A Scoville Measuring Unit was invented in 1912 by Wilbur L. Scoville, a pharmacologist for the Parke- Davis Company. Willie's original test consisted of a panel of tasters who would systematically taste for detectable "heat" in a solution of extract of chile and slightly sweetened water. The idea was to determine how far the chile extract could be diluted and still have a detectable burn. For example, a Jalapeno pepper rated at 4,500 Scoville units tells us that 4,500 parts sugar water are needed to dilute one part Jalapeno extract to the last point that hotness can be tasted. Add any more sugar water and according to this subjective test, you would not be able to taste any hotness. Check out the heat levels on different sauces on the site and compare. An example of HOT... Dave's Ultimate Insanity, or 1,000,000 Scoville.

A bit confusing? You bet! That is why the food industry no longer uses this archaic test, but chile heat is still given in Scoville units. Today, machines use high- pressure liquid chromatography to measure chile heat. This method takes out the guesswork, but one should keep in mind that it only rates the heat of the sample being tested, and not the absolute firepower of every chile in that variety. Climate, soil, weather, geography and harvest time all affect how hot a pepper can be. Even chiles on the same bush can have different heat levels.