{"id":111,"date":"2005-08-04T05:14:43","date_gmt":"2005-08-04T12:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.hotpepper.ca\/archives\/2005\/08\/hot-peppers\/"},"modified":"2005-08-04T05:14:43","modified_gmt":"2005-08-04T12:14:43","slug":"hot-peppers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2005\/08\/04\/hot-peppers\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot Peppers"},"content":{"rendered":"

I keep receiving visitiors coming to my sites looking for information on hot peppers. They look to see what makes hot pepper hot, which of the peppers are the hottest, and so forth. I thought I should make at least one post on the information. If I ever get around to it, maybe I’ll dedicate a site to hot peppers.<\/p>\n

The information below is adapted from Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What makes hot peppers hot?<\/h3>\n

The Scoville scale is a measure of the hotness of a chile pepper. These fruits of the Capsicum genus contain capsaicin, a chemical compound which stimulates heat-receptor nerve endings in the tongue, and the number of Scoville heat units (SHU) indicates the amount of capsaicin present. Many hot sauces use their Scoville rating in advertising as a selling point.<\/p>\n

It is named after Wilbur Scoville, who developed the Scoville Organoleptic Test in 1912. As originally devised, a solution of the pepper extract is diluted in sugar water until the ‘heat’ is no longer detectable to a panel of (usually five) tasters; the degree of dilution gives its measure on the Scoville scale. Thus a sweet pepper, containing no capsaicin at all, has a Scoville rating of zero, meaning no heat detectable even undiluted. Conversely, the hottest chiles, such as habaneros, have a rating of 300,000 or more, indicating that their extract has to be diluted 300,000-fold before the capsaicin present is undetectable. 15 Scoville units is equivalent to one part capsaicin per million. The greatest weakness of the Scoville Organoleptic Test is its imprecision, because it relies on human subjectivity.<\/p>\n

Later analytical developments such as high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) (also known as the “Gillett Method”) have now enabled the Scoville rating to be determined by direct measurement of capsaicin rather than sensory methods.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How hot are hot peppers?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
855,000<\/td>\nNaga Jolokia pepper (reported & disputed)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
350,000–580,000<\/td>\nRed Savina habanero (Guinness Book of Records)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
100,000–350,000<\/td>\nHabanero chile<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
100,000–325,000<\/td>\nScotch bonnet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
100,000–225,000<\/td>\nBirds eye pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
100,000–200,000<\/td>\nJamaican hot pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
100,000–125,000<\/td>\nCarolina cayenne pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
95,000–110,000<\/td>\nBahamian pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
85,000–115,000<\/td>\nTabiche pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
50,000–100,000<\/td>\nThai pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
50,000–100,000<\/td>\nChiltepin pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
40,000–58,000<\/td>\nPiquin pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
40,000–50,000<\/td>\nSuper chile pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
40,000–50,000<\/td>\nSantaka pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
30,000–50,000<\/td>\nCayenne pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
30,000–50,000<\/td>\nTabasco pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15,000–30,000<\/td>\nde Arbol pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12,000–30,000<\/td>\nManzano pepper, Aj\u00c3\u00ad<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5,000–23,000<\/td>\nSerrano pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5,000–10,000<\/td>\nHot wax pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5,000–10,000<\/td>\nChipotle<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2,500–8,000<\/td>\nJalape\u00c3\u00b1o<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2,500–8,000<\/td>\nSantaka pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2,500–5,000<\/td>\nGuajilla pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1,500–2500<\/td>\nRocotilla pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1,000–2,000<\/td>\nPasilla pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1,000–2,000<\/td>\nAncho pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1,000–2,000<\/td>\nPoblano pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
700–1,000<\/td>\nCoronado pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
500–2500<\/td>\nAnaheim pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
500–1,000<\/td>\nNew Mexico pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
500–700<\/td>\nSanta Fe Grande pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
100–500<\/td>\nPepperoncini pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
100–500<\/td>\nPimento<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
0<\/td>\nSweet bell pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I keep receiving visitiors coming to my sites looking for information on hot peppers. They look to see what makes hot pepper hot, which of the peppers are the hottest, and so forth. I thought I should make at least one post on the information. If I ever get around to it, maybe I’ll dedicate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4NkW7-1N","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3284,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2018\/02\/26\/lavender-soul\/","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":0},"title":"Lavender Soul","author":"Kim Siever","date":"26 February 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Slumber breeze plucks from the trees the leaves and seeds unbound, Softly down with scarce a sound, impregnating the ground. Fallen snow, a cradle low, to stow from blow aloft. Intertwining rain and shining guiding seedling soft. One hand wise paints blue the skies, established clouds up high. One hand\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poetry"","block_context":{"text":"Poetry","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/poetry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/02\/lavender-2417339_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/02\/lavender-2417339_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/02\/lavender-2417339_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/02\/lavender-2417339_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/02\/lavender-2417339_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":739,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2010\/02\/08\/winter-in-lethbridge\/","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":1},"title":"Winter in Lethbridge","author":"Kim Siever","date":"8 February 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the great things about living in Lethbridge is the variable weather. 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