Over the weekend I got a chance to try some different hot sauces. I tried The Ghost Hot Sauce, one teaspoon full, it does have a pretty good taste, but really not much heat at all. Ate a 1/4 piece of a Bhut Jolokia, and it was freakn' hot. Where's the 1m SHU from the hot sauce? How much do you have to have to get to the 1m point? I also got to try the CaJohn's Z, rated at 4M. Well I took 2 drops on a chip, yes it was hot, and got hotter over time, but eating a 1/4 of a Trinidad Scorpion ButchT SMOKED IT. Would a teaspoon of the Z reach the 4M mark? So, after this weekend, I'm under the assumption that raw hot peppers are hotter than hot sauces. What do ya think? What's your experience?
Hot Peppers vs. Hot Sauces
- Thread starter Wasatch
- Start date
That is the biggest reason I grow superhots to keep the heat up in my sauces. When you heat any pepper it changes the heat characteristics and makes the burn less sharp. It takes a whole lot of good peppers to make a decent naturally hot sauce. Raw pepper eating is the hottest way to sample the heat of any chile, cooking mellows and thus makes poppers bearable. It's going to be hard to make a sauce to match the heat of a ButchT Scorpion without using pepper flavoring.
I've noticed the same thing. For me a habanero pepper is VERY hot, but is only rated at 100,000-300,000 scoville. While a sauce that claims the same rating is relatively tame. Either I'm not eating enough of the sauce (1/4 tsp or less), the sauce just doesn't compare to a fresh hot pepper.
On a side note, I'm pretty sure Cajohn's sauces aren't marketed correctly. They claim that Z is 4 million scovilles. I'm pretty sure in reality they just use some 4 million extract in it, but the sauce itself is no where near that hot. Maybe only 300-500k scovilles (maybe less). It would be like if Mad Dog were to claim that their 357 Silver Edition is 6 million scovilles, just because they use some 6 million scoville extract in it. In reality Mad Dog claims that 357 Silver Edition is 750,000 scovilles, which is most likely accurate.
I bought some Black Mamba because they claim it is 3million scovilles. While it is very VERY hot, it is no where near as hot as Da Bomb the final answer, which only claims 1.5million scovilles.
If you want something that's so hot it will set your mouth damn near on fire, go ahead and get Da Bomb The Final Answer. It's so damn hot it's not even funny!
On a side note, I'm pretty sure Cajohn's sauces aren't marketed correctly. They claim that Z is 4 million scovilles. I'm pretty sure in reality they just use some 4 million extract in it, but the sauce itself is no where near that hot. Maybe only 300-500k scovilles (maybe less). It would be like if Mad Dog were to claim that their 357 Silver Edition is 6 million scovilles, just because they use some 6 million scoville extract in it. In reality Mad Dog claims that 357 Silver Edition is 750,000 scovilles, which is most likely accurate.
I bought some Black Mamba because they claim it is 3million scovilles. While it is very VERY hot, it is no where near as hot as Da Bomb the final answer, which only claims 1.5million scovilles.
If you want something that's so hot it will set your mouth damn near on fire, go ahead and get Da Bomb The Final Answer. It's so damn hot it's not even funny!
I'm a first year grower and love hot food. Not to be a snob (and I don't know shit about making sauce) but sauces that all they do is take extract and add to them for heat, to me takes away from the culinary expertise it takes to make a great tasty hot sauce. Anyway my two cents (asking for change). 
If anyone would like to try a "hot" sauce, gimme your address, and I'll send you some of the sauce that brought MY big ass down!
I agree with chief...if you want something to make a dish hot, get one of the extract sauces. By the time you put it in your food, and it cooks for awhile, they're all gonna taste the same. If you want to put something ON something, go wigth a NON-extract sauce. That way you can actually TASTE the sauce, and enjoy it!
I agree with chief...if you want something to make a dish hot, get one of the extract sauces. By the time you put it in your food, and it cooks for awhile, they're all gonna taste the same. If you want to put something ON something, go wigth a NON-extract sauce. That way you can actually TASTE the sauce, and enjoy it!
Yeah, I should have said to exclude extract's, but the "Z" is an extract. Maybe if I did a teaspoon there would have been a big difference. I'm mostly talking about the pepper hot sauces that claim 1M or so.
Well aside from the characteristics changing when you cook it, sauces dont contain 100% pepper. Look at all the ingredients on the side, so obviously the heat will be diluted. Also, I think some companies market their sauce by the pepper they use, for example anything jolokia is selling right now. So If someone makes 30 gallons of a sauce and uses mainly 90% jalapenos and 10% jolokia, they can still call it a jolokia sauce. Heck they can put one pod in it and say its jolokia.
So my friend, I dont think the problem lies in the transformation between raw pepper and cooked pepper, I think it lies with those that market it in a way that isnt completely true. Keep in mind that not all people are looking to deceive you, bc you gotta also take into account the other ingredients.
Hope this helps explain it a bit more... just my thoughts
xo nicole
So my friend, I dont think the problem lies in the transformation between raw pepper and cooked pepper, I think it lies with those that market it in a way that isnt completely true. Keep in mind that not all people are looking to deceive you, bc you gotta also take into account the other ingredients.
Hope this helps explain it a bit more... just my thoughts
xo nicole
You are confusing the rating of a particular ingredient with the rating of the overall product.
Of course it's hotter. It's 100% pepper, the sauce is not. What has more vinegar, a bottle of vinegar itself, or hot sauce?
True. I know, to get the real feel of the pepper in the hot sauce, you need to try the pepper, sorry for any confusion. But for the average person, they get the bottle and think well this is it, the hottest pepper in the world, let's see what it can do.
Maybe they should quit putting the SHU ratings on the bottles, if it's not as hot as the pepper really is. The pepper is 1M on it's own, but the hot sauce should be rated accordingly, not just because a pepper with that rating is included.
Maybe they should quit putting the SHU ratings on the bottles, if it's not as hot as the pepper really is. The pepper is 1M on it's own, but the hot sauce should be rated accordingly, not just because a pepper with that rating is included.
Does the bottle say "1M SHU Sauce", or "Made with 1M SHU Peppers"?
I like how this is what I was trying to say but it took me a paragraph to explain., thanks :o)
salsalady
eXtreme Business
Wasatch,
After working with you on the hot sauce, I would classify you as a "high end" chilehead. Maligator is another one who seems to truly like the flaming hot stuff. But most people do not like it blazing hot.
When we were developing our products (the original one was back in 2002), I already knew that most people won't buy a product again if it's too hot or has no flavor. Anyone can make a blazing hot sauce, but as so many hot sauce makers now claim... and as I repeat again and again when serving samples... "it's not all about the heat, good heat with great flavor makes a sauce that people can actually use, enjoy, and hopefully buy again."
When I first started to make salsa over 15 years ago, it did not take long to figure out where the demands for the heat levels are. In a batch of salsa, I will make 75% mild and medium flavor and 25% hot or scorcher.
Less than 5% of people actually eat what I consider to be scorcher/7+ heat sauces. So if a sauce maker wants to target the largest market...the numbers speak for themselves.
We've never claimed to be the hottest sauce on the market, just one that has great flavor and a pretty good kick and hopefully one that folks will want to buy again.
We haven't had a Scoville test done on the Ghost Fire sauce only because it's not a Necessity right now, but eventually we will get one done and then be able to post it.
Hope this helps to understand a little where your taste buds are in relationship to the rest of the market. And we will look at our wording on the labels and website to make sure it represents the products accurately.
SL
After working with you on the hot sauce, I would classify you as a "high end" chilehead. Maligator is another one who seems to truly like the flaming hot stuff. But most people do not like it blazing hot.
When we were developing our products (the original one was back in 2002), I already knew that most people won't buy a product again if it's too hot or has no flavor. Anyone can make a blazing hot sauce, but as so many hot sauce makers now claim... and as I repeat again and again when serving samples... "it's not all about the heat, good heat with great flavor makes a sauce that people can actually use, enjoy, and hopefully buy again."
When I first started to make salsa over 15 years ago, it did not take long to figure out where the demands for the heat levels are. In a batch of salsa, I will make 75% mild and medium flavor and 25% hot or scorcher.
Less than 5% of people actually eat what I consider to be scorcher/7+ heat sauces. So if a sauce maker wants to target the largest market...the numbers speak for themselves.
We've never claimed to be the hottest sauce on the market, just one that has great flavor and a pretty good kick and hopefully one that folks will want to buy again.
We haven't had a Scoville test done on the Ghost Fire sauce only because it's not a Necessity right now, but eventually we will get one done and then be able to post it.
Hope this helps to understand a little where your taste buds are in relationship to the rest of the market. And we will look at our wording on the labels and website to make sure it represents the products accurately.
SL
Also remember that a hot pepper is a hot pepper, and a sauce is a retail product that is supposed to be balanced and taste good. If you don't taste a lot of heat the maker decided to use it for flavor. If you do taste a lot of he the maker decide to use it for heat and/or flavor.
Thanks Again.
I was surprised when I tried my first teaspoon of Holy Jalokia the other day. I expected it to be flaming hot and it was not even close. I was actually glad it wasn't because I wanted to taste it and see what the big deal about Holy Jalokia. I then learned how much to put in certain dishes to get the desired heat. If I have the need for HEAT, I will pull out the frozen superhots from PRF that I diced and froze and will add that.