How hot is a chilli? Scoville heat units compared
This Scoville scale chart lists approximate heat ranges for common chillies, from a sweet bell pepper at zero to the super-hot peppers above a million Scoville heat units (SHU). It includes the chillies Indian cooks buy every day, such as hari mirch, Kashmiri, Byadgi and Guntur, next to the jalapeño, habanero and ghost pepper, so you can judge a swap at a glance.
Search by name, sort by heat, and pick any two chillies to see roughly how many times hotter one is. The bars sit on a logarithmic scale because the range is so wide: a habanero is not twice a jalapeño, it can be fifty times hotter. Everything runs in your browser.
How to use the Chilli Heat (Scoville) Scale Chart
- Type a name in the search box, or leave it empty to see all twenty peppers.
- Choose a sort order: mildest first, hottest first or alphabetical.
- Pick two chillies under Compare to read how much hotter or milder the first one is.
- Use the ranges as a guide, then taste a small piece and adjust the quantity in your dish.
Chilli Heat (Scoville) Scale Chart features
Indian and world chillies
Green chilli, Kashmiri, Byadgi, Guntur and kanthari sit beside the better-known jalapeño, habanero and bhut jolokia.
Log-scale bars
Each bar shows the low-to-high range on a logarithmic axis so a mild pepper and a record holder both stay readable.
Two-chilli comparison
The ratio uses the middle of each range and says “about the same” when the two are within five per cent.
Honest ranges
Every figure is a range, never a single number, because real peppers vary.
What a Scoville unit measures
In 1912 the pharmacist Wilbur Scoville asked tasters to sip a chilli extract diluted in sugar water until the burn disappeared; the number of dilutions was the rating. A pepper rated 5,000 SHU needed 5,000 parts of sugar water to one of extract. Tasters tire and disagree, so laboratories now measure capsaicin and related compounds by high-performance liquid chromatography and report ASTA pungency units. Multiplying those by about 15 gives the familiar SHU figure, which is why modern values are still written in Scoville units.
Pure capsaicin is the ceiling, at roughly 16 million SHU. The record-setting peppers that Guinness World Records has certified, such as the Carolina Reaper in 2013 and Pepper X in 2023, sit between 1.5 and 2.7 million.
Why the ranges are approximate
- Variety and strain. “Indian green chilli” is not one pepper. Some long, thick types barely reach 2,000 SHU, while thin, pointed ones can pass 30,000.
- Growing conditions. Heat, drought, soil and ripeness change capsaicin. A stressed plant is usually hotter.
- Part of the fruit. Most heat is in the white pith and placenta that holds the seeds, not in the seeds themselves. Removing them lowers the burn.
- Fresh versus dried. Drying concentrates flavour, but ratings are normally quoted on a dry-weight basis, so a fresh pepper feels milder than its dried form suggests.
- Method. Different laboratories and years give different numbers, and published tables disagree at the edges.
Cooking with the numbers
If a recipe calls for jalapeños and you only have Indian green chillies, the chart suggests using about a third to a half as many, tasting as you go. To soften heat, remove the pith and seeds, add dairy such as yoghurt or cream, or add sugar or acid. Wash your hands after cutting hot chillies and keep them away from your eyes. For other swaps, try the ingredient substitution finder, and to scale a recipe use the recipe scaler.
Chilli Heat (Scoville) Scale Chart FAQ
What is the Scoville scale of an Indian green chilli?
Typical hari mirch is often quoted at roughly 10,000 to 30,000 SHU, but the name covers many varieties and some are far milder. Treat it as a guide and taste before you add more.
How hot is a Kashmiri chilli?
Dried Kashmiri chilli is usually listed at about 1,000 to 2,000 SHU, which is close to a poblano. It gives colour more than fire.
What is the hottest chilli in the world?
Pepper X was reported by Guinness World Records in 2023 at an average of about 2.69 million SHU, ahead of the Carolina Reaper. Records change, and claims for new crosses appear regularly.
How many times hotter is a ghost pepper than a jalapeño?
Using the middle of each range, the bhut jolokia is about 176 times hotter than a jalapeño. Because individual peppers vary, the true gap could be anywhere from about 100 to 400 times.
Does cooking change the heat?
Capsaicin is stable at cooking temperatures, so it does not disappear. It spreads through the dish, and long simmering with fat or dairy makes the burn feel rounder.
Are these figures exact?
No. They are approximate ranges compiled from published tables. Use them to compare chillies, not to promise a precise level of heat.