This is how you put together the perfect hot sauce challenge

If you want to organize something challenging and fun with your friends, then a hot sauce challenge is the perfect choice. There are always people in the group who cannot handle spicy food very well andthis way they are forced to push boundaries. Also, it creates hilarious moments. But the ladies and gentlemen who say they can handle spicy food well should not be too confident, because they too can be unexpectedly blown away. Before you just buy some hot sauces, we will explain to you how best to put together a hot sauce challenge.

The number of sauces

Before you start it is useful to know; how many sauces do I need? This depends a bit on how long you want it to take and how big you want to make it, but the most famous example of a hot sauce challenge is of course Hot Ones. They have been using 10 sauces for this YouTube show for years and we think that is a good number to really create a good build-up in terms of heat.

Ascending heat

It goes without saying that the challenge builds in heat. Start nice and mild and get hotter step by step, until people start to tap out. That’s the idea of such a challenge. Try to take a big step up every now and then, so that the participants can be taken aback.

A surprise early in the line-up

Speaking of which, starting with one or 2 very mild sauces and following that up with a sauce that is quite a step hotter can create some fun scenes. Participants are surprised by the serious heat that they may not have expected after the mild numbers 1 and 2 and it may even cause the first dropouts. A good reason to immediately make fun of those first dropouts (with respect of course).

Don’t save the hottest for last

“Huh, but the challenge should build up in heat, right?” Yes, that’s true, but we still think it’s a good idea to put the hottest one in, for example, the second to last place. We return to the example of Hot Ones, where they put Da Bomb Beyond Insanity at number 8 out of 10, despite the fact that this is the most spicy sauce according to all participants. The reason for this: it may cause people to drop out because they can’t handle it or are afraid of the next two sauces (it’s a bit boring if everyone makes it) and the participants really have to work hard to complete the challenge after surviving this sauce.

How to prepare the wings

As far as we are concerned, wings are the ultimate vehicle for hot sauces (possibly vegetarian if you wish), but what is the best way to prepare them? To ensure that there is approximately the same amount of hot sauce on each wing, place the baked (or fried) chicken wings in a large, warm bowl. Now pour the hot sauce over the wings and cover the bowl with a plate or lid. Now shake the bowl quite a bit so that the wings are thoroughly mixed. You do this with each sauce in the challenge. This ensures that the sauce is evenly distributed over the wings and you don’t have to pick up the bottle of hot sauce for each wing.

Put drinks on the table or not?

This is something we would leave up to you. If you really want to make it difficult for the participants, you don’t put drinks on the table and the person who does want to go for a drink is out. At Hot Ones they do have drinks (such as milk) on the table, but in addition to the challenge, it is also about the interview and it just works better if they are allowed to drink. So this one is up to you.

With these tips you should be ready to put together an unforgettable hot sauce challenge. Of course we have ready-made selections ready for you, so that you already have a perfect line up in terms of sauces. This is the Hot Ones Challenge with 10 hot sauces that increase in heat and that have been in the show. You can follow the order you see in the photo.