ChiliHeat
The Journal
Understanding the Scoville Scale: How Chili Heat Gets Measured
The Scoville scale is the standard way chili heat gets ranked, but it started as a subjective taste test long before modern chemistry took over. Here's how it actually works.
A Beginner's Guide to Fermenting Hot Sauce at Home
Fermenting chilies before you blend them into hot sauce builds a depth of tang and complexity that vinegar alone can't match. Here's how the process actually works, step by step.
Ten Chili Peppers Every Home Cook Should Know
From mild poblanos to face-melting superhots, these ten peppers cover the range most home cooks actually reach for — what they taste like, how hot they run, and what to do with them.
How to Dry and Store Chili Peppers for Year-Round Cooking
Drying is the oldest way to keep a chili harvest usable long after the growing season ends. Here's how the different drying methods work and how to store the results so they last.
Building a Hot Sauce Recipe From Scratch: Balancing Heat, Acid, and Flavor
A good hot sauce is more than just chilies and vinegar — it's a balance of heat, acidity, salt, and sweetness. Here's a framework for building your own recipe rather than following someone else's.
Bottling Homemade Hot Sauce: pH, Shelf Life, and Storage Basics
Getting a finished hot sauce into a bottle safely comes down to a few basic food-science principles — acidity, cleanliness, and storage. Here's what to know before you fill your first jar.
Why Some Chili Peppers Are Hotter Than Others: The Plant Science of Capsaicin
Capsaicin is the compound behind every chili pepper's heat, and its concentration in a pepper is shaped by genetics, growing conditions, and the plant's own evolutionary strategy.