We carry a variety of chile/peppers in the greenhouse. Some are considered sweet peppers, others are hot peppers and some have absolutely no flavor until they are sautéed in olive oil, garlic and sea salt.
Chile pungency is expressed in Scoville Heat Units (SHU), named for Wilbur L. Scoville, who invented the scale in 1912. His test was the first reliable measurement of the pungency of chiles. The test uses a panel of five human subjects who taste diluted chile extract.
Here in Northern New Mexico the favorites are Joe E. Parker and Sandia which are ‘hatch’ varieties. These are around 500 to 7,000 SHU. We sell lots of jalapenos, and gueritos (Santa Fe Grande). These fall between 3,000 and 5,000 SHU. In addition, we have Sweet Cherry peppers and Shishitos which have little to no heat. If you want more heat, we have Black Pearl at 30,000 SHU, and Serranos. We also carry the Ghost pepper at 1,000,000 SHU.
I am one of those individuals who prefers to taste the chile and live to brag about it the next day. If you choose to eat the extreme varieties, please have plenty of Milk or Ice Cream on hand to temper the heat.
