How much do you love hot food? Do you want it hotter than hot? Do you want it to practically rip your mouth out with heat? Do you fondly remember your first “burn,” and feel compelled to tell people about it?
That’s fine; no one is judging you. The thing with you is that you have great fondness for pure capsaicin, and the Scoville Scale may be something that you fully understand.
Capsaicin 101
Capsaicin is what gives chiles their heat. It will not dissolve in water, which is why downing a glass after eating hot chiles will not ease the heat in your mouth. It is odorless, and oddly enough, tasteless – it will not deliver flavor to your mouth, only heat.
Now, as to pure capsaicin and the Scoville test, Wilbur Scoville, who was an employee of Parke Davis Pharmaceutical, in 1912 apparently had a lot of time on his hands and nothing better to do with it. So, he devised what we know as the Scoville Organoleptic Test. What he did was to blend a variety of ground chiles in a solution of water and sugar, and then administer said solution to a group of testers. They started off with very strong solutions, and then sipped weaker and weaker solutions, until they were no longer in discomfort. Then, Scoville assigned a number to each solution. The Scoville Heat Units essentially measure how many million drops of the solution, in multiples of 100, it takes to cause pain.
Now, since everyone’s palate is different, other scientists scorned Scoville’s findings, saying that they were too subjective. This is probably true, and because of this, other ways of measuring heat have been developed.
Is the Scoville Scale Still Valid?
Well, it is still in use. And besides, the very thing that has led people to discount the Scoville scale is the same thing that makes it still useful – it’s that everyone’s palate is different.
Hot, Hot, Hot!
So, what is hotter than hot on the Scoville scale? The highest rating is between 15,000,000 and 16,000,000. This is as close as you get to pure capsaicin on the Scoville scale. Peppers that rank this high would be the Scotch Bonnet and the Habanero, followed by the African birdseye and South American chinenses.
Coming in way below are the Santaka, Chinese kwangsi, Rocoto and Chiltepin at a much, much lower 30,000-50,000. Cayennes and jalapeños hardly even rank (10,000 tops), and bell peppers get a 0.
Are Hot Peppers Addictive?
You might be surprised to know that many researchers think that the “burn” you get from pure capsaicin, and the Scoville Scale will give you the numbers you need, can be addictive. Once you get above a certain level, the capsaicin sends pain messages to your brain. Your brain responds by delivering endorphins – feel-good hormones. Then, you feel euphoric. You might actually begin to crave the pain and the subsequent relief, and then you’re hooked on hot peppers!
Conclusion
If you love the feeling that pure capsaicin gives you, the Scoville scale might help you to measure it. If you are addicted to hot peppers, certainly there are other substances that will cause you considerably more harm, so you can continue to enjoy feeling the heat.