I have always enjoyed hot sauce, HOTTER mostly in my much younger days. My stomach no longer plays well with others. I do still incorporate it in many dishes and do enjoy the occasional drop on my breakfast dishes. I used to even make my own hot salsas, pico, and hot sauce, but now I leave it to the pros. I do still occasionally make Hatch Pepper Peach Salsa and Pico de Gallo. These days my emphasis is on flavor, then a bit of heat.
Spicy peppers are hot because they contain capsaicin. The white ribs inside the pepper are the main source of capsaicin, not the seeds, contrary to popular belief. Capsaicin is the chemical compound found in peppers that causes a burning sensation when it makes contact with skin, eyes, or mucous membranes. This spicy oil can even stick to your hands when you handle hot peppers without gloves.
The Scoville scale is a method of measuring the hotness or spiciness of peppers and pepper products like hot sauce. Scoville Heat Units, called SHU, represent the level of heat you can expect from eating a hot pepper. Peppers that fall low on the scale are less spicy, and peppers that rank high on the scale produce a stronger burning sensation on the mouth and skin.
Hot sauce is made by combining chili peppers with other ingredients to create a condiment that's spicy and flavorful. The main ingredient is chili peppers, which provide the heat from capsaicin. Other common ingredients include vinegar, which acts as a preservative and can also alter the flavor, citrus fruits, like lemons or limes, seasonings, like garlic, and salt.
There are several sites to shop for sauces:
Ratings of sauces I have enjoyed and their heat scale (1-10):
Scorned Woman 5
Cholula 4
Chrystal's 4
Melindas Chipotle 3
Tabasco Original 3
Tapatio 3
Melindas Green Sauce 2
Melindas Wing Sauce 2
Tabasco Garlic 2
Tabasco Chipotle 2
Trappey's 2
Tiger Sauce 2
Franks Red Hot 2
Scorned Woman should only be used posthumously. I use quite a bit of Tabasco, Chrystals, Cholula, and Tapatio in my recipes. Franks Red Hot is my go-to for wings, and Tiger Sauce is the perfect match for BBQ. Anything on the scale from 6-10 should only be used to deter a bear attack or as a paint solvent.
"For some women, a man is their whole meal. For me, life is a full meal, and a man is just the hot sauce. If a man wants to be my whole meal, I say, 'That's nice, baby, but right now, I'm already full."
Lisa Nicole Carson
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