scovilles How does hot sauce compare to real pepper on the scoville scale?

B

Berzerker

Hi guys , i just bought a scotch bonnet hot sauce and i was wondering how hot sauces compare in term of heat to the real scotch bonnet peppers? 
 
Also just in general , for exmple do a cayene sauce is as hot as a fresh cayenne pepper etc ? 
 
Looking at the ingredients on the bottle there is not a lot of ingredients ..salt, scotch bonnets, cayene peppers, vinegar and ..tomato paste..this ..the paste maybe dilute the heat a little i guess? 
 
Noob question sorry but i try to figure out the eat of a scotch bonnet before growing some ..lol 
 
Thanks a lot and have a nice day!
 
 
 
In my experience, peppers are usually  hotter than sauces of the same SHU, although there are exceptions. For example, the sauce Da Bomb Ground Zero is only clocked in at 243,000 SHU but I can say it hurt a lot worse than a ghost pepper. 
 
Greetings!  Generally speaking, scotch bonnets are right there with habanero peppers.  And within that variety of peppers, there is a good range of heats.  When comparing to a sauce, consider the following~
 
 
 
Ingredients have to be listed on the label in order of predominance.  Whichever ingredient is the largest single ingredient, that is what has to be listed first.   BUT!!!!  Look at the following~ (Hmmmmm, I'm assuming salt isn't actually the first ingredient in the previously posted list of ingredients...) and see how the sauce could be vastly different.
 
salt, scotch bonnets, cayene peppers, vinegar and ..tomato paste.
 
scotch bonnet 40%
cayenne 20%
vinegar 20%
tomato paste 10%
salt 5%
5 other ingredients at 5% each (onion, garlic, etc)
Total amount of the ingredients is 100% with 60% being chiles.
 
 
-OR-
 
Scotch bonnet 15%
Vinegar 15%
Tomato paste 15%
onion 15%
Garlic 15%
carrots 15%
Cayenne 2%
other stuff 8%
 
Total pepper content......17%... and scotch bonnets are still the first ingredient on the list
 
 
It is pretty much impossible to compare a fresh chile to a bottled sauce containing the same pepper.  As soon as any other single ingredient is added to the pepper, then the heat is diluted.
 
Scotch bonnets are pretty dang hot for most people!  They are fun and pretty easy to grow in most climates.  Also, growing conditions can effect the heat levels of the peppers.
 
Just go for it and grow a couple, see what you like! 
 
Have Fun!
SL
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A pure pepper mash will have the same SH... sauces add other items that dilute the SH so yes it is much different and based on ratios. Not many (if any) hot sauce companies will test for SH cause its expensive and if the sauce is tasty thats really all that matters in the end
 
Of course the pepper will always be hotter. Think of it like this. How much alcohol does beer have. Add that beer to hot sauce. Now how munch alcohol does the whole sauce have. You're welcome.
 
Well all those awnsers make a lot of sense ;) I tasted the sauce and i have to say that for me its pretty hot haha ...so i guess that if i say that he real pepper will probably be twice that hot it gives a good idea.
 
its very hot haha, i will try to grow some to make the test :) 
 
thanks!
 
Have fun! And if the taste testing seems like it will be fun, video it and share..... :cool:

SL
 
Lol @ voodoo6..... ,

yea, lets not get the newbie sidelined with the SaltHypothesys....until scientifically proven....
 
Both are good in and of themselves, but sauce is like putting a party dress on the pepper (straight heat) - hopefully a good one.
 
Another thing to consider is the taste/flavor of the pepper. I do not like the floral taste of an orange habanero at all so the more ingredients to mask it the better in a sauce. On the other hand I really like the flavor of caribbean red habs and S.B's so the fewer ingredients in the sauce the better I like the sauce because the peppers taste great on their own. So my carribean red and SB sauces are much hotter than my orange hab sauce. In fact I don't even bother making orange hab sauces any more. 
 
Yeah, the orange habs ive grown had that SLAP YO FACE hab flavor and aroma. Pretty much to the point of being unpleasant. A yellow Scotch Bonnet from last years grow on the other hand was more complex and well rounded. It brings more to the plate than just heat and floral. Its a much better chinense to use with fewer additions to the sauce.
 
other thing that Affect the pungency..
 
If You cook (bring heat)  or Ferment you will also affect the final heat level.
some chemical reaction occurs
 
i would say... the only things that compare to a fresh is a RAW mashed fresh pepper.
second would be a fermented mashed puree
third would be a Cooked mash puree
And afterward would be the blended ingredient in it / ratio of pepper to other ingredients.
 
Almost everything is better fresh. Nature does most things best and us messing with it outside of crossing usually leads to something that isn't as good.

I can hardly wait for another scotch bonnet!
 
well, one thing not mentioned is if the sauce has extract, all bets are off. It can be hot...real hot!
Probably taste as good as soggy peanut shells but nasty hot.
 
scrufy said:
well, one thing not mentioned is if the sauce has extract, all bets are off. It can be hot...real hot!
Probably taste as good as soggy peanut shells but nasty hot.
Click to expand...
 
scrufy, You are being very generous with that description.  :lol:  It's more often described as "eating copper pennies" or "looks like motor oil and tastes about the same..."  :lol:
 
Here's a link to AlabamaJack's recipe for chile puree.  It can be used for any type pepper, and is a great way to preserve chiles in their purest form.  I have some purees that were processed 5+ years ago and they are still perfect.  I've also blendered the snot out of pods and frozen the mess in flat ziplock bags.  Small pieces can be broken off as needed without having to defrost the whole bag.
 
Hope this helps~
Have Fun!
SL
 
 
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