August 13th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
Being a guy that loves his food spicy and literally can’t live without Hot Sauces, I have finally found THE Hot Sauce for the ages. I can’t honestly say that I have found the “Holy Grail” of sauces but I would have to say that it ranks as my all time number one (for now). I was “introduced” to this sauce at our favorite Mexican restaurant a little less than a year ago and haven’t found one like it ever since. The sauce is called El Yucateco Salsa Picante Red”.
Made by a Mexican company called El Yucateco, it is made from blend of habanero chillies and red tomatoes with fine spices and seasonings. This sauce certainly packs the punch - it is on the higher spicier edge, yet still very tasty. Now I must state that my “threshold” for heat may be a little different from the average person due to my lifetime of eating chilies and hot peppers - so taste it at your expense as I am not responsible for any “side/after effects”. Also, there are two types of hot sauces made by companies: 1) The ones that are made by companies to “be the hottest sauce in the world” and taste absolutely awful i.e. it is not meant to flavor your food and 2) The ones that actually taste good and give your food the extra “kick”. I prefer the later.
I didn’t realize until about a couple of years ago that Hot Sauces have their own unit of measurement of how hot/ spicy it is. Its called Scoville. It was developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912 and conversely indicates how much the pepper extract has to be diluted for it to be fit for human consumption.
The hottest ever recorded pepper is the Red Savina Habanero at 577,000 Scoville. Going above 577,000, is likened to eating poison e.g. U.S Grade Pepper Spray has a Scoville of 2,000,000 - 5,000,000. Just so you know, standard off the shelf Tabasco Sauce is “only” 600-800 Scoville. The El Yucateco sauce “I love” above is recorded at 11, 600 Scoville. The hottest one I can take is Dave’s Insanity Sauce at a whooping 51,000 Scoville units! I have it in my fridge and it can only be used in tiny pin drop amounts … it is that hot! The bottle also says something to the effect that the company will not be responsible if you fall violently ill from eating the hot sauce. So, what is the hottest sauce you have ever tried, tasted and actually liked? … I am interested to know more about it as I need to add to my hot sauce collection. ;-) ! FYI … here is a Scoville table and how it relates to peppers (Courtesy of Wikipedia):
Scoville Units
350,000 - 577,000 Red Savina Habanero
100,000 - 325,000 Scotch Bonnet
100,000 - 300,000 Habanero Chile
100,000 - 200,000 Jamaican Hot Pepper
50,000 - 100,000 Thai Pepper
30,000 - 50,000 Cayenne Pepper
10,000 - 23,000 Serrano Pepper
7,000 - 8,000 Tabasco Sauce (Habanero)
5,000 - 10,000 Wax Pepper
2,500 - 8,000 Jalapeño Pepper
2,500 - 5,000 Tabasco Sauce (Pepper)
1,500 - 2,500 Rocotillo Pepper
1,000 - 1,500 Poblano Pepper
600 - 800 Tabasco Sauce (Green Pepper)
500 - 1000 New Mexico Pepper
100 - 500 Pimento, Pepperoncini
0 No heat, Bell Pepper
3 Responses to “The Science of Hot Sauces”
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michele said: @ 4:44 pm
August 13th, 2006
Yep that\’s a hotter than hell sauce,and the
closer it gets to the bottom the hotter it is.
I think i gave someone a taste of that and
they had to go to the hospital.
They\’re dead now,i hope it wasn\’t my fault.
Can hot sauce kill?
Donald Douglas said: @ 6:56 pm
August 13th, 2006
I love hot sauce too, until my mouth is on fire! I used to make a home-made salsa back in the day, using the hottest Jalepenos. My mom used to say it’s way too hot! I’ve mellowed a bit in my old age, having not done the home-made thing in a while. Interesting post.
Shelli said: @ 7:33 pm
August 13th, 2006
I am not a spicy food liking girl. I am from Minnesota after all. LOL
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