Chili pepper · Syria and Turkey

Aleppo

10,000 Scoville heat units

Sold as coarse flakes cured with salt and oil. Slow, fruity heat rather than a spike.

What this rung gets you Buffalo wings at hot, and finish the basket

Aleppo sits at 10,000 SHU — rung 6, Bite.

How hot Aleppo actually is

Aleppo is about 2 times hotter 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 6, Bite, which spans 6.5K to 15K SHU. The top of the jalapeño range and the bottom of the serrano range. Sweating slightly here is expected and is not a sign you have overshot.

Training to this rung is what gets you: Buffalo wings at hot, and finish the basket.

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 Aleppo on the Scoville scale?

Aleppo measures about 10,000 Scoville heat units. That is about 2 times hotter than a jalapeño.

Where does Aleppo sit on the ladder?

Rung 6 of twelve — Bite, covering 6.5K to 15K SHU. The top of the jalapeño range and the bottom of the serrano range. Sweating slightly here is expected and is not a sign you have overshot.

What stops the burn from Aleppo?

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 Aleppo is rung 6 of twelve

Buffalo wings at hot, and finish the basket — that is what rung 6 gets you. Scoville Ladder gets you to rung 6 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

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