heat

How do I grow Fried Chicken?

Fried Chicken: about 120 days to maturity, subtropical climate, full sun, hardiness zones 9-11.

What can I substitute for Fried Chicken?

Capsi does not have that recorded yet.

Fried Chicken (BubbleSkin)

Also known as BubbleSkin · Bubblegum Skin · Bubblegum Skin Pepper

Italian Capsicum chinense superhot whose deeply blistered orange pods look exactly like fried chicken skin, delivering citrus-floral-earthy flavor at roughly one million Scoville Heat Units.

About 40 times a Capsi Jalapeño (25,086 SHU typical).

Growing

~120 days to maturity

Fruit size

5–7 cm

Flavor & Use

Bright citrus and grapefruit-forward opening, deep floral mid-palate, and a subtle earthy sweetness inherited from the Bubblegum parent; overall slightly sweet and earthy beneath the heat.

citrusgrapefruitfloralearthysweet

Culinary

Extreme fermented hot sauces (especially fruit-forward tropical bases that highlight the citrus-floral notes)Chili powders and flakesChili oilsGlazesRubs

About

The Fried Chicken is a Capsicum chinense superhot hybrid created in Italy by Rocco Maltesi around 2016–2017 as a cross between the blistered-texture 7 Pot Bubblegum (BBG7 Orange / BBG Mammp) and the fruity-floral Jay’s Peach Ghost Scorpion. Originally released as BubbleSkin or Bubblegum Skin for its extreme pod surface, it was renamed Fried Chicken around 2023 when community photos showed the deeply contorted, bumpy, orange-ripening pods looking uncannily like crispy fried-chicken skin and batter. Pods measure 5–7 cm, start green, finish a vivid fried-chicken-batter orange, are rounded at the shoulder and taper to a pronounced scorpion tail, with moderate wall thickness and high oil content. Plants are tall and vigorous (often exceeding 1.5 m), heavy-yielding, and require a long warm season of roughly 100–140 days. Still partially unstable, so some phenotypic variation in texture intensity, heat, and plant size is expected.

Backstory

Around 2016–2017 Italian master breeder Rocco Maltesi crossed the extreme-texture 7 Pot Bubblegum (BBG7 Orange) with Jay’s Peach Ghost Scorpion, initially calling the result BubbleSkin or Bubblegum Skin. Seeds circulated quietly among elite growers from about 2018. In 2023 photos shared by growers including Jeff Hobbs and Alex Casillas went viral in chili communities because the gnarly, blistered, orange pods looked uncannily like crispy fried-chicken skin and batter; the new name stuck. The variety remains partially unstable with some plant-to-plant variation.

Appearance

ShapeScorpion

ColorGreen · Orange

Size5–7 cm

WallMedium

SkinWrinkled

Growing

SunFull

WaterModerate

ClimateSubtropical

Days to maturity120 days

Plant height90–180 cm

Soil pH6–6.8

Spacing60 cm

HardinessZones 9-11

Heritage

Explore

We don't have a documented family for this pepper yet.

Sources

FAQ

How hot is Fried Chicken?: Capsi’s sourced range is 800,000–1,500,000 SHU (Vendor Claim). Capsi uses a sourced range and a trust tier, not a single marketing number. How we verify heat: https://web.thecapsi.app/learn/heat-and-capsaicin/how-we-measure-heat
What does Fried Chicken taste like?: Bright citrus and grapefruit-forward opening, deep floral mid-palate, and a subtle earthy sweetness inherited from the Bubblegum parent; overall slightly sweet and earthy beneath the heat.
How do I grow Fried Chicken?: Fried Chicken: about 120 days to maturity, subtropical climate, full sun, hardiness zones 9-11.
What can I substitute for Fried Chicken?: Capsi does not have that recorded yet.