Hot sauce · New Orleans
Crystal
4,000 Scoville heat units
The house sauce of Louisiana kitchens, and less vinegary than Tabasco.
What this rung gets you Jalapeños on nachos without picking them off
How hot Crystal actually is
Crystal is in the same range as a jalapeño. Growing conditions move any published figure several-fold, so read it as the middle of a range rather than a promise.
On the twelve-rung ladder
It sits on rung 5, Burn, which spans 2.8K to 6.5K SHU. A real burn with a peak and a fade. Eat it with rice or bread — starch physically carries capsaicin off your tongue.
Training to this rung is what gets you: Jalapeños on nachos without picking them off.
Comparable heat
Anything here burns at roughly the same level, which is what makes them interchangeable when you are training at this rung.
Common questions
How hot is Crystal on the Scoville scale?
Crystal measures about 4,000 Scoville heat units. That is in the same range as a jalapeño.
Where does Crystal sit on the ladder?
Rung 5 of twelve — Burn, covering 2.8K to 6.5K SHU. A real burn with a peak and a fade. Eat it with rice or bread — starch physically carries capsaicin off your tongue.
What stops the burn from Crystal?
Dairy. Capsaicin is fat-soluble, so water spreads it rather than removing it; the casein in milk, yogurt or ice cream lifts it off the receptor. A spoonful of sugar held in the mouth measurably helps too. Starch — rice or bread — physically carries it off the tongue.
Crystal is rung 5 of twelve. Which rung are you on?
Jalapeños on nachos without picking them off. That is rung 5. Name the hottest thing you eat without thinking. See how far that is.
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