My recipe calls for Black Pepper. I have Cayenne Pepper.
What ratio should I use to substitute to get approximatively the same "heat"?
I realize that the result won't be quite the same. I am fine with that.
Spice – Substitute Cayenne Pepper for Black Pepper
chili-pepperspepperspicessubstitutions
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Best Answer
Regarding the amount of "heat" in the recipe, I'd agree with @justkt that you'd want to go with 1/8 to 1/4 (at most) of the specified amount of black pepper if substituting cayenne. I like spicy food and go through a lot of cayenne (and other) chile pepper preparations, and they can vary a lot in terms of strength even within the same variety. So, I'd start on the light end and add more to taste if it's not spicy enough for you.
My wholly unscientific opinion is that when a recipe calls for black pepper in any significant quantity it's for the flavor as much or more than the spicy heat. If you have any ground cardamom on hand you might could toss a pinch of that in as well to replace some of the resinous flavor that black pepper has and cayenne lacks.
Props to Magnus for his excellent and botanically accurate answer.