The Chilli Growers Guide to Scoville Ratings!
Hot chilli pepper plants are known for adding bold colours and vibrancy to the greenhouse and packing a punch in the kitchen. To help you decide which peppers to pick, we’ve included a Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) rating on each of our listings ranging from 1 pepper for mild to 5 peppers for extremely hot.
But what do these numbers actually mean?
The Scoville Scale was invented in 1912 by an American pharmacologist named Wilbur Scoville. He was trying to find a way to measure capsaicin, the chemical compound that is responsible for the burning heat in chilli peppers, as it was used in certain medicines at the time like muscle salves. Scoville created a standardised way to measure the heat of peppers that involved diluting pepper extracts with sugar water until at least 3 in a group of 5 human testers could no longer detect the heat. The score on the Scoville Scale represents the level of dilution that the chilli required for the heat to disappear completely.
As you might expect, more scientific ways of measuring the heat of peppers now exist, but the Scoville Scale still captivates chilli enthusiasts to this day.
Here are some of our favourite varieties for each heat bracket to help you pick which chillies to grow:
Mild
Biquinho Yellow: 500-1000 SHU
Mild and crisp with a fruity flavour.
Mammoth Jalapeno: 1000 – 5000 SHU
Mild when green. Ripen to red for more heat.
Large Red Cherry: 2500 – 5000 SHU
Sweet and fruity with a mild kick.
Medium
Ponky Jane Red: 5000 – 7000 SHU
Compact variety that’s bold and spicy.
Zebrange: 5000 – 10,000 SHU
Crisp and crunchy with distinctive stripes.
Hungarian Black: 5000 – 10,000 SHU
Delicate and slightly fruity with a medium kick.
Hot
Buena Mulata: 30,000 – 50,000 SHU
Striking colours with a spicy sweetness.
Sparky: 30,000 – 50,000
Warmth that builds with a clean flavour.
Basket of Fire: 80,000 SHU
Robust and spicy with a hint of citrus.
Very Hot
Bird Eye Italico: 100,000 – 200,000
Bright and slightly sweet with an intense heat.
Scotch Bonnet Red: 100,000 – 300,000
Tropical and fruity with a fiery, lingering heat.
Habanero Chocolate: 300,000 – 575,000 SHU
Fierce heat with a smoky, earthy flavour.
Extremely Hot
7 Pot Pink: 700,000 – 1 Million
Extreme heat with a fruity undertone.
Armageddon: 800,000 – 1.2 Million
Scorching heat with a fruity, smokey flavour.
Carolina Reaper Red: 1.5 Million +
Extreme spice that overpowers its sweetness.
And if you’re as excited as we are to grow your new peppers, a propagator is the perfect place for you to start. Acting as a mini greenhouse to help your seeds get started, propagators can help you to achieve higher germination rates, especially for seeds that like warmer conditions. Why not try one of our new range of propagators to get your punchy peppers off to a blazing start.
With spice levels for every taste, check out our full range of chillies for inspiration – just how hot will you go?
