Alexander Ostermann
The Challenge:
As a preface, I have always enjoyed spicy food. I grow my own peppers in my small apartment and enjoy using them in my recipes and making spicy sauces with them. However, I must admit I was a bit apprehensive when I was invited to join several friends in a hot sauce wing tasting following the format of the popular interview show, Hot Ones. For those that do not know, Hot Ones is an internet show that features host Shawn Evans interviewing celebrities while eating increasingly hot chicken wings, ramping up to some of the hottest sauces available currently on the market. Having watched several episodes, I knew what I would be in for should I choose to accept, and against my better judgment I chose to do so.
The night would proceed as closely as possible to the show. Ten chicken wings would be consumed over the course of the event, each with a heightening degree of spiciness. The first sauce would be my personal favorite, humble sriracha sauce. The 10th wing would be slathered in the juggernaut “Blair’s Mega Death Sauce,” which came in a box shaped like a coffin and included a free keychain for the poor mortal who purchased it to display on their key ring for when their charred remains were eventually recovered. A full list of the sauces can be found at the end of the article.
When I walked into my friend’s apartment, the smell of peppers was apparent. Several people were tossing unseasoned chicken wings in bowls of the various sauces, and what I then saw was unsettling: Those tossing the sauces were wearing nitrile gloves to avoid getting the sauce on their hands. At this point I felt incredibly out of my league, as the setup seemed closer to the research lab that I work in than a place where we would actually be eating food. Why on earth would I put something in my mouth that my friends were wary of touching? For your entertainment, of course. There was small talk around the table, mostly boasting about the various sauces that these daredevils ate on a regular basis. “I sure do like sriracha sauce,” I thought to myself as I realized that said sauce was the least spicy sauce on the table, “and if that’s the mildest sauce here, I am going to have a very unpleasant time.” Another point of interest was the mysterious “Pepper X,” which has just usurped the title of spiciest selectively bred pepper in the entire world from the “Dragon’s Breath.” These Pepper X super-hybrids are created by dedicated botanists who lovingly crossbreed peppers to gain their spot at the highly contested world record position.
The Scoville Scale:
On the back label of most of the highly spicy sauces were some scarily large numbers… the Scoville scale. The Scoville scale is used to measure the “heat” felt when eating a chili pepper. This heat comes from capsaicin, a natural chemical defense mechanism of chili peppers that binds with sensory neurons in mammals and stimulates them to send a signal to the brain that the mouth is very hot. This is enough to deter smarter mammals, which generally avoid the fruit, but not humans, who—not wanting to be outdone by some red-berried plant—began to cultivate the plant in prehistory. Wilbur Scoville, invented the eponymously named Scoville test of “hotness” in the early 1900s by having test subjects taste increasingly diluted samples of the peppers until they could no longer discern any spiciness. Thus, the Scoville scale was originally a dilution factor. This method is rarely used today, as it becomes more difficult to discern between samples after prolonged exposure to the spicy chemical capsaicin. The preferred method to determine the Scoville heat units (SHUs) of a particular pepper or sauce is high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), which gives a direct measure of capsaicin content. The Scoville scale placement has become a bragging point among hot sauce companies, many of whom display it prominently.
The Tasting Begins:
One point of derision I heard across the table from one of the “hot sauce purists” was pepper extract. This is a concentrated capsaicin solution that is derived directly from peppers but has no flavor, just heat. This is looked down on by some, who believe the sauces are as much about flavor as heat. It is food, of course, even if it’s food for masochists. With the last plate of wings finally prepared and set on the table, I mentally braced myself for what was possibly to be the most painful experience of my entire life.
First was the sriracha, which as previously mentioned, was my favorite “everyday” hot sauce. Sriracha comes from Southeast Asia, and it is much more highly flavored than many commercial hot sauces, making heavy use of spices such as garlic and having a signature thicker texture. These wings were spicy, but objectively enjoyable. Short breaks were taken between each sequential wing, which became longer as the wings became hotter.
Protein Blocking:
When the Scoville units rose into the 100,000s, the dairy products were broken out. Dairy products contain a protein called casein, which blocks the capsaicin from contacting the receptors in the mouth. I found this interesting, as casein from milk is also used similarly at my place of work. We sometimes use powdered milk solution to block proteins from wantonly binding to the membranes we use for Western blotting, which is a technique used to examine cellular proteins. In the lab there is a need to experimentally optimize powdered milk treatments for Western blot blocking. I likewise found through experimentation on sauce night that an otherwise unappetizing mix of equal parts Greek yogurt and whole milk worked most effectively in reducing the pain from the wings.
The Defeat:
After several rounds, wing number seven was presented. The host delicately cradled the bottle—aptly named Pain 100%—for all to see. We all took a wing and ate simultaneously, so that the effects of the sauce could be observed at the same time. This wing was the first one that I was unable to “clear,” a technical term that I was told meant to eat the entire wing. I learned that each sauce had its own character, such as how long it took to take effect, and how long the heat lingered. This particular sauce hit almost instantaneously and lingered for far longer than I found comfortable. No amount of my yogurt-milk slurry was able to quench the inferno that once was my mouth. The feeling subsided after about eight minutes of intense pain, at which point I decided I would just observe the last three sauces being consumed.
The Spiciest Wing:
Fellow Eats with Engineers contributor, Quinn Mitchell, was far braver than myself, and decided to trudge on. With these hotter sauces, I was told that the “pain threshold” was surpassed. The adrenaline rush from the extreme heat almost surpassed the discomfort, causing the consumer to be incredibly euphoric. Quinn ate the last wing, covered in the spiciest “Blair’s Mega Death Sauce,” at a whopping 550,000 Scoville units, and began to rapidly pace the room. His speech was airing on incoherent, and he was sweating profusely. Several minutes in, his demeanor changed. He sat laughing on the couch, watching episodes of the show whose style we had tried to recreate. “I feel funny,” he said almost deliriously. At that point I briefly felt regretful that I had decided not to continue in the endeavor. I then reached to grab one of the uneaten wings, and was accosted by the smell of what I could only describe as like that of a chemical weapon. “Maybe,” I thought to myself, “it’s not worth it,” and decided not to challenge myself.
Overall, the experience was surprisingly enjoyable. My favorite sauce was “High River Rogue,” a sauce that I would liken to an amped-up take on Thai sweet chili sauce. Of the sauces I tasted using the pepper extract as an ingredient, I have to agree with the purists. There was little flavor other than an acrid bitterness followed by overwhelming heat. Would I try this stunt again? Well, I’ll let you know after my new Carolina Reaper seeds arrive in the mail.
The Sauces Sampled at the Event
1 – Sriracha (My go-to sauce for everything from pizza to cereal. But not really.)
2 – Tapatio (A little spicier. Pretty flavorful with a strong vinegar taste.)
3 – El Yucateco’s Red Habanero Hot Sauce (your classic Mexican Restaurant hot sauce. I find the red version more pleasant than the green, which tastes “raw” to me.)
4 – Pain Is Good Louisiana Style (A balanced sauce. It turns out pain really is good.)
5 – Hot Ones Fiery Chipotle (A signature sauce from the show, “Hot Ones.” The smoking process that turns jalapenos into chipotle peppers cuts down the heat and adds a great deal of flavor.)
6 – High River Rogue (My personal favorite for the night. Nice and sweet with lots of heat.)
7 – Pain 100% (Let’s say this one lives up to its name.)
8 – Da Bomb Hot Sauce (I unfortunately cannot comment on this sauce other than it made one of my friends—who shall remain unnamed—cry.)
9 – Mad Dog 357 Hot Sauce (This sauce uses chili extract. It was described to me as tasting like battery acid, and it sure smelled that way.)
10 – Blair’s Mega Death Sauce with Liquid Rage (I’m not sure what “liquid rage” is, but I can tell you this sauce contains it. Poor Quinn…)