Immature jalapenos are hot when they are green but gain pungency
and a red color as they ripen. They also increase in sweetness
as they mature. These bullet-shaped peppers reach between 2 and
3 inches (5-7.5cm) in length and up to 1 inch (2.5cm) in width.
When smoked, dried jalapenos are called chipotle. They are
preserved by smoking rather than air-drying because of their
thick flesh. Jalapanos are medium-hot peppers that range in heat
between 2,500 and 5,000 Scoville heat units. How high a chile
pepper scores on the hotness scale is determined by high-
performance liquid chromatography measurement of how many parts
per million of capsaicin it contains. (Capsaicin is the compound
that gives chile peppers their fiery bite.) This figure is then
converted into the historic Scoville heat units that signify how
much dilution is necessary to drown out the chile's heat. The
heat level of a chile is given as a range because it varies with
how and where the pepper was cultivated. Copyright 2013 Aisle7.
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