Fire Protection

The “burnometer” protects you from dangerous heat in two ways. First, to prevent any surprise fires in your mouth, it ranks chile peppers from hottest to mildest on three scales. Next it keeps you from burning your hands in its more mundane capacity as a potholder.

The chile rating systems range from the fairly scientific Scoville ratings (1 Scoville for cherry peppers up to 300,000 for habaneros), to the more vernacular Sissy, Sassy, Sizzling and Scorching to the downright pedestrian 1-to-10, 10-being-hottest.

It doesn’t say anything about the burning sensation you get just from handling the chiles, so we’ll step in here. Keep your hands away from your eyes and wash your hands before going to the restroom.

Available at Utensils in Larchmont Village.