Just How Spicy Are McCormick's Crushed Red Chili Flakes?

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While there is a bevy of unique spices that will give pizazz to your dishes, red pepper flakes are more of a spice cabinet staple. It's hard to imagine a well-stocked kitchen or restaurant without them. Where would we be without these fragrant, piquant little sequins of heat beside the parm shaker at a pizza joint, for instance? How bereft would our soups be? One major name in commercial red pepper flakes is McCormick. You have undoubtedly seen its signature at your supermarket, on Amazon (where you can scoop up a 13-ounce bottle perfect for shaker refills), and, possibly, already in your pantry. How spicy are these ubiquitous flakes, exactly? According to McCormick's own website, its flakes come in between 25,000 and 40,000 Scoville units. That makes them hotter than Hatch chilis or jalapeños, but not as hot as the brand's Thai-style chili blend.

The ingredients list for the McCormick pepper flakes simply lists "crushed red pepper," which inspired us to do a little digging. A McCormick blog post uses "red pepper" and "cayenne" interchangeably, and, indeed, cayenne peppers generally fall between 30,000 to 50,00 Scoville units, which makes them a likely candidate for what's in the bottle. You can grow your own cayenne peppers at home in pots or containers (and we even know a watering trick to make them grow spicier!), but, in terms of both price and effort, we think you can't beat the McCormick product. Consumers online seem to agree, also.

"McCormick Red Pepper Crushed is spicy, aromatic, and long-lasting, making it perfect for grilled dishes," trumpets a review on McCormick's own product page. On Amazon, where almost 2,000 ratings have resulted in a near-perfect 4.8 out of 5-star average, comments were also largely complimentary. "A tasty must-have in every kitchen," the top rating raves. "Quality crushed red pepper. Great on pizza and whatever else. Freshness, aroma, and heat all perfect." Over at Walmart's website, where the flakes enjoy almost unanimous praise yet again, we see even more glowing comments, like this one from a self-professed spice lover: "This is the best seasoning for certain foods, and I have to have the hottest food. I love it."

What we're gleaning from reviews regarding McCormick's crushed red pepper flakes is that they might just be the perfect sprinkle if you like some real heat in your food. They likely won't numb your mouth and make your eyes water — although individual foodies' capacity for "heat" will vary tremendously, of course — but, instead, add a lovely flavor and kick. We always like to bloom our spices for max taste, and red pepper flakes fall under this guidance. Although we can't be positive that the peppers used are cayenne, we have a pretty good guess that they are. Whatever the exact variety, we're happy to let McCormick handle the work of growing, harvesting, and dehydrating said peppers so that we can focus our attention on cooking delicious foods that shine with some added spice.