# Aren't super potent hot sauces just novelty items that don't add much to the taste? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638 "2005-09-21T01:39:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/21 "2005-09-21T13:01:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Tabasco is great, but it’s absolutely the wrong flavor for stuff like Mexican or Asian food. A taco with Tabasco just tastes wrong. Gotta have at least four hot sauces from various corners of the world lying around the house. To meet your own idea of what tastes “right,” perhaps. My personal experience, from living along the Mexican border, is that Tabasco is quite popular amongst the Mexican-Americans and Mexican-Mexicans. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/22 "2005-09-21T13:02:56Z")
I am inclined to agree with the basic premise of this thread - too hot is kinda silly. Having said that, we all know that “too hot” is in the eye of the beholder. Is there an official “Too Hot Line” that, once you cross it, you are officially Posturing? I really like Yucateco Green Habanero sauce. Too hot for most civilians (so my friends and family tell me), but I put it on pretty much anything that isn’t dessert. Oh and a clear corollary to the OP: if you talk about how hot you can take it in general conversation, you’re posturing, even if we are talkin’ about Tabasco or other low-voltage sauces… ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/23 "2005-09-21T13:14:02Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’m sure there are exceptions like yourself, but I maintain that for the most part, super-hot sauces are used for macho posturing. Did you do a poll on this? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/24 "2005-09-21T13:47:05Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I really like Yucateco Green Habanero sauce. Too hot for most civilians (so my friends and family tell me), but I put it on pretty much anything that isn’t dessert… Just picked up some of this from the grocery. I usually like hot red sauces and try to stay away from habanero sauces, but I gotta admit although it’s pretty hot this sauce does have a lot of flavor and is quite tasty. I ate some with a burrito and it has nice savory overtones outside of the heat. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/25 "2005-09-21T14:01:10Z")
I’ve long enjoyed adding Trappey’s Red Devil to any number of dishes, but more for the flavor than the heat. At the local Hot Sauce Festival, I bypass all the booths making claims about “heat” and go to the ones that emphasize “taste”. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/26 "2005-09-21T14:04:23Z")
A plug for a sauce with flavor: [Lingham’s.](http://www.pugsly.com/Lingham.html) It’s a Malaysian sauce with a wonderful taste. Use it where you would use Tiger Sauce. You can bump the heat easily without affecting the taste by adding your favorite bum-burner. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/27 "2005-09-21T14:14:34Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Did you do a poll on this? Not formally; my statements are based upon personal observation. Look at what people in this thread are saying; look at what everybody says on sites like the formerly-linked [The Habanero Hamburger “Hall of Flame”](http://www.habanero-hamburger.com/index.shtml); look at the names of these hot sauces. It’s patently _obvious_ that these things exist for, and are used for, the purposes of posturing. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/28 "2005-09-21T14:18:44Z")
Here’s another vote for Quizno’s **Batch 81** , which makes their so-so turkey sub into a lunch I could eat three or four times a week. Likewise, **Dave’s Gourmet Insanity** and **Endorphin Rush** are staples of my spice cabinet. I put a drop into sautéed veggies before making omelettes, and a drop into a serving of macaroni and cheese… it adds the right amount of “serious” heat and a smoky-sweet taste that counterbalances the bland creaminess of most macaroni-and-cheese dishes. I’ll use three or four drops in a small tupperware of puréed peppers and spices that form the basis for my chili. I brown the beef in the spicy vegetable mix, and then add flavors that compliment and tone down the spiciness; this gets me a chili that tastes delicious for about ten seconds, and then burns just a little on the second or third bite. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/29 "2005-09-21T14:24:00Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > That’s all you get. Pain, and the ability to say, > “I ate the sauce that is rated at 10,000,000 scoville units!” (By comparison, a habenero rates in the 3-5 million range.) I felt I needed to correct myself. A habenero is in the 100,000-400,000 range. I was off by about a factor of ten. :smack: But I did see a sauce advertised as having 1,000,000 scoville units, so it was hotter than a habenero. It was on some Food Network special, and a few people tried it, purely for the machoism of trying it (they even said as much.) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/30 "2005-09-21T14:31:37Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Look at what people in this thread are saying; I am. I’m seeing that people tend to use it more for flavor than for machismo. I don’t doubt that there are some people who use it just to show off, but I’m betting that they are a smaller portion of the population than you think. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/31 "2005-09-21T14:43:05Z")
I must be reading a different thread to you, because the people talking about flavour mostly aren’t talking about the super-hot sauces. Maybe there are a whole load of silent individuals out there who buy the super-hot sauces for the flavour without a trace of egotism involved. I don’t really care; this is not GQ, so I’m not interested in playing the ‘cite’ game. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/32 "2005-09-21T14:45:31Z")
**Mangetout** : > [@](#): > > But by and large, yes, super-hot sauces are most widely used for silly dick-measuring competitions. If you like hot food, that’s great; if you have a large penis, that’s also great, but proudly parading either of these in front of everyone is just rude. Speaking as someone who has occasionally gotten a little bit of residue from the bottle cap onto my fingers: I _really_ don’t think the penis and the hot sauce are comfortable co-subjects of the same thread. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/33 "2005-09-21T14:50:58Z")
Worse still is if you get it on your fingers and touch _someone else’s_ genitals. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/34 "2005-09-21T14:57:19Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Tabasco is great, but it’s absolutely the wrong flavor for stuff like Mexican or Asian food. Our local Chinese restaurants keep big bottles of Tabasco for their Mexican clientele. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/35 "2005-09-21T14:57:28Z")
Can we _please_ discuss something other than sauced-down genitals? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/36 "2005-09-21T14:58:08Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I am inclined to agree with the basic premise of this thread - too hot is kinda silly. Having said that, we all know that “too hot” is in the eye of the beholder. Is there an official “Too Hot Line” that, once you cross it, you are officially Posturing? I think once the hotness of the dish overwhelms any other flavor, you’re in the realm of posturing. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/37 "2005-09-21T15:25:30Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > I don’t mind some heat so long as there’s good flavor included. Some friends of mine like to order the “Atomic” wings at the wing joints and I don’t really understand why. Not only do they tear up and sweat like crazy but they have to eat them last because the wings burn them so severely they can’t taste anything else afterwards. Atomic wings? You don’t, by any chance, go to the Alehouse for your wings, do you? (Of course, I’m sure Atomic is a very popular name for the ‘super-hot’ variety of wings.) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/38 "2005-09-21T18:02:37Z")
Sometimes I want to add heat to the recipe _without altering the actual flavor_. At those times, a heat additive made of just capsaicin in some sort of neutral medium is what I’m looking for. Having said that, I prefer the flavored sauces over the heat additives more than 99% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/39 "2005-09-21T18:22:39Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Sometimes I want to add heat to the recipe _without altering the actual flavor_. At those times, a heat additive made of just capsaicin in some sort of neutral medium is what I’m looking for. > > Having said that, I prefer the flavored sauces over the heat additives more than 99% of the time. I tend to use your garden variety “crushed red peppers” I buy at the grocery store for this. I find them fairly neutral tasting. Sometimes I have to add a lot to get the heat I want, but that is my problem; I assume that the peppers they are crushing aren’t habaneros or anything fancy… ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638/40 "2005-09-21T18:25:08Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Atomic wings? You don’t, by any chance, go to the Alehouse for your wings, do you? > > (Of course, I’m sure Atomic is a very popular name for the ‘super-hot’ variety of wings.) Alehouse is a very popular name for the restaurant as well ;). The Miller’s Alehouse by me serves Mt. St. Hellens wings, but no Atomic ;). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-super-potent-hot-sauces-just-novelty-items-that-dont-add-much-to-the-taste/322638.md?page=3)