The Scoville scale is a measurement of the spicy heat of chili peppers, as measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU). The scale is named after its creator, American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville. A sweet pepper (such as a bell pepper) has a SHU of zero. Most people are comfortable with a mild chili pepper (about 1000 to 2000 SHU), while others enjoy the fiery heat of a habanero or Scotch bonnet, which can top out at over a million SHU.

A few years ago, I realized that there was no single place where I could look up something about the Scoville scale and get an accurate answer. The internet is full of all sorts of misinformation about peppers and their heat. So I started this blog to provide accurate information to anyone who wants it.

The Scoville scale is a measure of the hotness of a chili pepper. It was devised in 1912 by Wilbur Scoville, an American pharmacist who developed the test as a way to determine the amount of capsaicin present in a given type of pepper. By measuring how much sugar water it took to dilute the heat of ground-up peppers, he created a series of numbers that could be used to compare their relative piquancy.

There are other methods for measuring hotness, but the Scoville scale is still the most common one. Any pepper with a number higher than zero is described as “hot” and peppers above 3,500 are considered superhot or even “flaming hot.” The current record holder for highest rating on the scale is the Carolina Reaper, which received 2.2 million SHUs (Scoville Heat Units).

For some perspective on how this scale compares to other measures of hotness: habaneros measure between 100,000 and 350,000 SHUs; jalapenos register between 5,000 and 25,000 SHUs; cayenne peppers go up to 50 SHUs.

The Scoville scale is a method of measuring the spicy heat of chili peppers. Named after its creator, American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville, it is one of the most famous measurement scales used to measure the relative hotness of a pepper.

The most common method of measuring the Scoville scale is by determining how many drops of water it takes to neutralize the capsaicin in a chili pepper sample. Capsaicin is what gives chili peppers their flavor and heat, which makes it an ideal way to test the spiciness of different varieties.

The Scoville Scale is used to measure the pungency of chili peppers (or in some cases other spicy foods). In 1912, a pharmacist named Wilbur Scoville developed the scale as a more scientific way of measuring pungency.

The test works by measuring how much sugar water it takes to dilute the capsaicin in chili peppers until people can’t taste it anymore. Capsaicin is the chemical that causes the heat in peppers. The more capsaicin, the hotter the pepper. The Scoville Scale measures this heat on a scale from 0 to 16 million.

The hottest commercially grown pepper is called the Carolina Reaper (it even has its own website). It’s around 2 million on the Scoville Scale and has been measured at over 2.2 million SHU (Scoville Heat Units).

The Scoville scale is a measure of the hotness of chili peppers. The scale was invented by a pharmacist named Wilbur L. Scoville in 1912, and was created to measure the hotness of pure capsaicin (the chemical that makes peppers spicy). The capsaicin is dissolved in alcohol, and sugar water is added to dilute it. The person testing the pepper must taste the result and decide on a number between 0 (no heat at all) and 1000 (pure capsaicin) on how hot it tastes.

Taste buds are very individualistic and so this is obviously not an exact science. The most you can say is that one brand of pepper is hotter/sweeter than another, or that one variety of pepper is hotter/sweeter than another variety. Also, different people react differently to the same food.

The following are measurements for some popular peppers: Jalapeno: 2500-8000 Scoville units Habanero: 100000-200000+ Carolina Reaper: 162330-233970+

The Scoville scale is a measurement of the amount of capsaicin present in a pepper. Capsaicin is the chemical that gives peppers their spicy flavor. The scale was developed by Wilbur Scoville, an American pharmacist and chemist, in 1912. It’s an exponential scale, which means that the higher the number, the hotter the pepper.

The sweet bell pepper has zero Scoville heat units (SHU), while police-grade pepper spray registers at around 5 million SHU. The hottest naturally occurring pepper is thought to be the Naga Jolokia, at about 1 million SHU.

Anaheim peppers are milder than Jalapenos, but not as mild as Poblanos. However, many varieties of Anaheims have been selected for mildness, making them nearly indistinguishable from Poblanos in terms of heat. In fact, some people say they cannot taste a difference between a Poblano and an Anaheim when they’re cooked.*

A note on nomenclature: When discussing different types of chiles or peppers in general, we tend to use the word “pepper”. This can be confusing because there are several different types of ‘peppers’. The word is used commonly to refer to both Caps

I’m a little obsessed with the Scoville scale. It’s a way of measuring how spicy something is. It’s named after Wilbur Scoville and it goes from 0 to 16 million. The rating for jalapeños is about 5,000.