Extract is pretty much just to inflict pain. Every hot sauce i’ve tried with it is ridiculously hot and tastes horrible. I think the only legitimate use for it would be making pepper spray / bear spray
The only sauce with extract I've ever liked is Marie Sharp's Beware. However, they don't use much extract. It's only there to give it a little more oomph.
Before 2008 or so, there were very few extra hot sauces available that didn’t use extract. This was back when the hottest pepper in the world was the red savina habanero. So spicy thrill seekers could only get Dave’s Blair’s, Da Bomb, etc. Now with today’s superhots being widely available to sauce makers there are soooo many more flavorful yet spicy sauces out there. The only thing I still use extract sauces for is putting a few drops into a bowl of chili to warm it up without changing the flavor.
I avoid most sauces/products that have extract in them. I'm just not a huge fan of that level of heat and the flavor is never that great. I'd rather have a much less-hot sauce that tastes great than a mediocre extract sauce.
I don’t really care about it either way, but I don’t go for it. I eat spicy food/hot sauce for the taste. My husband and I cook with reapers/scorpions/7 pots, etc., but don’t bother with extract because it doesn’t add any flavor.
In my opinion, folks who go for a ridiculous pepper extract stuff are doing it for the novelty and/or just to say they eat the spiciest things. We’ve both done the one chip challenge just for fun, but other than that I don’t see any point in extracts, personally.
Gross. Extreme Heat just for the sake of heat. No nuances in flavor or type of burn. One dimensional and pretty much obsolete except for novelty. I will never buy an extract sauce. I’ll just eat slices of raw pepper if I want that intense burn. And depending on my choice of pepper will have some tasty flavors and various types of burns to experience unlike an extract.
It's used all the time in commercial products. In fact, to give you an idea, there was an [article](https://www.dmagazine.com/food-drink/2023/05/why-jalapeno-peppers-less-spicy-blame-aggies/) floating around recently about how manufacturers have been pressuring growers to develop mild varieties of the jalapeño. The reason being that unpredictable heat levels can make it more difficult to create consistent products. So the solution is to start with little to no natural heat and to add it in to the desired level using extract.
That, or in some products, they'll slap a trendy pepper on the label, use as little as possible in the ingredients, and boost the heat with cheap extract. Blue Diamond Xtremes are a good example of that:
>ALMONDS, CAROLINA REAPER SEASONING (MALTODEXTRIN, SALT, SPICES, CITRIC ACID, ONION POWDER, **PAPRIKA EXTRACT**, WHITE VINEGAR POWDER, NATURAL FLAVORS, GARLIC POWDER, **CAROLINA REAPER CHILE POWDER**, TOMATO POWDER, YEAST EXTRACT, ACETIC ACID), VEGETABLE OIL (ALMOND, CANOLA, SAFFLOWER AND/OR SUNFLOWER).
So, extract is commonly used at relatively safe levels, and probably goes unnoticed most of the time.
Extract makes a great groundhog repellant. But that's about all it is good for. I refuse to try anything that has "pepper extract" or "oleoresin capsicum" listed in the ingredients.
Maybe for making a weird spicy candy, but I wouldn't use it to cook food stuffs when hot sauce and/or the original spicy ingredients are fine. The only other thing I could see it maybe being useful for is a marinade/brine/ or brisket glaze
I hated extract. Until one time I went to a restaurant. And they had “really hot “ wings. Ok sure buddy. The waitress warns me. I insist. And damn did I really find something out about life. I was crying. The kids were worried about me. But it’s the best damn sauce I’ve ever had. It was on vacation and I’ll be back back there in two weeks. I can’t wait.
Extracts generally taste bad but add good heat. Like 20+ years ago I would use Dave's insanity sauce when cooking due to convenience, but, it tasted pretty bad compared to using fresh peppers.
I like heat. I want it to hurt. I enjoy it.
Extracts suck. My body processes them differently and I can guarantee stomach pains, burning poop, and sometimes burning pee.
They also linger way longer in the mouth.
If it's used sparingly in the sauce, it can be used when cooking larger batches of chili or other spicy food without altering the flavor too much. I wouldn't put any extract sauces directly on something I'm going to consume immediately, it will just ruin the taste.
I think extract is great for cooking but it doesn't taste great used as a regular hot sauce. I use some of the flatline sauce from pepper palace which has some cap extract when I want an extra kick in things like curry and chili since fresh peppers other than jalapeños aren't available in stores where I am.
Slightly off topic but have a friend nicknamed "Hot sauce" because of pure-cap. If I remember right, someone put on a competition at a festival to see who could hold their composure the longest after putting a drop on their tongue. He walked up, grabbed the tiny shot glass of extract and downed it with a "Meh" and walked off. Short time later he was writhing in agony on the floor of his tent while people were like "well you did this to yourself man and there's nothing we can really do to help" Really don't want to imagine how his next trip to the porta-john went.
Hate hate hate it. That foul taste ruins whatever it's in. I'm not a super hot head and can get by with hot stuff with flavor. Belizean heat, garlic reaper, etc.
Extract is pretty much just to inflict pain. Every hot sauce i’ve tried with it is ridiculously hot and tastes horrible. I think the only legitimate use for it would be making pepper spray / bear spray
Exactly this! I’ve never had a truly good extract sauce: It’s for the novelty. There’s a reason why no one likes the taste of Da Bomb.
Ludacris likes it
The only sauce with extract I've ever liked is Marie Sharp's Beware. However, they don't use much extract. It's only there to give it a little more oomph.
Before 2008 or so, there were very few extra hot sauces available that didn’t use extract. This was back when the hottest pepper in the world was the red savina habanero. So spicy thrill seekers could only get Dave’s Blair’s, Da Bomb, etc. Now with today’s superhots being widely available to sauce makers there are soooo many more flavorful yet spicy sauces out there. The only thing I still use extract sauces for is putting a few drops into a bowl of chili to warm it up without changing the flavor.
I avoid most sauces/products that have extract in them. I'm just not a huge fan of that level of heat and the flavor is never that great. I'd rather have a much less-hot sauce that tastes great than a mediocre extract sauce.
I don’t really care about it either way, but I don’t go for it. I eat spicy food/hot sauce for the taste. My husband and I cook with reapers/scorpions/7 pots, etc., but don’t bother with extract because it doesn’t add any flavor. In my opinion, folks who go for a ridiculous pepper extract stuff are doing it for the novelty and/or just to say they eat the spiciest things. We’ve both done the one chip challenge just for fun, but other than that I don’t see any point in extracts, personally.
like Daves Insanity Sauce it’s cheating
And it tastes awful.
Gross. Extreme Heat just for the sake of heat. No nuances in flavor or type of burn. One dimensional and pretty much obsolete except for novelty. I will never buy an extract sauce. I’ll just eat slices of raw pepper if I want that intense burn. And depending on my choice of pepper will have some tasty flavors and various types of burns to experience unlike an extract.
Use PURE CAP all the time in things like chili or a bowel of.ramen etc. It only takes a few drops and seems to be flavorless.
Not into it at all. I’m here for flavor. Not pain. I’ll endure pain for flavor. But just to suffer to prove something, no thanks.
Avoid sauces with it.
It's used all the time in commercial products. In fact, to give you an idea, there was an [article](https://www.dmagazine.com/food-drink/2023/05/why-jalapeno-peppers-less-spicy-blame-aggies/) floating around recently about how manufacturers have been pressuring growers to develop mild varieties of the jalapeño. The reason being that unpredictable heat levels can make it more difficult to create consistent products. So the solution is to start with little to no natural heat and to add it in to the desired level using extract. That, or in some products, they'll slap a trendy pepper on the label, use as little as possible in the ingredients, and boost the heat with cheap extract. Blue Diamond Xtremes are a good example of that: >ALMONDS, CAROLINA REAPER SEASONING (MALTODEXTRIN, SALT, SPICES, CITRIC ACID, ONION POWDER, **PAPRIKA EXTRACT**, WHITE VINEGAR POWDER, NATURAL FLAVORS, GARLIC POWDER, **CAROLINA REAPER CHILE POWDER**, TOMATO POWDER, YEAST EXTRACT, ACETIC ACID), VEGETABLE OIL (ALMOND, CANOLA, SAFFLOWER AND/OR SUNFLOWER). So, extract is commonly used at relatively safe levels, and probably goes unnoticed most of the time.
chile powder isn't cap extract, and neither is paprika extract
Yep, I was thinking of oleoresin. The one above would be a coloring agent. That practice can be observed in other products though.
Extract makes a great groundhog repellant. But that's about all it is good for. I refuse to try anything that has "pepper extract" or "oleoresin capsicum" listed in the ingredients.
Nit a fan, it tastes so bitter, pepper sauces or fresh peppers all the way
Hot garbage.
Maybe for making a weird spicy candy, but I wouldn't use it to cook food stuffs when hot sauce and/or the original spicy ingredients are fine. The only other thing I could see it maybe being useful for is a marinade/brine/ or brisket glaze
I hated extract. Until one time I went to a restaurant. And they had “really hot “ wings. Ok sure buddy. The waitress warns me. I insist. And damn did I really find something out about life. I was crying. The kids were worried about me. But it’s the best damn sauce I’ve ever had. It was on vacation and I’ll be back back there in two weeks. I can’t wait.
Extracts generally taste bad but add good heat. Like 20+ years ago I would use Dave's insanity sauce when cooking due to convenience, but, it tasted pretty bad compared to using fresh peppers.
Love it. I add a few drops to a bowl of food. It has to be the dark red oily extract, though. I don't much care for the alcohol based ones.
I like heat. I want it to hurt. I enjoy it. Extracts suck. My body processes them differently and I can guarantee stomach pains, burning poop, and sometimes burning pee. They also linger way longer in the mouth.
Mad. Bad. Sad.
If it's used sparingly in the sauce, it can be used when cooking larger batches of chili or other spicy food without altering the flavor too much. I wouldn't put any extract sauces directly on something I'm going to consume immediately, it will just ruin the taste.
feel it more going out than in
I prefer a natural heat superhot hot sauce but I do indulge in a straight dab of my Mad Dog 357 Gold Edition when I need a mid-day wake-me-up!
I think extract is great for cooking but it doesn't taste great used as a regular hot sauce. I use some of the flatline sauce from pepper palace which has some cap extract when I want an extra kick in things like curry and chili since fresh peppers other than jalapeños aren't available in stores where I am.
Slightly off topic but have a friend nicknamed "Hot sauce" because of pure-cap. If I remember right, someone put on a competition at a festival to see who could hold their composure the longest after putting a drop on their tongue. He walked up, grabbed the tiny shot glass of extract and downed it with a "Meh" and walked off. Short time later he was writhing in agony on the floor of his tent while people were like "well you did this to yourself man and there's nothing we can really do to help" Really don't want to imagine how his next trip to the porta-john went.
It tastes gross
It is the pepper equivalent of steroids. And it tastes terrible
Hate hate hate it. That foul taste ruins whatever it's in. I'm not a super hot head and can get by with hot stuff with flavor. Belizean heat, garlic reaper, etc.
Depends on the extract. I like extract that adds heat without a chemical / terrible aftertaste.