Scoville Scale: Where Hatch Chile Falls, by Heat Level
From bell pepper to habanero: where each Hatch heat level lands, and how heat gets measured.
The Scoville scale ranks peppers by heat, in Scoville Heat Units (SHU). A bell pepper is 0. Hatch chile runs from Mild, at 0 to 2,000 SHU, to X-Hot, at 11,000 and up. Most grocery-store jalapeños run 2,500 to 8,000. So Mild Hatch is tamer than a jalapeño, Medium lands in jalapeño range, Hot goes a step beyond, and X-Hot goes well past it.
Where Hatch falls on the scale
Mild to hot, in Scoville Heat Units. Our four heat levels are the rows marked Hatch.
- Bell pepper0
- Mild Hatch1904, Joe Parker (about 900), Machete, NuMex 6-40–2,000
- Poblano1,000–2,000
- Medium HatchCharger2,000–7,000
- Jalapeño2,500–8,000
- Hot HatchSandia Select, about 9,5007,000–11,000
- X-Hot HatchLumbre (12,000 and up), Barker11,000+
- Serrano10,000–25,000
- Cayenne25,000–50,000
- Habanero100,000–350,000
These are typical ranges. Heat varies from year to year.
Which heat to order
- Mild
- Gentle warmth with full Hatch flavor. Good for rellenos and anyone new to chile.
- Medium
- All-purpose, and our most popular pick. It lands in jalapeño range.
- Hot
- True heat with great flavor, the classic chile-head choice.
- X-Hot
- Use a little to spike sauces and salsas. Sold fresh only, during harvest.
Not sure? Medium is the safe start for most kitchens. Every box ships at one heat level, and roasted frozen Hatch comes in Mild, Medium and Hot all year.
Pick your heat, roasted and ready
How heat gets measured
- 1912a taste test
- Tasters tried a chile sample, diluted more and more until they could no longer feel the heat. Each unit of dilution is one Scoville Heat Unit.
- HPLCa lab machine
- Labs grind dried chile and measure its hot compounds, like capsaicin, with a machine called HPLC. New Mexico State University calls it the most accurate method.
Why the same chile can run hotter
The variety sets the range. The summer moves it up or down, and the heat sits in one part of the pod.
The summer
Hot, dry summers make hotter chile. Cool, wet summers make milder chile, even from the same variety in the same field. A mild variety still never turns truly hot.
The veins
The heat lives in the veins inside the pod, not the seeds. The darker yellow the vein, the hotter the chile. Peeling doesn't change the heat.
Questions people ask
Is Hatch chile hotter than a jalapeño?
It depends on the heat level. Most grocery-store jalapeños run 2,500 to 8,000 SHU. Mild Hatch sits below most jalapeños, Medium lands in the middle of that range, Hot goes a step beyond, and X-Hot goes well past it.
What is the hottest Hatch chile?
X-Hot Lumbre, at 12,000 SHU and up. It changes from year to year and gets close to serrano heat. We sell it fresh only, during harvest.
Are the seeds the hottest part?
No. The heat is in the veins inside the pod. People take the seeds out for a cleaner texture, not to cut the heat.
How hot is Hatch chile this year?
Heat shifts with the weather each year, and we won't know until the roasting starts. If last year ran too mild for you, order one heat level up.
Hatch heat levels, varieties and availability, and the jalapeño range: our Heat Level Guide. Other peppers: UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions, Peppers by Scoville Units. How heat is measured, and why it changes: NMSU Guide H-237, Measuring Chile Pepper Heat.
Find your heat
Our Heat Level Guide matches each level to its chile and shows which come fresh and which come frozen.
See the Heat Level GuideMore on heat: Lumbre, the hottest Hatch. Hatch vs. serrano. Hatch vs. poblano.