Hot sauce · North Carolina
Texas Pete
750 Scoville heat units
Named Texas because the family thought North Carolina sounded insufficiently spicy.
What this rung gets you A whole basket of chips and salsa, no water
How hot Texas Pete actually is
Texas Pete is roughly 7 times milder than 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 3, Glow, which spans 450 to 1.2K SHU. Warmth that lingers a few seconds after you swallow. This is the level most "mild" restaurant options sit at.
Training to this rung is what gets you: A whole basket of chips and salsa, no water.
Comparable heat
Anything here burns at roughly the same level, which is what makes them interchangeable when you are training at this rung.
- Frank's RedHot 450
- Louisiana Hot Sauce 450
- Anaheim 900
- Valentina 900
- Cholula 1,000
- Padrón 1,000
Common questions
How hot is Texas Pete on the Scoville scale?
Texas Pete measures about 750 Scoville heat units. That is roughly 7 times milder than a jalapeño.
Where does Texas Pete sit on the ladder?
Rung 3 of twelve — Glow, covering 450 to 1.2K SHU. Warmth that lingers a few seconds after you swallow. This is the level most "mild" restaurant options sit at.
What stops the burn from Texas Pete?
Dairy. Capsaicin is fat-soluble, so water spreads it rather than removing it; the casein in milk, yoghurt 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.
Coming soon to the App Store
Eating Texas Pete is rung 3 of twelve
A whole basket of chips and salsa, no water — that is what rung 3 gets you. Scoville Ladder gets you to rung 3 on a schedule rather than a dare: a heat to train at tonight, rest between, and a target that moves with the burn you actually report.
Find your rung See the twelve rungs
Free to download · no account · nothing leaves your phone · $0.99/month for the programme