Pepper Guides (7)
Everything we've learned from growing, cooking, and eating peppers — written as clearly as we can.
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What Is Capsaicin?
The compound behind the burn
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How to Stop Pepper Burn
Proven remedies for capsaicin
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Fresh vs Dried Peppers
How drying transforms flavor
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Grow Peppers from Seed
Germination to harvest guide
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How to Make Hot Sauce
Three methods explained
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Pepper Species Guide
Five domesticated species
Guides by Category
Our guides fall into three categories. Start with the science if you want to understand why peppers burn, or jump straight to kitchen guides for practical help.
Science
4 guides
How pepper heat works, from molecular biology to measurement methodology.
Kitchen
2 guides
Practical cooking techniques, remedies, and preservation methods.
Growing
1 guide
From germination to harvest — everything you need to grow peppers at home.
Explore by Heat Level
Each heat tier has different growing, cooking, and handling requirements. Browse peppers by category:
Popular Comparisons
Habanero vs Jalapeño
Habaneros deliver 12-140x more heat than jalapeños with a completely different fruity profile.
Habanero vs Scotch Bonnet
Similar heat but different culinary roles — habaneros for Mexican food, Scotch Bonnets for Caribbean.
Ghost Pepper vs Habanero
The Ghost Pepper roughly triples the habanero's heat with a distinctive slow-building smoky burn.
Carolina Reaper vs Ghost Pepper
Both super-hots, but the Reaper doubles the Ghost Pepper's heat with sweeter, fruitier notes.
Our Sources
We cross-reference data from USDA FoodData Central, the Chile Pepper Institute at NMSU, and peer-reviewed capsaicin research on PubMed.