Scoville Scale Table
| Pepper / reference | SHU range |
|---|---|
| Bell pepper | 0 |
| Banana pepper | 0-500 |
| Poblano | 1,000-1,500 |
| Jalapeño | 2,500-8,000 |
| Serrano | 10,000-23,000 |
| Cayenne / Tabasco | 30,000-50,000 |
| Thai pepper | 50,000-100,000 |
| Habanero / Scotch bonnet | 100,000-350,000 |
| Ghost pepper (Bhut Jolokia) | 800,000-1,041,427 |
| Carolina Reaper | 1,400,000-2,200,000 (avg 1,641,183) |
| Pepper spray (police) | 2,000,000-5,300,000 |
| Pure capsaicin | 16,000,000 |
The Scoville scale ranks chili heat in SHU - Scoville Heat Units - and the table below walks the full ladder from a bell pepper's flat 0 to the Carolina Reaper's 1.6-plus million. The number is a dilution ratio: an extract at 5,000 SHU stops tasting hot when one part is stirred into 5,000 parts sugar water, so every step up the scale multiplies how much water it takes to tame.
Bottom line: the whole edible garden lives below 100,000 SHU (jalapeno 2,500-8,000, serrano 10,000-23,000, cayenne 30,000-50,000), superhots start near 800,000 (ghost pepper), and the Carolina Reaper's Guinness-certified 1,641,183 SHU sits closer to police-grade pepper spray (2-5 million) than to any salsa - pure capsaicin caps the scale at 16 million.
The honest part: Scoville is the oldest lazy measurement in food science - Wilbur Scoville's 1912 method used human tasters, so the same pepper varies wildly between panels, which is why every hot pepper on this table carries a range instead of a number. Modern labs measure capsaicin content directly by HPLC and convert to ASTA pungency units; the SHU figures survive because tradition, and because the ranges are honest about the wobble.
How to use
- Find a pepper in the table and read its SHU range - ranges are honest, single numbers are marketing.
- Type any SHU value to see what that dilution means in plain terms.
- Compare before you cook: swapping serrano for habanero multiplies heat roughly tenfold at the same volume.
Frequently asked questions
What does SHU actually measure?
Scoville Heat Units count how many parts of sugar-water it takes to dilute a pepper extract until a panel of tasters can no longer feel heat - 5,000 SHU means a 1-in-5,000 dilution. The active compounds are capsaicinoids, mostly capsaicin itself (a molecule your TRPV1 pain receptors treat as heat), and modern HPLC assays measure those directly, converting to SHU so the 1912 scale keeps working: one part capsaicin per million is roughly 16 SHU, which is how pure capsaicin lands at 16,000,000.
Why does milk stop the burn and water makes it worse?
Capsaicin is fat-soluble, not water-soluble - it binds to casein, milk's protein, which washes it off your receptors like soap lifting grease. Water just spreads the oil around and can make the burn feel hotter (beer, sadly, is mostly water; the alcohol helps a little). Dairy, sugar, and starches all work; the worst responders are plain water and anything carbonated, which is the opposite of what everyone reaches for.
Is the Carolina Reaper really the hottest pepper?
It holds the certified records - an average of 1,641,183 SHU with individual fruits past 2.2 million - but breeding moves fast: Pepper X was reported at 2.69 million SHU in 2023 and its Guinness verification arrived after years of Reaper dominance. The practical truth is that superhot heat varies more by growing conditions than by variety; a stressed Reaper can outfire a happy Pepper X. Handle all of them with gloves - capsaicin through a skin nick or an eye rub is a hospital-flavored evening.
Do cooking methods change a pepper's heat?
Heat itself barely touches capsaicin's punch (it tolerates frying temps), but fat does the moving: chili cooked in oil releases capsaicin into the oil, which is why chili oil burns hotter than the peppers that made it and why removing seeds and membranes - where most capsaicin concentrates - tames a dish far more than dicing the flesh finer. Alcohol dissolves it too, which is why vodka infusions extract so much fire so fast.