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What is the Scoville Scale?
The Scoville Scale measures a chili pepper’s heat level. It indicates how much sugar-water solution is needed to neutralise a chili’s heat.
The scale was invented in 1915 by chemist Wilbur Scoville. So, while his countrymen were being slaughtered at the Somme during World War I, he was lounging in his château, eating jalapeños in a bathtub full of Lucozade.
He used a panel of taste testers to determine when a chili’s heat had been eradicated—a job that likely resulted in a lot of regret and a spike in visits to the proctologist.
How I imagine Edwin Scoville lived his life
Peppers and Their Scoville Rating
Pepper X racking up 3,200,000 on the scale
- A Bell Pepper has 0 Scoville Heat Units (SHU) because it’s about as spicy as a date with a Dutch girl.
- A Jalapeño has a spice level of around 5,000 SHU, so you´d need a couple of litres to eliminate the piquantness.
- Habaneros are a lot spicier, with a level of 300,000 SHU so you’d need a paddling pool’s worth of Gatorade.
- And for the Pepper X which racks up 3,200,000 so you’d probably need to relocate to Atlantis.
The Modern Scoville Scale
The modern Scoville Scale ditches suffering taste testers in favor of High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to measure capsaicinoids scientifically. HPLC determines the parts per million (ppm) of capsaicinoids, which are then multiplied by 16 to convert to Scoville Heat Units (SHU)—keeping it consistent with Scoville’s original method.
Although this approach is more accurate, consistent, and objective, it isn’t nearly as fun—plus, tragically, no harm is done to the French.
If you want to test out your Scoville limits, here at TheSauceMan, we have a whole selection of varying levels of spiciness. All our products are artesan and are made using only fresh local ingredients. No nonsense, just flavour.