Hot Red Peppers

Home Contact Holiday Recipes	Recipe Conversions: Cups to Grams Cups to Ounces Grams to Cups Ounces to Cups

Hot Red Peppers

Welcome to the world of Red Chili Peppers. For all those of you who are looking for info on hot peppers you’ve come to the right place. Sadly for those of you who were looking for that fantastic band the Red Hot Chili Peppers you may be disappointed, but for the rest of us red peppers fans let’s continue.

If you’ve ‘tuned in’ to find out the heat intensity of your red chilli peppers, first let me say that the colour of the hot peppers is nothing to go by as most of the heat comes from the vein and the seeds. As a general rule the larger the chilli the milder.

Below I’ll attempt to give you list of not only the hot red peppers but all the other many colour chillies, in order of heat intensity but first a few words about preparing chillies.

PREPARING HOT PEPPERS

Warning

While preparing chillies and after, take great care with your hands and any equipment used. The chemical capsaicin which gives the heat will remain on your hands and the equipment for hours after. If left on the hands the raw capsaicin can be extremely painful if the eyes, ears, nose or mouth are touched.

Preparing

Cut the chillies in half lengthways. Take a small sharp knife run the blade along the inside, removing the vein and seeds and discard.

Precautions

When enjoying your meal if you’ve eaten a chilli that is too hot and are suffering

DO NOT DRINK WATER

DRINK A GLASS OF MILK OR EAT PLAIN YOGURT

It is a well known fact that dairy fat has a soothing effect of the chemical.

Hot Red Peppers

How Hot Rating

The most accepted method of rating is the Scoville scale. This unit of measurement was devised in 1912 by Wilbur Scoville to test the heat levels of chillies. This test was a comparative taste test that was at best subjective. It used human testers whereby a measured sample was diluted with sugar water until hotness could not be detected anymore. As an example, if the sample is 1 cup of chilli product and after diluting with 3,000 cups of sugar water, hotness cannot be detected, the Scoville rating is "3,000".

Today more sophisticated methods are used. Liquid chromatography is used to determine capsaicin levels, but this follows a similar measurement. In honour Dr. Wilbur the unit of measure is still called Scoville, whilst still measured in 1000's these are shortened to 1 - 10 scale.

SCOVILLE SCALE/UNITS

Scoville Units		Scoville
100 - 500		1
500 - 1,000		2
1,000 - 1,500		3
1,500 - 2,500		4
2,500 - 5,000		5
5,000 - 15,000		6
15,000 - 30,000		7
30,000 - 50,000		8
50,000 - 100,000		9
100,000 - 300,000		10
16,000,000		Pure Capsaicin

Although the capsaicin level can vary from plant to plant we listed below approximate scales for several varieties of chillies:-

Type	Scoville Units	Scoville
Cherry, Mexi-Bells, Peperoncini	100 - 500	1
Anaheim, Big Jim, Mulato, New Mexico	500 - 1000	2
Ancho, Espanola, Negro, Pasilla, Poblano	1,000 - 1,500	3
Cascabel, Rocotillo, Sandia	1,500 - 2,500	4
Guajillo, Jalapeno, Mirasol	2,500 - 5,000	5
Chipolte, Serrano, Yellow Wax	5,000 - 15,000	6
De Arbol	15,000 - 30,000	7
Aji, Cayenne, Pequin, Tabasco	30,000 - 50,000	8
Santaka, Tepin	50,000 - 100,000	9
Thai	100,000 - 200,000	10
Habanero, Scotch Bonnet	200,000 - 300,000	10
Habanero, Scotch Bonnet	350,000 - 570,000	10

Growers are constantly attempting to produce new chillies that are off the scale and so if you hear of any more before we do we’d be pleased to hear from you.