Scoville Heat Rating
- Jalapeno – 3,500-8,000
- Fatali – 125,000-325,000 …origin Africa
- Habanero – 200,000-350,000 …origin Mexico
- Scotch Bonnet – 200,000-350,000 …origin Caribbean
- Chocolate Habanero – 450,000 …origin Jamaica
- Ghost ‘Bhut Jolokia’ – 1,000,000 …origin India
- Infinity – 1,000,000 …developed in England
- Naga Viper – 1,300,000 …developed in England
- Trinidad Scorpion Butch T – 1,400,000 …developed in Australia
- Trinidad Moruga Scorpion – 2,000,000 …origin Trinidad
Three things to remember when you’re handling hot peppers are:
- Don’t rub your eyes
- Handle peppers by their stems
- Keep out of reach of children
For those of you that find jalapeno peppers hot enough, it’s hard to imagine a pepper with at least 250 times more heat. I relish a lot of heat in my food and enjoy habanero and scotch bonnet hot sauces with no discomfort. The hotter varieties like the ghost, infinity, naga viper, trinidad scorpion butch t and trinidad moruga scorpion chili peppers are scorching hot. Not for the faint of heart…
Most of the heat in chili peppers is located in the seeds. Remove the seeds if you find the experience too painful.
How to buy Chili Peppers:
I recommend placing a produce bag over your hand (2 is better) when choosing any type of hot pepper. Try to handle peppers by their stems because even with a plastic bag over your hand, some of the residue on the skin can be absorbed onto your fingers. Wash your hands afterwards.
Green stems are the best indicator of freshness. Ripe chili peppers (sweet pepper varieties too) are hard and firm when they’re picked correctly. Soft chilies have been picked improperly or are overripe. Inspect peppers closely for visual defects, green color on these varieties is a sign of immaturity. Sunburn, cracked, mold, black spotting and wetness are signs of poor quality. Hold a pepper up to your nose and if it smells pungent, there may be a quality problem.
There are so many varieties of hot peppers out there, remember they come in all different colors, shapes and sizes. Look deformed, ugly or just plain weird.
If you’re planning on drying your chilies make sure they’re fresh. After all you’re going to be putting these in your mouth. Dried or fresh, a bad pepper is still a bad pepper.
I used to play jokes on my customers and rub the juice of hot peppers on cut fruit samples. It was hilarious to watch their surprise and their faces turn color as the heat took effect. I know… not a nice guy. Well I always made it up to them in some way and we could laugh about it later. Below… an insane video from “Ted The Fire Breathing Idiot” and it is quite graphic. He actually vomits and starts to bleed from his nose after eating 10 ghost peppers.