How to Test the Heat of Your Chiles - CHOW Tip

Margo True, food editor for Sunset magazine, points out that the spice of a chile cannot be predicted. She shows us a way to test a chile's heat from the safety of your own kitchen. Many tongues have been saved using this tip.

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TRANSCRIPT
It's almost impossible to tell how hot a chile is just by looking at it. But it's really nice to be able to control the heat level in your food. So here's how you test a chile before you cook with it so you can adjust the heat level. Cut right below the stem of the chile, that's where all the heat of the chile is. Then you take your finger and you put it on the cut surface of the chile and then you touch it to your tongue and you can tell immediately how hot or how mild that chile is.