How Hot is Hot? Is Hotter Hot Sauce Better?

So if we like Hot Sauce, and Heat is Good, and more is better, then the Hotter Hot Sauce is better, right? Well, that's obviously not true, and we all know we have our limits.

Testosterone crazed males aside, most of us will even admit that flavor is important, too. So, how much Heat is right?

If you are to believe the ads and photos for many Hot Sauces, like the one above, and the labels on the Hot Sauce Bottles, many are so hot that they can cause insanity and death -- clearly false advertising! I know, because I have tested regular so-called Insanity Hot Sauces and Death Sauces, and they are quite safe for people who can tolerate a basic level of heat.

The makers of these sauces do offer hotter sauces, and even much, much hotter sauces, and these sauces are really scary hot, often hot enough to cause a nasty accident if used unwisely or by someone unaware. But what purpose do they serve, really?

The truth is, the hotter the sauce, the less you can use of that sauce, and the less you can use, the less flavor you get. Period.

I know when I make a Hot Sauce and use a very Hot Pepper, like a Habanero, I have to use less of that pepper by proportion, compared to, say, a Cayenne Pepper, and even so, because peppers vary in heat from one batch to the next, I have to taste the Hot Sauce and adjust accordingly.

There are some really good Hot Sauces out there, and some of them are pretty hot, too, but one thing the good ones have in common is FLAVOR, not just heat.

One of my favorite Hot Sauces, which is not super hot, but which is a good place to begin because it has Real Flavor, is Blair's Original Death Sauce, which I reviewed earlier. It won't kill ya', and you'll be glad you tried it. You want something hotter, try the other "Death Sauces", from "After Death", "Pure Death", "Megadeath", and "Ultra Death", to "Sudden Death".

Don't be fooled, "Mo' Hotta" ain't necessarily "Mo' Betta!"

That said, I do like fairly hot, Hot Sauce. Just, not with Pepper Extract, and Capsaicin.

I want the Real Pepper, not just the hot part.

~Ted

Image courtesy of Jailhouse Fire Hot Sauce. Love the image -- don't know anything about the Hot Sauce.

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