So what is your preference spicy hot or taste

[ribeyeguy]

Heat that has flavor. Heat by itself is meaningless if it doesn't add anything other than heat. Although something can be said for having a few beers with a group of friends and seeing who's "man" enough to munch down a ghost pepper. That's different though, that's just a group of guys playing one upmanship. If I'm adding heat to something it needs to add to the flavor profile too.

With that being said, with any luck this spring Spinaker and I will be growing the hottest pepper known to man, the Carolina Reaper. Supposedly they make a Habanero seem like an ice cube. I have no idea what I'll do with mine so if he can make something tasty out of his I'll follow his lead. I'm sure we'll keep everyone posted.

[customtrim]

Mr. Bones i can send you peppers

[customtrim]

ribeyeguy i stand corrected the carolina reaper according to google has passed the butch t strain. I thought i read last year that the butch t strain passed 2 million making it the hottest. Sorry

[ribeyeguy]

Nothing to apologize for customtrim, hot peppers seem to be topped every year. We'll try the Reapers this year and if something comes along next year that's hotter we'll give those a shot. And Mr. Bones, I'll probably have many to send your way.

[MBMorgan]

You "heat" guys are nuts! Not in a bad way, mind you ... it's just that we lived in Scandinavia long enough to think that a mild white sauce is the best way to spice up a meal ... 😎 ...

[Breadhead]

Hot wings, Mexican food, and Chinese food greatly attract my taste buds.

All of my favorite dishes that are hot to my taste buds and sweat glands have 2 things in common. First they tease my taste buds with a sweet flavor and then... they lay down a LITTLE heat. I don't like too sweet or too hot!

The best hot wings sauce ive EVER tasted is a sweet sauce with habanero chilli's in it at... believe it or not, Domino's Pizza. I am working on duplicating their hot wings sauce.

The best attempt at mixing sweetness and heat I've ever experienced was a Chinese restaurant I used to go to often when I lived in Lake Oswego, Oregon. In Portland, Oregon there was a Chinese restaurant that served General Taos Chicken that blew my taste buds away. My taste buds would be teased with the sweet, but not too sweet taste, then once your food went down your throat and you swept the top of your mouth with your tongue to clean everything up this slight heat would show up.😜 I didn't know anything about cooking when I ate at that Chinese restaurant but now I do. Now I need to reproduce that sweet and hot flavor they blew me away with! I'm telling you... that was extraordinary food, sauce.

Mexican food on the other hand is not sweet... Mexican food has a deeper flavor profile that is not sweet but finds a way to balance the heat. Plus if your dish is a LITTLE bit to hot you can mop it up with some refried beans to cool it off. But... Mexican food is a sauce food too... just like hot wings and Chinese food.👍

Steaks... are NOT a sauce food. Great steaks... not including Filet Mignon, just DON'T need sauce. Salt and pepper and a good crust from a hot sear.

[CandySueQ]

I can take the heat! Even though general opinion is that women don't like hot. I want my oysters on the half shell with Tabasco sauce. I soak my catfish in buttermilk turned pink with Louisiana Hot Sauce before coating and frying. And those Cherry Bomb peppers intrigue me!

[Huskee]

I've come to appreciate a little heat now more than I used to. I still much prefer flavor to heat. I prefer mild to medium Buffalo wing sauce, and medium salsa. Sriracha is too hot for me. Growing up my parents both liked really hot stuff, but they've regressed in recent years and now we're both in the medium range.

[Michael Brinton]

​ Carolina Reaper from last year. Super hots are nice because the plant is very prolific. Eating them outright is more like taking some awful drug that makes you hallucinate new paradigms of pain. Complete with an out of body experience where you alternate wishing you were dead with watching pain from a painless pain perspective that hurts so much you can't believe there's no damage being done. The breeder of the Reaper named his company, "pucker butt" so watch out. But there are culinary uses... controlled heat in hot sauce, chilli, salsa, one pepper goes a long way. Dry them and save to grate/microplane a small amount to whichever dish you like. This year I'm going the opposite route. Anyone heard about the Habanada? Heatless habanaro all the floral taste none of the heat. You could control add the heat from a Reaper one flake at a time. Should make for an interesting bbq rub heatless habanaro. http://smallfarms.cornell.edu/2015/04/06/habanada/

[Cheef]

I'm kind of a fan of a horseradish type heat. REAL old fashioned horse radish will make you wonder for a minute if you are going to survive. Then it is instantly gone and you are ready for more. I kind of think horseradish might be the least appreciated ZING.
I do love jalapeños but they over load my taste buds pretty quickly.

[Mr. Bones]

Neighbor grown an' prepared horseradish was my first love of hot, way back before kindergarten...
Would (still do) eat it from th' mason jar with a tablespoon or fork. Yummy stuff!!!

[Cheef]

Horseradish might be a subject for someone with know how to start a thread on. My German immigrant grandparents were big on horseradish I remember trying to help grind it one time and I didn't last long. It is kind of a miserable undertaking to grind that root.
The horseradish they made would hit you with a little sour vinegar type taste and then your nose would light on fire and your eyes would tear up.
When I was a kid that was about the extent of hot food in my part of the country.

[customtrim]

Cheef i love horseradish when i had the farm i grew it and made my own

[Cheef]

customtrim A lot of folks associate horseradish sauce with the condiment that is served sometimes with prime rib. I do enjoy that condiment but it is in no way-shape or form anything like ground horseradish. That stuff will literally take your breath away for a second or two.

[customtrim]

It is a great emergency asthma treatment as well

[Mr. Bones]

Definitely clears sinus congestion.

[Quailsroost Smokers]

I like a lot of flavor with a good spicy finish that sneaks up on you. If it's too much heat it kills the taste for me.

[Deaf Arty]

I agree with the flavor-first guys. I'm not into the super peppers -- I don't have an iron mouth. But I do like flavorful heat in moderation. My favorite is New Mexico green chiles. They have wonderful flavor and just the right amount of heat, in my slightly wimpy opinion.

[EdF]

I vote for "inclusive or" - you want both!

[lschweig]

I love a nice balanced taste overall, but without a overwhelmingly hot sear due to my scalp effect.

As I have been follically challenged over the last number of years I find any heat makes my scalp sweat like crazy and thus need any number of napkins, paper towels, or whatever to soak up the resulting conundrum.

The excessive moisture produced can be quite embarrassing.

[EdF]

I haven't had that one - yet!