Do you enjoy eating hot peppers? Many people do. According to Scientificamerican.com, approximately a third of the world eats hot peppers every day. It’s really not about the taste. People love the burn, that spicy hotness that makes their mouths feel like they’re on fire. The hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin it contains. The Scoville Scale, invented by pharmacist Wilbur Scoville, is the measurement of how much capsaicin peppers contain. It’s measured in units. Read this informative article and find out how hot peppers are using the Scoville Scale.
0 Units- Sweet Bell peppers are green, red or yellow in color. They are the only peppers that don’t contain any capsaicin, the chemical that makes them hot.
100 – 500 Units- Mexibells are bell peppers and chili peppers crossed. They are large and wide. They’re a little hot, but you moreso taste the sweetness.
100 – 900 Units- Banana peppers are also called Yellow Wax peppers or Banana Chilis. They’re long and curved and yellow, red or orange, depending on their ripeness. These peppers have a mild hotness.
500 – 1,500 Units- Anaheim peppers are also known as California, New Mexico, or Magdalena peppers. They were named “Anaheim” after the farmer who transported the seeds from Mexico to the United States in the early 1900s. They are also long and green in color.
1,000 – 2,500 Units- Poblano peppers are used to add hotness to sauces and salsas. Just like with other varieties, you can tone down the heat by removing the veins and seeds. These peppers are large, green and heart-shaped. Poblano peppers are roasted, then peeled before they’re used.
2,500 – 5,000 Units- Cherry Bomb peppers are rather round and bright red at maturity. They have a medium hotness on the Scoville Scale.
2,500 – 8,000 Units- Jalapeno peppers turned into “Cream-Cheese Stuffed Poppers” are an American favorite. They are small and green. They’re usually eaten before they ripen and turn red. It’s a good idea to wear gloves while you handle jalapenos (and all other peppers this hot and hotter) because the capsaicin can irritate your skin.
3,500 – 8,000 Units- Hungarian Wax peppers are yellowish-green before they ripen and turn orange, then red. Like jalapenos, they are usually eaten before maturity.
10,000 – 23,000 Units- Serrano peppers are long and green and usually eaten raw. They come from the mountainous regions of the Mexican states of Puebla and Hidalgo.
30,000 – 50,000 Units- Cayenne peppers are also called Guinea spice or cow-horn peppers. They are another American favorite, especially in dried form. They are typically used to make hot sauces and chili.
Because they are so high in capsaicin, cayenne peppers are also used in pain-killing medicines.
100,000 – 350,000 Units- Habanero peppers are hot, hot, hot. They are short, thick peppers that turn orange or red when they’re mature. They are commonly used to make red-hot salsa.
1,5000,000 – 2,000,000 Units- Trinidad Moruga Scorpion peppers are ranked by the Guinness World Records as being the world’s spiciest hot. These peppers are the size of golf balls.
Resources
http://journalstar.com/lifestyles/food-and-cooking/recipes/hot-stuff-nebraska-farm-is-a-hotbed-of-peppers/article_973f29c8-24c0-5429-8b8f-032312f981ab.html
http://www.pablano.com/
www.wikipedia.com
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57378923/trinidad-moruga-scorpion-worlds-hottest-pepper/
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/2011/11/30/on-capsaicin-why-do-we-eat-love-hot-peppers/
