Well...the test involves mashing the peppers up and boiling them in alcohol to extract the “Hot” part....the capsaicin. Then you do a series of dilutions on the alcohol....1/100...1/1000...etc
Then you use a dropper to spray a little of each dilution onto the back of your throat and decide what is the weakest dilution where you can first notice some “heat.” And that’s the problem. It’s very subjective. Different people will notice the heat at different dilutions. And each person will vary in their sensitivity from one day to the next.
Personally, I could never pick up any heat until it was very strong. Which is odd, because I’m a real wimp when it comes to hot peppers.
Thanks for the explanation. :)
You would think that the capsaicin could be eluded through a chromatograph to more precise detection.