The Scoville Scale

A scale developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912, to measure the heat level in chilies. It was first a subjective taste test, but since, it has been refined by the use of HPLC, the unit is named in honor of its inventor.

The test officially measures the pungency level of a given pepper. There are other methods, but the Scoville Scale remains the most widely used and respected. The greater the number of Scoville units, the hotter the pepper. Of course, being a natural product, the heat can vary from pepper to pepper, so this scale is just a guide.