the scoville scale is used to measure the heat, or spiciness, of peppers. hot peppers are rated by their scoville heat units (shu), which is based on their capsaicin content. the well-known jalapeno pepper rates 2,500 to 8,000 on the scoville scale, while the carolina reaper scores between 1,400,000 and 2,200,000 on the scale.
when it comes to hot peppers especially, handle with care. even those daredevils who are accustomed to eating hot peppers can have adverse reactions to touching them. a good friend of ours is famous for his ghost pepper intake (855,000 to 1,041,000 shu). while preparing a light meal, he touched a plate that contained residue from a ghost pepper. within a minute, his eyes were swollen and the tears were flowing. lesson learned.
favourite hot peppers
wiri wiri
(300,000 shu). it’s fun to watch these 1.3 cm (1/2 inch) round peppers as they ripen. they turn from green to orange to bright red. commonly used in sauces.
scotch bonnet
(300,000 shu). these are also known as jamaican hot peppers. if you have the opportunity to attend the toronto caribbean carnival, we can guarantee you will find scotch bonnet peppers in much of the amazing food being served there.
7 pot
(900,000 shu). we found this pepper at valleyview gardens (valleyviewgardens.com) in markham, ontario, in its pepper club. intrigued by the name, we asked valleyview’s experts for details. this pepper is so hot, you only need one pepper for seven pots of stew. enough said.