Hot Sauces, Salsas, and BBQ Rubs

First, a few words about heat. In sauces, as well as in peppers, the "heat" comes from capsaicin. It is usually measured in Scoville units. A Scoville unit is based on the amount of water required to dilute the heat until it can no longer be tasted. For example, in a sauce with a Scoville rating of 1,500 units, would need to be diluted with 1,500 times the sauce volume in water before the "heat" could no longer be tasted. 

While the actual values will vary depending on variety, growing location, and climate, your typical Jalapeņo pepper is around 2,500-5,000 Scoville units, a cayenne, 20,000-40,000, and a habaņero, 150,000-300,000. Pure capsaicin has a Scoville rating of 16,000,000 units.

We will list the heat level in Scoville units where known but few hot sauce manufacturers provide this information. For some products, we list the heat level on a one-to-ten scale, with ten being the hottest. This is a very subjective rating garnered from a variety of sources, including our own taste buds. As different people taste the heat in different ways, our one-to-ten scale should be taken as a rough estimate.