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Why Chilies Are Hot and Yogurt Puts Out the Fire

Posted by timothy on from the hence-the-kefir-in-the-spray-bottle dept.

bazzalunatic writes "The hottest chili in the world was made by Australians earlier this year, but how did they get the chilies so hot? Seems that worm juice is the key to revving up the capsaicin. And milk and yogurt are best to douse the heat, as they have fats that can absorb the capsaicin — which actually hijacks the neurons that detect heat."

2 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. Re:most important conclusion by Pedersen · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sadly, "Pure Cap" is *not* pure capsaicin, and that stuff on the bottle is just marketing. The Scoville rating for Pure Cap is about 500,000 to 600,000 Scovilles, while straight capsaicin runs at 16,000,000 Scovilles.

    Go, read the ingredients for "Pure Cap" and note that it's mostly vegetable oil.

    I've had hotter than Pure Cap. You have to work up to it to be able to handle it, but it's very doable.

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  2. Re:They forgot alcohol. by pauljlucas · · Score: 3, Informative

    You need more than a couple of percent [of alcohol], though, so a beer isn't going to help you much. A glass of port or something stronger, like swishing a shot of whiskey or vodka around in your mouth, will whisk a lot of the capsaicin away.

    According to Alton Brown, you need pure ethyl alcohol.

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