OT: What's Your Scoville Ranking?

MelroseHawkins

MelroseHawkins

Well-Known Member
Where do you fall on this chart? What is your ranking, either what you enjoy or what you can possibly handle?
Personally, I enjoy a little heat but it has to have a nice taste to the sauce. I'm not one to eat a hot sauce to see if I can handle it or how much pain I can take. No thanks anymore. I like it to taste good and add to the food I'm putting it on, not take it over.

I'm probably in the 30,000-50,000 range where I would classify me. I still enjoy the taste but a little heat is there. I've seen other charts where the Habanero wasn't as high as below and just above the Cayenne a few peppers. I could prob do a Habanero and enjoy what I was eating on a good day. I don't think I've ever tried a Carolina Reaper yet so I know I haven't ventured that high. I don't think I've tried over a 30,000-50,000 yet.

Discuss.


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Here are the common hot sauces typically found in supermarkets.

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I would have to say that I'm in that 30k-50k range with you. I can handle jalapenos & chili peppers just fine usually, but I've tried a habanero pepper before and it damn near killed me. It's crazy to me that some people can handle those and even hotter! I really like spicy stuff typically, but obviously not too hot as I will get a violent case of the hiccups if it's too much for me. Sometimes even jalapenos will do that to me. I guess it's not a good idea to be eating spicy stuff when I have acid reflux. :rolleyes:
 
GoHawks24 said:
I would have to say that I'm in that 30k-50k range with you. I can handle jalapenos & chili peppers just fine usually, but I've tried a habanero pepper before and it damn near killed me. It's crazy to me that some people can handle those and even hotter! I really like spicy stuff typically, but obviously not too hot as I will get a violent case of the hiccups if it's too much for me. Sometimes even jalapenos will do that to me. I guess it's not a good idea to be eating spicy stuff when I have acid reflux. :rolleyes:
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I'm glad you mentioned the jalapenos. I can usually handle those fine. I clearly remember one time when I was younger eating one straight at a friends house and it was the hottest damn thing I've ever had to date and the reason whey I don't challenge myself with peppers anymore. The heat would not leave and it was so miserable for what seemed like 45 minutes. Are jalapenos inconsistent. I've had them in the past raw and was nothing compared to that one jalapeno that night. It was definitely something different, a jalapeno, but didn't act like one that night. I couldn't do anything for relief. It was weird. Of course I had the seeds as I took about half of it in a bite, but still was not like previous I'd had.
 
Anyone on here ever eat "the prune" at Big Daddy's? Me and my buddy used to go there a couple times a month in high school and Big Daddy would love to make an example out of us for his other customers. In hindsight, the piece of free key lime pie probably wasn't worth the burn from the prune.

My neighbor's parents moved here from Mexico and we try to throw down a legit Mexican meal jointly once a month for our families. He is pissed because his mom never taught him how to cook, so we're basically learning off the internet. He was shocked the first time I made carnitas in my oven and claimed they were just as good as his abuela's (thankfully my mom taught me the art of cooking shoulder from a young age). Anyway, what I have learned from that experience is that there is way more to spicy cooking than just heat. You need to use a variety of peppers to really build a nice flavor. The best thing we've made this pozole soup that uses a base of arbol, gaujillo and anchos to form the broth. I used to enjoy fairly hot stuff, but the older I get the more it burns my ass, so I'd have to say I'm in the 30k range these days (half of jalapenos are fine, half of them torch my mouth and anus), and I have become far more appreciative of developing subtle flavors with peppers supplementing the food rather than taking it over.
 
MelroseHawkins said:
I'm glad you mentioned the jalapenos. I can usually handle those fine. I clearly remember one time when I was younger eating one straight at a friends house and it was the hottest damn thing I've ever had to date and the reason whey I don't challenge myself with peppers anymore. The heat would not leave and it was so miserable for what seemed like 45 minutes. Are jalapenos inconsistent. I've had them in the past raw and was nothing compared to that one jalapeno that night. It was definitely something different, a jalapeno, but didn't act like one that night. I couldn't do anything for relief. It was weird. Of course I had the seeds as I took about half of it in a bite, but still was not like previous I'd had.
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Yes, I would say that jalapenos are inconsistent for sure. I know you can get mild and hot ones. We grow them in our garden and my brother had a raw one from the garden a few years back and he had pretty much the same experience that you described. And yeah, the seeds can make a big difference. The ones that come in a jar are typically going to be pickled, so they're not nearly as intense.
 
okeefe4prez said:
Anyone on here ever eat "the prune" at Big Daddy's? Me and my buddy used to go there a couple times a month in high school and Big Daddy would love to make an example out of us for his other customers. In hindsight, the piece of free key lime pie probably wasn't worth the burn from the prune.

My neighbor's parents moved here from Mexico and we try to throw down a legit Mexican meal jointly once a month for our families. He is pissed because his mom never taught him how to cook, so we're basically learning off the internet. He was shocked the first time I made carnitas in my oven and claimed they were just as good as his abuela's (thankfully my mom taught me the art of cooking shoulder from a young age). Anyway, what I have learned from that experience is that there is way more to spicy cooking than just heat. You need to use a variety of peppers to really build a nice flavor. The best thing we've made this pozole soup that uses a base of arbol, gaujillo and anchos to form the broth. I used to enjoy fairly hot stuff, but the older I get the more it burns my ass, so I'd have to say I'm in the 30k range these days (half of jalapenos are fine, half of them torch my mouth and anus), and I have become far more appreciative of developing subtle flavors with peppers supplementing the food rather than taking it over.
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I'm with ya. The older I get the more cautious I am.

I've actually heard that authentic Mexican food is actually more bland than spicy or hot. I think the spicy and hot is the Tex Mex that we developed. Authentic Mexican to me is real fresh ingredients that are more bland than spicy. It's good because of the freshness....tomatoes, cilantro, onions, etc..
 
When I stated above I maybe could do a Habenero, I think I'm thinking more of a sauce I can at least control a little bit, not eating a whole one. Don't think I'd do it. I've been watching "Hot One's" which is a real interesting show on YouTube. Anybody else watch it?
 
I tend to the stand behind the mentality that the burn going down fails in comparison to the burn as its exiting the body. While I'll do hot sauces and am a big mango habanero fan, I'd never try one straight up and prefer to keep the heat under 50k.
 
I've had "Emergency Room " from Big Daddy in Des Moines that was beyond the hottest stuff I've ever eaten, ghost pepper included. I love habaneros for my normal heat limit. Jalapenos on sandwiches and sriracha as well.
 
SmokeTownHawk said:
I've had "Emergency Room " from Big Daddy in Des Moines that was beyond the hottest stuff I've ever eaten, ghost pepper included. I love habaneros for my normal heat limit. Jalapenos on sandwiches and sriracha as well.
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Did you ever try to eat the whole sammich? I heard Big Daddy died. Did his son take it over and keep running it?
 
I mix a 100000 Scoville cayenne powder into a drink every day. It's best to have some food in your stomach when you drink it and some more ready to eat, though. I can't imagine what some powder with 500k or a million would be like. Although I did get some tear gas in Ames back in '92.
 
My brother in law orders 10 when we are at Thai restaurants. The last place we were at, the chef came out to meet him because no one had ever ordered 10 before. I tried a little of his yellow curry and honestly...I broke into a sweat like never before from head to toe...and couldn't taste anything for three days.
 
I'm more into flavor profile than just heat, though a nice balance of the two is where it's at.

The strongest thing I've eaten just straight up and whole, is probably a Super Chile pepper (40,000-50,000). A Latino customer of mine asked me to taste his home grown peppers with him. He assured me they were just jalapenos...uh, no. He had a lot of fun with the 20 minutes that followed.
 
okeefe4prez said:
Did you ever try to eat the whole sammich? I heard Big Daddy died. Did his son take it over and keep running it?
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All I did with the stuff was dab the tines of my fork into the bottle and stir it into a bowl of chili. Even with that small bit I was bawling like a baby. No way would I ever think of attempting their challenge. I don't think Man vs, Food would handle that. According to Trip Advisor & Yelp they closed the place after Big Daddy passed. But they're still selling the sauce.

https://www.facebook.com/BigDaddysDSM/
 
MoseSchrute said:
I mix a 100000 Scoville cayenne powder into a drink every day. It's best to have some food in your stomach when you drink it and some more ready to eat, though. I can't imagine what some powder with 500k or a million would be like. Although I did get some tear gas in Ames back in '92.
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Gawd. I was at that Veishea!!
 
MelroseHawkins said:
I'm glad you mentioned the jalapenos. I can usually handle those fine. I clearly remember one time when I was younger eating one straight at a friends house and it was the hottest damn thing I've ever had to date and the reason whey I don't challenge myself with peppers anymore. The heat would not leave and it was so miserable for what seemed like 45 minutes. Are jalapenos inconsistent. I've had them in the past raw and was nothing compared to that one jalapeno that night. It was definitely something different, a jalapeno, but didn't act like one that night. I couldn't do anything for relief. It was weird. Of course I had the seeds as I took about half of it in a bite, but still was not like previous I'd had.
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There are a lot of jalapeno cultivars. The one you got hold of might have been call Early Hot Jalapeno. It was a Burpee creation back in the late 70's. Lots of home gardeners have grown it. They were small, super fast to grow, and several times as hot as a standard Jalapeno. I frequently grow an open pollinated variety called Jalapeno M which is a half hot.

Some of the more recent larger commercial varieties that are meant for high tunnel production are pretty terrible. Very high production but bland as hell.
 
Serranos are my favorite. Mix w/ Anaheims to get that slow, creeping heat. I do like Marie Sharp's Green Habenero sauce w/ the prickley pears in it. Prefer my home made salsa but if I have to have store bought then Trader Joe's Green Serrano Salsa is my go to. I generally shut down my salsa garden (in a green house) the week before Thanksgiving assuming average Iowa weather so fresh home grown pico for the last game.
 
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