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SHU of different peppers

peter pepper

peter pepper

This question/curiosity came to me from a different thread. Peppers are rated on how many SHU they have to determine how hot they are. The higher the number the more heat one is supposed to have. Does that mean that all peppers with 25,000 SHU are going to seem to have the same amount of heat to you? or will one seem hotter/milder than the others? (I know the SHU can vary among the same species, but for the sake of this question assume the SHU was tested and all are the same and the same peppers tested are the ones you are eating). And does this mean that if you find a pepper with 25,000 SHU very hot that you would find one with 50,000 SHU even hotter yet?

If this is true what makes the difference and shouldn't heat of peppers be 'measured' in a different way?
 
I believe that the perceived heat can be different. A good example is rocotos. Some people find them hotter than say habaneros, even if the habanero has a higher SHU. The proportions of capsaicinoids plays a role in the perception of heat.

You can find more info about that in AJ's thread where he's trying to create a complete burn. Some peppers affect from of the mouth, some affect throat, etc.


Look at this link, scroll down to 7a. about pubescens.
http://www.saunalahti.fi/~thietavu/Chili/L_wild.htm
 
No its because they are C. annuums, and are nowhere near the heat of a bhut or naga. I could eat a hundred tepins and it wouldn't be as hot as a sliver of naga/bhut. I don't think this Dremman fella has ever had a "real" naga/bhut
 
Just because let's say an orange habanero is supposed to be something around let's say 350k, doesn't mean every orange habanero is going to contain the same exact amount of capsaicin. There are many variables, where they are grown, what altitude, what humidity, soil content, etc, etc, etc.

H*ll, one of the oldest tricks in the book to make your peppers hotter is to piss it off. Just pinch a leaf (not break it off) or scuff a stem with your nail, it'll produce more capsaicin as a defense mechanism. I really don't like the SHU scale as there are no controls in place.
 
I always looked at the Scoville as something like a temperature gauge. The thermometer outside says it is 87 degrees. But that is in a controlled environment, with specific conditions. Move that thermometer to someplace on top of a black piece of metal and ant the temp is much higher. If you are standing where a breeze is blowing it will feel much cooler. How you feel the heat on a bald head is going to be much different than on the palm of your hand.

This doesn't even get into what part of the pepper you are eating - a piece of skin, the placenta, the whole pepper.

I haven't tested it all the way, but I suspect I could make a sauce from Hungarian Hot Wax peppers that is just as hot as some made from Bhuts - I would just have to use a lot more powder.

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
I haven't tested it all the way, but I suspect I could make a sauce from Hungarian Hot Wax peppers that is just as hot as some made from Bhuts - I would just have to use a lot more powder.Mike
Click to expand...

I would have to question this Mike. Say the Hungarian was a 5 on the heat scale and the Bhut was a 10. You can add all the 5's you want but it's still just a 5. Or you can look at it like this: a gram of hungarian powder isn't going to be twice as hot as a half a gram. The burn may last longer but the intensity isn't going to change.

I used to look at SHU's as the way to exactly measure the heat of a pepper. Now I look at them as a ballpark figure or the "potential" heat of a pepper.
 
All I know is my supposed habby habs tok my face off.

Scorpion searing type burn...but was orange habs...albeit 'burkina'.

I would rather eat a Scorp/Naga than one of my Funky Habs anyday.

Oh, and i gave a jar of my Evil Habs away today..pickled...to me chilehead friend, she's happy. She scares her kids wit em....

(not a joke..they tasted em once...now if they swear....)

Hot is completly relative.
 
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