scoville scale

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A long long time ago some old dude named Wilbur Scoville had nothing else better to do than to try and figure out exactly how hot peppers were. Some of us were completely happy with the old way of describing the heat of a pepper by using phrases such as “mild”, “warm”, “hot”, “wicked hot”, “oh my god!”, and my personal favorite “AAAAEEEEE!”

This just did not seem to cut it apparently to Mr. Scoville so he devised a more scientific method of measuring the heat of a pepper called the Scoville Organoleptic Test, and it is a dilution-taste procedure. What he was actually measuring was the amount of Capsaicin, the substance that makes up the heat. The more capsaicin in a pepper the hotter it will be.

Scoville blended pure ground chiles with a sugar-water solution and a panel of testers then sipped the concoctions, in increasingly diluted concentrations, until they reached the point at which the liquid no longer burned the mouth. A number was then assigned to each chile based on how much it needed to be diluted before you could taste no heat. The Scoville heat scale is measured in multiples of 100 units, with the lowly bell pepper rated zero, to the scorching, fruity tasting habanero which rates at 300,000 Scoville units. One variety of habanero, the Carribean Red(or red savina), has been tested at over 500,000 units, and has been listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the worlds hottest chile! These days the Scoville method of tasting diluted chiles has been replaced by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). This has allowed a more precise measurement of the actual amount of capsaicinoids in a sample of chiles. The resulting measurement is usually related back to the Scoville scale for comparison.

0-100 Scoville Units - most Bell/Sweet pepper varieties.

500-1000 Scoville Units - New Mexican peppers.

1,000-1,500 Scoville Units - Espanola peppers.

1,000-2,000 Scoville Units - Ancho & Pasilla peppers.

1,000-2,500 Scoville Units - Cascabel & Cherry peppers.

2,500-5,000 Scoville Units - Jalapeno & Mirasol peppers.

5,000-15,000 Scoville Units - Serrano peppers.

15,000-30,000 Scoville Units - de Arbol peppers.

30,000-50,000 Scoville Units - Cayenne & Tabasco peppers.

50,000-100,000 Scoville Units - Chiltepin peppers

100,000-350,000 Scoville Units - Scotch Bonnet & Thai

200,000 to 300,000 Scoville Units - Habanero peppers.

Around 16,000,000 Scoville Units is Pure Capsaicin.

"10 Words That Don't Exist, But Should" - Rated PG

1. AQUADEXTROUS (ak wa deks'trus) adj. Possessing the ability to turn

the bathtub tap on and off with your toes.

2. CARPERPETUATION (kar'pur pet u a shun) n. The act, when vacuuming,

of running over a string or a piece of lint at least a dozen times,

reaching over and picking it up, examining it, then putting it back

down to give the vacuum one more chance.

3. DISCONFECT (dis kon fekt') v. To sterilize the piece of confection

(lolly) you dropped on the floor by blowing on it, assuming this will

somehow 'remove' all the germs.

4. ELBONICS (el bon'iks) n. The actions of two people maneuvering for

one armrest in a movie theater.

5. FRUST (frust) n. The small line of debris that refuses to be swept

onto the dust pan and keeps backing a person across the room until he

finally decides to give up and sweep it under the rug.

6. LACTOMANGULATION (lak' to man gyu lay' shun) n. Manhandling

the "open here" spout on a milk container so badly that one has to

resort to the 'illegal' side.

7. PEPPIER (peph ee ay') n. The waiter at a fancy restaurant whose

sole purpose seems to be walking around asking diners if they want

fresh ground pepper.

8. PHONESIA (fo nee' zhuh) n. The affliction of dialing a phone

number and forgetting whom you were calling just as they answer.

9. PUPKUS (pup'kus) n. The moist residue left on a window after a dog

presses its nose to it.

10. TELECRASTINATION (tel e kras tin ay' shun) n. The act of always

letting the phone ring at least twice before you pick it up, even

when you're only six inches away.


	C.J.Split's Hot Sauce \| home enter \| Contact Us \| comments \| guestbook \| ordering \| scoville scale \| About Us \| Products and Services \| links and things A long long time ago some old dude named Wilbur Scoville had nothing else better to do than to try and figure out exactly how hot peppers were. Some of us were completely happy with the old way of describing the heat of a pepper by using phrases such as “mild”, “warm”, “hot”, “wicked hot”, “oh my god!”, and my personal favorite “AAAAEEEEE!” This just did not seem to cut it apparently to Mr. Scoville so he devised a more scientific method of measuring the heat of a pepper called the Scoville Organoleptic Test, and it is a dilution-taste procedure. What he was actually measuring was the amount of Capsaicin, the substance that makes up the heat. The more capsaicin in a pepper the hotter it will be. Scoville blended pure ground chiles with a sugar-water solution and a panel of testers then sipped the concoctions, in increasingly diluted concentrations, until they reached the point at which the liquid no longer burned the mouth. A number was then assigned to each chile based on how much it needed to be diluted before you could taste no heat. The Scoville heat scale is measured in multiples of 100 units, with the lowly bell pepper rated zero, to the scorching, fruity tasting habanero which rates at 300,000 Scoville units. One variety of habanero, the Carribean Red(or red savina), has been tested at over 500,000 units, and has been listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the worlds hottest chile! These days the Scoville method of tasting diluted chiles has been replaced by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). This has allowed a more precise measurement of the actual amount of capsaicinoids in a sample of chiles. The resulting measurement is usually related back to the Scoville scale for comparison. 0-100 Scoville Units - most Bell/Sweet pepper varieties. 500-1000 Scoville Units - New Mexican peppers. 1,000-1,500 Scoville Units - Espanola peppers. 1,000-2,000 Scoville Units - Ancho & Pasilla peppers. 1,000-2,500 Scoville Units - Cascabel & Cherry peppers. 2,500-5,000 Scoville Units - Jalapeno & Mirasol peppers. 5,000-15,000 Scoville Units - Serrano peppers. 15,000-30,000 Scoville Units - de Arbol peppers. 30,000-50,000 Scoville Units - Cayenne & Tabasco peppers. 50,000-100,000 Scoville Units - Chiltepin peppers 100,000-350,000 Scoville Units - Scotch Bonnet & Thai 200,000 to 300,000 Scoville Units - Habanero peppers. Around 16,000,000 Scoville Units is Pure Capsaicin. "10 Words That Don't Exist, But Should" - Rated PG 1. AQUADEXTROUS (ak wa deks'trus) adj. Possessing the ability to turn the bathtub tap on and off with your toes. 2. CARPERPETUATION (kar'pur pet u a shun) n. The act, when vacuuming, of running over a string or a piece of lint at least a dozen times, reaching over and picking it up, examining it, then putting it back down to give the vacuum one more chance. 3. DISCONFECT (dis kon fekt') v. To sterilize the piece of confection (lolly) you dropped on the floor by blowing on it, assuming this will somehow 'remove' all the germs. 4. ELBONICS (el bon'iks) n. The actions of two people maneuvering for one armrest in a movie theater. 5. FRUST (frust) n. The small line of debris that refuses to be swept onto the dust pan and keeps backing a person across the room until he finally decides to give up and sweep it under the rug. 6. LACTOMANGULATION (lak' to man gyu lay' shun) n. Manhandling the "open here" spout on a milk container so badly that one has to resort to the 'illegal' side. 7. PEPPIER (peph ee ay') n. The waiter at a fancy restaurant whose sole purpose seems to be walking around asking diners if they want fresh ground pepper. 8. PHONESIA (fo nee' zhuh) n. The affliction of dialing a phone number and forgetting whom you were calling just as they answer. 9. PUPKUS (pup'kus) n. The moist residue left on a window after a dog presses its nose to it. 10. TELECRASTINATION (tel e kras tin ay' shun) n. The act of always letting the phone ring at least twice before you pick it up, even when you're only six inches away.