Cheat Sheet: A Tasting Guide To Hot Sauces And Condiments

Some like it hot … but some also like it mild, medium, insanely spicy, and hell-fire hot. There are literally thousands of brands, types and heats of hot sauce and spicy ingredients on the market, so it'd be nearly impossible to tell you about them all. But our mission here is to guide you through the basic heat-boosters that can take your food to the next level.

We've got spicy sauces, pastes and other concoctions that hail from America to Thailand, Jamaica, China, Japan and back. Our panel of editors and tasters rated each ingredient on a heat scale from 0 to 5 (5 being the hottest), and we've also included notes on flavor and pairing ideas.

What's your favorite way to add heat to food? Let us know in the comments section below! We're always excited to hear about your favorite products.

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Comments

[cmr11]

10:26 AM on 11/28/2011

i use original red tobasco and red tapatio. i was surprised it wasn't on the list.

[TaurusRose]

01:15 PM on 11/27/2011

Really disappointed that they left out NANDO's peri peri sauces. There are several with differing ranges of flavors and heat. Love 'em!

[jimbo57]

09:29 PM on 11/25/2011

The five point scale used in this article is a joke. Using the Scoville scale to measure heat, starting at 0 Scoville Units for sweet peppers and rising to 5,300,000 S.U. for police grade pepper spray, we get a reading of 1,200 S.U. for Green Tabasco Sauce, and 5,000 S.U, for original Tabasco Sauce. Scotch Bonnet peppers, commonly used in Jamaican hot sauces like the Pickapeppa brand, run to 350,000 S.U. which is a totally different order of magnitude. So-called "suicide" hot sauces generally run up to 500,000 S.U. Eating anything that hot probably has more to do with machismo than taste, it's the kind of thing you'd do on a bet.

[Russg]

09:08 PM on 11/25/2011

I love Tabasco (the red kind), Frank's, Sriracha (aka: Cock Sauce). I also love curries but have never thought of them as a condiment.

[geminivoyager]

12:42 PM on 11/25/2011

since they decided to add a mustard, I'll mention my favorite: Keen's Prepared Hot Mustard. We always use it with corned beef and cabbage dinner, and definitely on any pastrami or corned beef sandwich. A little goes a long way.

[Dan Gomez]

05:38 PM on 11/23/2011

this review goes astray by mixing products like curry paste, hot sauce and anything made by Heinz at all. most of the hot-sauces listed are mass-produced and vinegar based, what i commonly call a table sauce. once you truly develop an appreciation for heat you'll rise above this herd. anything can be drowned in Frank's Red Hot or Sriracha and considered "good" - that's a matter of preference. But like wine, there's a wide selection of hot sauce available and those presented here the most generic; yawn. A killer sauce doesn't necessarily have to have killer heat. Check out something like M&D's Ring of Fire hot sauce line and you'll taste a world of difference. Also, the best product here for true heat-seekers isn't a vinegary sauce but rather peppers themselves - i vote for the can of chipotles in adobo -rich, slightly sweet, hot and smokey. a fresh habanero or scotch bonnet grown yourself with your meal would only top that.

[rclark9595]

09:03 PM on 11/22/2011

When I cook up something, I'm not looking to clear out my or other peoples sineses, bring tears to eyes, or numb tounges, some good appropriate heat and great flavor to ADD to what I've cooked is what I go for. I like Tobasco's Green for most dishes and thier Chipolte if I want more heat, these both add the flavor I want and are Jolapino' based, thier regular Tobasco sauce dosen't appeal so much to me because the Tobasco pepers used don't have the right taste I want. I'm not a masochist I don't count Skovilles, I don't want bragging rights, or a burned through and flaming digestive track, just good tasting food.

[TaurusRose]

01:27 PM on 11/27/2011

fanned (and faved) b/c we share the exact philosophy of 'heat' to use in cooking.
I recommend Nando's peri peri sauces from African bird's eye peppers.
They come in a lovely variety and I buy it online:
I personally like their 'medium', their 'extra mild with lemon', and their 'hot sweet'
http://nandosperiperi.elsstore.com/

[rclark9595]

02:37 PM on 11/27/2011

Thanks for the fan vote, do you have the web address for the Nando's peri peri that you'd be willing to share?

[gourmetfoods]

08:18 PM on 11/22/2011

If you have not tried Gourmet Foods and Products Gourmet Hot Sauce you are missing out on a BIG pleasure. Taste like no other and flavor is outstanding. Blended peppers and spicess to perfection. Don't eat without it. Its versital flavor will delight the taste on and in anything you like.
Sold at many stores and on the web at www.gourmetfoodsandproducts.com

[Iplayeasy]

07:58 PM on 11/22/2011

They left out the best all around hot sauce....Cholula

[TaurusRose]

01:30 PM on 11/27/2011

If you said Tapatio was best, you'd have a point.

[Iplayeasy]

01:58 PM on 11/27/2011

Tapatio has good flavor but not much bite. Cholula isnt scalding hot either but I like it best and think it has just the right combination of flavor and hot.

[dschwant]

01:03 PM on 11/30/2011

I have a 12 oz. bottle sitting at my desk. Best.Sauce.Ever.

[flintnord]

07:57 PM on 11/22/2011

That was a completely worthless article but then that's about the best to be expected from HuffHo and AOL

[TaurusRose]

01:31 PM on 11/27/2011

Precisely. Too bad about that.

[ahunter172]

07:49 PM on 11/22/2011

mega death was left out

[narsilpdh]

07:21 PM on 11/22/2011

One that is not even in this survey will blow most others away:

Marie Sharp's. They have at least 4 varieties of mixes - one of which has a warning
to avoid contact with your skin! And they all have a great flavor, which most of these 'hot sauces' like Tabasco and Frank's do not!

[vesta link]

07:03 PM on 11/22/2011

GRACE hot pepper sauce is the best by far-- i put it on everything and its hot!

[Ro Alv]

05:21 PM on 11/22/2011

What about Tapatio? Look it up; it'll blow all others away!

[narsilpdh]

07:17 PM on 11/22/2011

Tapatio is Excellent...and it has flavor as well!

[TaurusRose]

01:34 PM on 11/27/2011

BINGO. And the same for Nando's peri peri...
Nando and Tapatio have excellent flavor
and are my 'go to' hot sauces

[eliza1793]

07:32 PM on 11/22/2011

I was thinking that the ENTIRE time!

[BamaRainbow]

05:18 PM on 11/22/2011

Well, it would've been nice if the slideshow had gone from the "almost undetectable" level to the highest heat but none of these offerings was really all that "hot." (I think the wasabi was the "hottest" at a 4 out of 5 but it was also the 4th slide, so I got a bit disappointed when the very next slide--the sriracha--was a "mere" 3.1 out of 5.)

I kind of agree with Che Vive below--if you really want SCORCHING hot, you need to make your own or stick to fresh or dried peppers.