Know Your Pepper And Its Hotness

It is one of the most hurt moment when you have to chew the pepper to know how hot it is. The thing about hot peppers is that you can`t tell how spicy they are just by looking at them.  It starts with 0 being the mildest and goes over 1,000,000 to indicate the hottest peppers. Though there are dozens of different kinds of peppers, here`s the scoop on the heat index for some of the more widely used types.

Bell Pepper

Bell peppers, which can be red, yellow, green or orange, aren`t hot peppers. They are very common sweet peppers. Since this type of pepper has no heat, its Scoville heat index is 0. You can cook bell peppers in a variety of ways, however don`t expect this type of pepper to add spice to your food.

Cherry Pepper

Cherry peppers are heart-shaped and about 4 inches long and 4 inches wide. These peppers are actually very mild, scoring about a 500 on the Scoville heat index. Cherry peppers are perhaps best known to be the red filling that can typically be found inside olives.

Anaheim pepper

This pepper is usually maroon in color and has a long, skinny body. While the Anaheim pepper usually has a Scoville heat index of around 1,000, some varieties can have a rating as high as 5,000. Relative to the rest of this list, this pepper is not very hot.

Jalapeno pepper

The jalapeño is one of the most common types of peppers in the U.S. Many people like it because it`s spicy yet not overwhelming. Jalapeños are usually either red or green and about 2 to 3 inches long. Their Scoville heat index is around 5,000, however they can range anywhere from 2,000 to 8,000.

Serrano pepper

This pepper is usually small (around 2 inches) and green in color. As a rule of thumb, the smaller the serrano pepper, the hotter it will taste.

Cayenne pepper

Red in color, the cayenne pepper is generally dried and used in powder form. Additionally, this pepper has been used in natural medicines for hundreds of years due to reported healing attributes.

Tabasco pepper

As you may have guessed, the tabasco pepper is used to make Tabasco sauce. If you`ve ever tasted how hot Tabasco sauce is, you won`t be surprised to learn that the tabasco pepper has a Scoville heat index of between 30,000 and 60,000.

Thai pepper

Grown in Thailand and neighboring countries, the Thai pepper can be classified as "very hot." With a Scoville heat index of between 50,000 and 100,000, these peppers are sure to leave your taste buds wanting relief.

Rocoto pepper

While rocoto peppers look somewhat like bell peppers, it can be dangerous to get the two mixed up. While bell peppers aren`t hot at all, the rocoto pepper is extremely hot. Between 100,000 and 250,000 on the Scoville heat index, this pepper is about the size of a bell pepper but is rounder and is typically only red or green.

Habanero chili pepper

Of hot peppers that are commonly used, the habanero chili is recognized as the hottest. This pepper, which can be any color from green to yellow to pink, is usually only around 3 centimeters in length.

Ghost pepper

Also known as Naga Jolokia, this pepper is close to being the hottest pepper in the world. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized the ghost pepper in 2006 after reports surfaced that this pepper has a Scoville heat index of over 1,000,000. If you get your hands on a ghost pepper, be sure to be extremely careful, because one seed from this pepper will have your mouth burning for up to 30 minutes.

Carolina reaper

And here`s the big gun we`ve all been waiting for: Smokin Ed`s `Carolina Reaper`, grown by The PuckerButt Pepper Company (USA), has been recognized as the hottest pepper in all the world by The Guinness Book of World Records. With a Scoville heat index of 1,569,300 recorded in 2012, all we can say is -- watch out.