In our German cooking episode, Sara and Sammy made Pepper Schnitzel, which is not spicy. The recipe calls for vitamin rich bell peppers that are mild and sweet. Other peppers can add kick to your recipe, bring tears to your eyes, and make your mouth feel like fire! What’s the difference? We had to explore this with our science teacher friend, Mr. Curry!
What makes peppers spicy? Capsicum!
For this week’s food science segment, Mr. Curry told Sara and Sammy about capsicum, the chemical that makes some peppers taste spicy. He also told us about the Scoville Scale, which tells you exactly how spicy peppers are. Check it out!
The Scoville Scale
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According to Wikipedia, pharmacist Wilbur Scoville wanted to measure what makes peppers spicy. He devised his method for testing the spiciness of peppers in 1912.
In Scoville’s method, an exact weight of dried pepper is dissolved in alcohol to extract the heat components (capsinoids), then diluted in a solution of sugar water. Decreasing concentrations of the extracted capsinoids are given to a panel of five trained tasters, until a majority (at least three) can no longer detect the heat in a dilution. The heat level is based on this dilution, rated in multiples of 100 SHU.
The bell peppers we used to make our Pepper Schnitzel rate a 0 on the Scoville Scale, and that’s why the dish isn’t spicy! Do you think you could be one of Mr. Scoville’s pepper testers? You can download your own Scoville Scale here. Be sure to watch our other Food Science episodes, too!
photo credit: Psar Kapko via photopin (license)
photo credit: Bowl of Chilis (#2776) via photopin (license)