Dremann's Pepper Hotness Scale, free home Scoville testing method


The cheapest, quickest and modern alternative to the Scoville Scale.

Dremann PEPPER HOTNESS SCALE (DHS)

Developed in 1984 by Craig C. Dremann of the Redwood City Seed Co.,
Box 361, Redwood City, Cal. 94064

Pepper seed list and printed catalog click here.

Copyright © 1984-2022 by Craig C. and Susan Dremann,
all rights reserved, including the net!

Phone (650) 325-7333 - Results of three decades of measured pepper heat.

Free home 15-minute Dremann-Scoville heat test.

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>>>provided that our Copyright notice information is included<<<

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Pepper Seed list

PEPPER GROWING TIPS


A very easy method for determining pepper hotness is Dremann's Pepper Hotness scale. This is a modern modification of the original 1912 Scoville method

Generally red fresh fruit are 2-3x hotter than green fruit
, and dried pods are usually 2-10x hotter than fresh pods.

"Reference" means that this is the hottest heat level currently tested for these strains or hot sauces, but our company does not grow or sell these items.

MULTIPLY the HS numbers listed below by 12, to get the SCOVILLE heat numbers.

EASY CONVERSION CHART: 500,000 Scovilles = HS 42,000,
One million Scovilles = HS 84,000, and
1,500,000 Scovilles = HS 125,000

Sweet peppers---------------------------0
Cubanelle-------------------------------2
(f)
La Victoria® Taco sauce----------------------17 <<-reference

Ancho Mexican Large--------------------22
(f)
Anaheim--------------------------------25
(f)
Hungarian Yellow Wax-------------------42
(f)
Sandia---------------------------------42
(f)
Pace® Picante 'Hot" sauce--------------------42 <<-reference

California mild------------------------50
(d)
Joe E. Parker--------------------------53
(f)
Chilaca or Mexican Negro---------------72
(f)
Costeño Amarillo----------------------100 (d)

Jalapeno TAM mild---------------------122
(f)
Cherry Large Hot----------------------125
(f)
Mulato--------------------------------135 (d)
Fresno--------------------------------178
(f)
Costeño Rojo--------------------------192 (d)

Crystal® Pure Louisiana Hot Sauce----------222 <<-reference
Jalapeno "M"--------------------------238
(f)
Numex Big Jim-------------------------238 (f)
Chimayo-------------------------------370
(f)

Manzano/Rocoto Orange-----------------500
(f)
Barker--------------------------------580 (f)
Manzano/Rocoto Red--------------------600
(f)
Cayenne Long Slim---------------------625
(f)
Hawaiian Sweet Hot--------------------625 (d)
Jalapeño Early------------------------700 (f)
Uncle Steve's Louisiana Hot Sauce----------769 <<-reference
Manzano/Rocoto Yellow-----------------840
(f)
Loco--------------------------------1,000 (d)

Santa Fe Grande---------------------1,120
(f)
Jalapeño Sweet Craig's Grande-------1,230 (f) When red-ripe.
Puya--------------------------------1,250
(d)
Serrano-----------------------------1,250 (f)
McIlhenny's Tabasco® Hot Sauce-----------1,250 <<-reference

Guajillo----------------------------1,300
(f)
Cascabel----------------------------1,600
(d)
Tabasco-----------------------------3,300 (f)
Zimbabwe Bird-----------------------5,600 (d)
Catarina----------------------------6,667 (d)
De Arbol----------------------------8,000
(d)
Onza Rojo---------------------------8,000 (d)

Red Savina Habanero® (Note 1.)-----10,000 (f)<-reference
Scotch Bonnet Big Sun--------------11,428
(d)
Scotch Bonnet Tobago Red-----------11,500 (d)

Habanero Peach---------------------14,300 (d)
Habanero Craig's Orange Deluxe-----16,000 (d)
Japones----------------------------16,100
(d)
Habanero Mustard-------------------17,300 (d)
Habanero Chocolate-----------------18,600 (d)

Pequin-----------------------------20,000
(d)
Habanero White Bullet™-------------23,000 (d)

Bhut Jolokia peach-----------------27,300 (d)<-reference
Trinidad Congo---------------------28,200
(d)<-reference
7 Pot Lava Red---------------------36,000
(d)<-reference

Bhut Chocolate---------------------40,000 (d)<-reference
Naga Viper-------------------------41,000
(d)<-reference
Bonda Ma Jacques-------------------42,600 (d)<-reference

ABOUT 500,000 SCOVILLES HERE>>>>>>>>>>

Bhut Jolokia regular strain--------43,000
(d)<-reference
7 Pot Brain Yellow-----------------48,000
(d)<-reference

Dave's Ultimate Insanity Sauce--------50,000 <--reference
Naga monster-----------------------50,700
(d)<-reference
7 pot brown------------------------53,100
(d)<-reference
Trinidad Moruga red----------------58,300
(d)<-reference
7 Pot Brain strain yellow----------59,000
(d)<-reference
Tepín (seeds removed)------ 15,000-64,000 (d)

7 Pot Lava Brown-------------------65,400
(d)<-reference
Ghost (Bhut Jolokia) Giant---------66,000
(d)<-reference
Trin.Scorpion Butch T strain-------67,000
(d)<-reference
Naga Morich Red--------------------75,800
(d)<-reference
Trinidad Moruga orange-------------76,000
(d)<-reference

7 Pot Brain strain Red-------------81,000
(d)<-reference
Douglah----------------------------83,900
(d)<-reference

ABOUT ONE MILLION SCOVILLES HERE>>>>>>>

7 Pot Douglah brown----------------86,800
(d)<-reference
Brazilian Brain Strain hybrid------92,000
(d)<-reference
Bhut Jolokia Chocolate-------------97,600
(d)<-reference

7 Pot Primo Red-------------------107,400
(d)<-reference
Trinidad Moruga Brown-------------107,500
(d)<-reference
Trinidad Scorpion Brown/Chocolate-108,600
(d)<-reference
Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Brown----109,000
(d)<-reference

ABOUT 1,500,000 SCOVILLES HERE>>>>>>>>>>>

Carolina Reaper (Note 2)----------127,000
(d)<-reference

Chocolate Champion®-average of 10 pods = 140,000 (d)

or 1,662,000 Scovilles when 10 pods were HCLP lab tested as a composite.

Copyright © 1984-2022 by Craig C. Dremann

Listed are the highest heat levels, so far measured to date for each variety.

"Reference" means that these varieties were tested from seed grown from other seed companies, and these are not offered by Redwood City Seed Company.

Note 1 = "Red Savina Habanero" is a US Registered Trademark, only for the dried fruit. The seeds for planting, plants, fresh fruit and sauces are not covered by this trademark.

Note 2 = Three US Registered Trademarks exist for "Carolina Reaper" -- two trademarks cover the "Smokin' Ed's Carolina Reaper" fresh peppers and processed peppers, and another trademark is registered for "Carolina Reaper Vodka". However in the United States a plant or seed US Registered Trademark name cannot be the same as the plant variety name according to USDA rules.


There's probably 50,000-60,000 different pepper varieties world-wide, and if you include variations in the different heat levels of individual varieties (like all of the different strains of Jalapenos for example), perhaps as many as 100,000. Only a few thousand of the peppers of the world have been described, and nobody has accurately tested the heat levels of any significant numbers of all those hundred-thousand peppers.

How is the
"Dremann's Scale"--different than the "Scoville" Scale? There's a lot of controversy about pepper hotness, so in 1984 I invented an easy method to test a pepper's heat level, to get a fast, accurate, and inexpensive method.

To test a pepper using the old Scoville units, you have to spend about $75 dollars to have a laboratory test the heat of a single variety.

On the other hand, Dremann's Hotness Scale™ can be done at home for free in the kitchen, with a gram scale, a blender, distilled water and a graduated baby's eyedropper (in cc) in about 10-15 minutes.

The numbers are different between the two scales. You will see fantastically high Scoville claims published, but those numbers are nearly impossible to confirm unless you want to spend the money to test them at a laboratory.

>>>Free download for doing your own DREMANN SCALE tests<<<

Why does the Dremann Scale use "d" and "f" next to the numbers? If you look at Scoville unit claims for any pepper, they were done from dried ripe peppers.

The general rule on pepper hotness is that when it is fresh green, it is only one-third as hot as a red-ripe fresh pepper of the same kind. Also, the dried pepper is generally 2-10 times hotter than the fresh red-ripe pepper of the same variety.

Take the cap and stem off before testing! When the peppers are used in cooking or making hot sauces, the caps and stems are always removed, so when testing, they should also be removed.

HOW TO SELECT THE WORLD'S HOTTEST STRAIN. Plant 30-100 plants of the variety you are interested in selecting into a hotter strain, or going for the world's hottest record. Put a tag on each plant and number each plant.

Some type of Capsicum chinense looks like the most likely candidate for increasing the heat levels each year, but whatever your favorite strain is plant a lot of plants each year to select from, and isolate them from other varieties of peppers.

When the first two pods on each plant ripen, dry at a low heat, and test the heat level using my method. Then from the top hottest five plants, save the seeds from those plants to plant next year, and grow the next 100 plants in isolation so they will not back cross with any other peppers, like 200 feet from any other peppers.

Then repeat this same process each year. You should be able to increase the overall heat about 20% each year, and start to narrow the variations and push them all further towards the higher range.


DOWNLOAD Craig's Hotness Testing method FREE HERE.

DOWNLOAD "Dremann Pepper Heat Search" information


Updated December 24, 2022 - Redwood City Seed Company seed list