OT: What's Your Scoville Ranking?

I've always thought I had a really high threshold for spicy foods. I can eat a dozen Blazin' wings at BWWs without ranch or blue cheese without any trouble. I eat most jalapenos like pickles, but think twice about eating habaneros. They're the hottest peppers I've had raw. Anything less than that is tolerable without any precautions.

I have to agree that jalapenos are very inconsistent with their heat. I've also found that fresh jalapenos are significantly more spicy than those in a jar or can. I have a friend that grows peppers he claims are jalapenos. I think they are far too hot to be jalapenos because they are a notch below habeneros IMO.

Back in 2002 there was a truck driver at the factory I worked at that said to me "I heard you like hot stuff. I got something I'd like you to try." Next thing I know, we're in the break room along with a crowd of co-workers anxious to see my reaction to what was about to happen. He gets out a bag of corn chips and a bottle of some Da'Bomb sauce. He unscrewed the lid to reveal the dropper on the other side which made me question whether or not I wanted to proceed, but I was a good sport and played along. He said "We'll start you off with one drop." I chuckled a bit, ate the first chip, and waited a few seconds to see what I was in for. I ended up having a few more chips with two drops on each of them. My head turned beat red and sweat started pouring out. Everyone started to laugh as I casually said "Yeah, it's pretty hot, but not too bad. It's got a really nice, smoky flavor to it."

I don't know exactly which sauce it was, but the smoky flavor leads me to believe it was Beyond Insanity. I honestly thought it tasted really good despite being the hottest sauce I've ever tasted without a doubt. This all happened during our lunch break. Four hours later my stomach was still on fire at the end of my shift.

As far as sauces go, Tabasco is usually my go-to sauce. It has a very versatile flavor IMO with the right amount of heat to cure the urge most of the time. I put it on salads, pizza, and scrambled eggs. I also really like to mix it with Hidden Valley Ranch and dip chicken wings in it. You need to use a fork and mix it up well because it's stubborn to mix with the ranch. I use Tapatio sauce on anything Mexican. I like Sambal Oelek on asian food. I mix Sriracha in when I make tuna salad sandwiches. I recently had Louisiana Hot Sauce for the first time in ages on some burgers. It's not very spicy, but I forgot how good it tastes.
 
Most jalapenos are fine with me. I've got some habanero sauce that I use a little cautious. But actually we were at a Hu hot in Wisconsin awhile back and the wasabi cleared my sinuses right now. It's not hot like a pepper but holy cow. I've tried it at other Hu Hot places and it wasn't as "hot".
 
MikeyLikesIowa said:
I have a friend that grows peppers he claims are jalapenos. I think they are far too hot to be jalapenos because they are a notch below habeneros IMO.
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They could easily be jalapeños. The ones I grow in my garden are ridiculously hot and they are usually never from the same source. The first year I grew them I thought, “There’s no way these are jalapeños.”

I’ve heard from multiple places that your run of the mill grocery store variety jalapeños have been selectively neutered to be like a fourth of the heat of a “wild” (if there is such a thing) or garden grown variety. My experience with store-bought jalapeños would agree.
 
I generally max out at habanero. Anything more than that, and I really can't taste the food anymore.

Now if we're talking about just eating it raw, then I'm much further down on the list. Probably closer to Cayenne or Thai.
 
Fryowa said:
They could easily be jalapeños. The ones I grow in my garden are ridiculously hot and they are usually never from the same source. The first year I grew them I thought, “There’s no way these are jalapeños.”

I’ve heard from multiple places that your run of the mill grocery store variety jalapeños have been selectively neutered to be like a fourth of the heat of a “wild” (if there is such a thing) or garden grown variety. My experience with store-bought jalapeños would agree.
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Yep, agree with this. The ones I grow myself are WAY hotter than anything I've ever bought in the store.
 
I eat jalepenos on almost everything. I love making chiles toreados and ordering them at Mexican restaurants. Used to get the blazin sauce when I went to BWW (around 300,000 SU). A few years ago I was having some mild breathing difficulty breathing so I went to the ENT where they scoped me and saw that I had some scarring in my esophagus from eating spicy foods. I've backed it down quite a bit since and mostly stuck to jalepenos.

Not a huge fan of habeneros, I feel like they really lack in the flavor department, just empty heat that last 10-15 min.

Recently the hottest thing I had was some ghost pepper pickles (I think they sell them in stores), after 5 or 6 it made my mouth numb, was amazing. People don't ask me if things are spicy anymore, can't really give them a reliable answer. Whats spicy for some is like milk to me.
 
MikeyLikesIowa said:
I don't know exactly which sauce it was, but the smoky flavor leads me to believe it was Beyond Insanity. I honestly thought it tasted really good despite being the hottest sauce I've ever tasted without a doubt. This all happened during our lunch break. Four hours later my stomach was still on fire at the end of my shift.
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Nice I used to use a Q-Tip to put that on my pizza. One time after I threw it away my wife was taking out the garbage, somehow got it in her eye. Whoops, was not fun!
 
Also, folks...don't disregard horseradish. I can easily handle some of the hot sauces on the upper end of Hot Ones' scale, but years ago a guy I work with brought some horseradish that put me on the floor. Half a dime-sized amount on a cracker and I thought I was gonna go into cardiac arrest. That long ago I don't remember what it was but it was one of the hottest things I've ever eaten.

It doesn't help that

1) I don't like even mild horseradish flavor, and

2) Horseradish heat is entirely different. It goes into your lungs and nose like capsaicin doesn't.
 
Ree4 said:
Recently the hottest thing I had was some ghost pepper pickles (I think they sell them in stores), after 5 or 6 it made my mouth numb, was amazing. People don't ask me if things are spicy anymore, can't really give them a reliable answer. Whats spicy for some is like milk to me.
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The local mom and pop Mexican joint in my little town has those pickled carrots and onions as appetizers, but they do two versions, one mild with jalapenos and one hot with habaneros that you have to ask for. Super duper hot but damn they're good.

Usually you only get the one serving with your chips, but my son and I eat there a couple times a week and the owner knows us well enough that she brings out a bowl of each so he can have the mild ones.
 
Fryowa said:
The local mom and pop Mexican joint in my little town has those pickled carrots and onions as appetizers, but they do two versions, one mild with jalapenos and one hot with habaneros that you have to ask for. Super duper hot but damn they're good.

Usually you only get the one serving with your chips, but my son and I eat there a couple times a week and the owner knows us well enough that she brings out a bowl of each so he can have the mild ones.
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Here's the pickles I was referring to, boss at work got them for me and I saw them at Hy Vee awhile back:

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Ree4 said:
For those that haven't heard of/tried Giardiniera, I'd suggest trying it. Oil based spicy veggie mix usually for italian beef sandwiches - very unique flavor and I've grown quite fond of it with just tortilla chips!

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Yea, I like Gieardiniera as a snack. I've made my own in the past in a large jar.
 
Ree4 said:
For those that haven't heard of/tried Giardiniera, I'd suggest trying it. Oil based spicy veggie mix usually for italian beef sandwiches - very unique flavor and I've grown quite fond of it with just tortilla chips!

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Tried that stuff, it's awesome.

Heaven to me is a jar of Mezzetta stuffed olives, 50/50 garlic/jalapeno.
 
Fryowa said:
Also, folks...don't disregard horseradish. I can easily handle some of the hot sauces on the upper end of Hot Ones' scale, but years ago a guy I work with brought some horseradish that put me on the floor. Half a dime-sized amount on a cracker and I thought I was gonna go into cardiac arrest. That long ago I don't remember what it was but it was one of the hottest things I've ever eaten.

It doesn't help that

1) I don't like even mild horseradish flavor, and

2) Horseradish heat is entirely different. It goes into your lungs and nose like capsaicin doesn't.
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A true horseradish is bangin'. Not unlike Jalapenos, most of the off the shelf stuff have been neutered significantly.
 
Ree4 said:
Here's the pickles I was referring to, boss at work got them for me and I saw them at Hy Vee awhile back:

large_89f3fd79-e54b-44d4-a164-88365f1bd590.png
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Would those ruin a burger? Or is it something that you just eat a few out of the jar for an adrenaline rush? I'm not against the latter, btw.
 
hawkdrummer1 said:
A true horseradish is bangin'. Not unlike Jalapenos, most of the off the shelf stuff have been neutered significantly.
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You guys have probably gathered that I'm not a picky eater and that I like trying/cooking a variety of foods.

But there are two flavors I absolutely cannot do. One is horseradish and the other is anise. No horseradish spread, wasabe, black licorice, none of that stuff. I don't know what it is, but I just get flat out replused by it.

Oh, and cilantro. I get shivers when I think of cilantro. Tastes like I just drank a 50/50 mix of PineSol and Dawn dish soap. Good god I'm getting creeped out just thinking about it.
 
Fryowa said:
You guys have probably gathered that I'm not a picky eater and that I like trying/cooking a variety of foods.

But there are two flavors I absolutely cannot do. One is horseradish and the other is anise. No horseradish spread, wasabe, black licorice, none of that stuff. I don't know what it is, but I just get flat out replused by it.

Oh, and cilantro. I get shivers when I think of cilantro. Tastes like I just drank a 50/50 mix of PineSol and Dawn dish soap. Good god I'm getting creeped out just thinking about it.
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Cilantro is an interesting one, there's definitely a genetic predisposition. Some have exactly your take on it, others love it.
Anise, fennel, dill, sage...are all spices/herbs that if overused can be "Blech!".
 
Fryowa said:
Would those ruin a burger? Or is it something that you just eat a few out of the jar for an adrenaline rush? I'm not against the latter, btw.
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For those who really like spicy food, probably not. They'd get diluted with the bread/meat/fixins enough I think that they wouldnt be too bad. I can say though that I've only done the latter :)
 
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