How hot is your chile? The Scoville Heat Unit Scale (see chart to the right), also referred to as the Scoville Scale, or Scoville Chart, is a long-standing measure of the hotness of chile peppers. Capsaicin is a chemical compound that stimulates chemical receptor nerve endings in the skin...
called SHU, represent the level of heat you can expect from eating a hot pepper. Peppers that fall low on the scale are less spicy, and peppers that rank high on the scale produce a stronger burning sensation on the mouth and skin. ...