Do chilli seeds give a dish "heat" (spice wise)?

[Shaun]

It was something I heard Nigella say (the wife had her on the telly whilst I was doing the ironing) - she left the seeds out because the kids didn't like the dish too (spice) hot.

Is that true? Do the seeds give a dish some extra pzzaz in heat department?

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

That was my understanding of the situation, however I also understand that the white inner membrane is when most of the 'heat' comes from in the form of Capsaicin, but I guess the seeds look better on dishes than long thin white unidentifiable strands of membrane!

 

[FatherCrowe]

I've always found taking the seeds and white "pith" out reduces the heat or spice quite a lot.

 

[0-markymark-0]

It's the membrane that has the heat.

 

[Sandra Piddock]

I made some vegetable soup about a month ago, and used some fresh chilli in it. I scraped out the membrane and the seeds, and we enjoyed the soup. It had just a hint of heat, which was what I was aiming for. I froze the rest of the soup, and got some out yesterday for supper, as I've developed a chest infection and felt too ill to cook.

It was appreciably hotter than the last lot, so obviously there's heat in the flesh as well, and it's developed since the soup went in the freezer. It was actually too hot for Tony, so he left some of his.