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How Hot Are Chillies?
A scale developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912, to measure
the heat level in chillies. It was first a subjective taste test, but since,
it has been refined by the use of HPLC, the unit is named in honour of its
inventor.
The test officially measures the pungency level of a given pepper. There are
other methods, but the Scoville Scale remains the most widely used and
respected. The greater the number of Scoville units, the hotter the pepper.
Of course, being a natural product, the heat can vary from pepper to pepper,
so this scale is just a guide.
|
Chilli |
Pungency (Scoville) |
|
Bell, Sweet Italian |
0 |
|
Peperocini |
100-500 |
|
New Mexico |
500-1000 |
|
Ancho, Passila,
Poblano |
1000-1500 |
|
Sandia, Rocotillo |
1500-2500 |
|
Jalapeno, Chipolte |
2500-10000 |
|
Serrano |
5000-23000 |
|
Piquin, Aji, Cayenne |
30000-50000 |
|
Habenero, Scotch
Bonnet |
80000-300000+ |
|
Hottest on Record* |
577000 |
*The hottest pepper recorded was a Habenero.
Pure Capsaicin measures 16,000,000 Scoville units.
The original Scoville test asked a panel of tasters to state when an
increasingly dilute solution of the pepper no longer burned the mouth.
Roughly one part per million of chilli 'heat' rates as 1.5 Scoville units.
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