Buffalo chicken is a popular dish that consists of chicken wings or chunks that are coated in a spicy Buffalo sauce. The sauce gives the chicken its signature fiery flavor, but there is some debate around whether Buffalo chicken should be considered hot or just spicy.
The Origins of Buffalo Chicken
The creation of Buffalo chicken is attributed to Teressa Bellissimo, who operated the Anchor Bar restaurant in Buffalo, New York in 1964. The story goes that one night her son and his friends wanted a midnight snack, and Teressa decided to deep fry some chicken wings and coat them in a spicy hot sauce made with butter and hot peppers. The wings were a big hit, and she put them on the menu as Buffalo chicken wings. The dish quickly became popular in Buffalo and spread across the country over the next few decades.
The original Buffalo wing sauce Recipe called for a mix of butter and hot pepper sauce, specifically Frank’s RedHot sauce. So while the wings had a spicy kick, they were also coated in creamy butter which helped balance out the heat. The addition of butter is a key aspect of Buffalo sauce that distinguishes it from other hot sauces and chili-based wing recipes.
Defining Spicy vs. Hot
When describing the flavor of Buffalo chicken, people often use the words “hot” and “spicy” interchangeably. However, there are some nuanced differences between the two terms:
- Spicy refers to the presence of spices that add punch and pungency, often due to compounds like capsaicin found in peppers.
- Hot refers to a burning sensation in the mouth that is triggered by certain compounds binding to pain receptors on the tongue and mouth tissues.
So a food can be spicy from lots of added spices and peppers without actually being hot and vice versa. For example, a dish made with mild peppers like poblanos can be very flavorfully spicy without much heat. And something like pure capsaicin extract would be extremely hot with very little spice flavor.
Heat Level of Buffalo Sauce
The typical Buffalo chicken wing sauce uses a pepper-based hot sauce as its base ingredient. The most popular brand by far is Frank’s RedHot sauce, which has been the default hot sauce used for Buffalo wings since they were invented. Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce has a Scoville rating of 450, which puts it at the low end of the heat spectrum.
Here’s how Frank’s RedHot sauce heat level compares to other popular hot sauces:
| Hot Sauce | Scoville Heat Units |
|---|---|
| Frank’s RedHot Original | 450 |
| Cholula | 3,600 |
| Tabasco | 2,500-5,000 |
| Sriracha | 2,200 |
| Texas Pete | 750-2,000 |
As you can see, Frank’s RedHot is at the bottom end of the spectrum, rating much lower in heat level than sauces like Cholula, Tabasco, and Sriracha. So right off the bat, Buffalo sauce made with Frank’s RedHot as the base is not going to be extremely hot.
Effect of Butter
A key distinguishing factor about Buffalo sauce is the addition of butter – typically between 1-2 tablespoons per 6-8 tablespoons of hot sauce. The butter helps to add a richness to the sauce while also cooling down the heat from the hot peppers. The dairy fat coats the tongue and mouth and provides a soothing contrast to the burning heat of the peppers. So the butter certainly pushes Buffalo chicken more to the “spicy” end rather than being plain hot.
Vinegar Content
Frank’s RedHot sauce contains a fair amount of vinegar in addition to the aged cayenne peppers. The vinegar adds tanginess and flavor. But it also mitigates the heat level, as capsaicin (the compound that makes peppers hot) is not very soluble in vinegar. So the acetic acid in the vinegar actually pulls some of the heat out of the sauce. Pure capsaicin oil dissolved in a neutral oil, for example, would be much hotter than Frank’s vinegar-based sauce.
Heat Tolerance Varies by Individual
Another important factor in the hot vs. spicy debate is individual heat tolerance. The burn of capsaicin on the tongue and mouth is sensed through pain receptors, so sensitivity varies from person to person. What may be face-melting hot for one person might only register as mildly spicy to a chili head who eats habaneros for breakfast.
Surveys have found that on average, women are a bit more sensitive to the burn of capsaicin compared to men. Around 70% of women rate the heat level of Buffalo wings as tolerable to enjoyable, while over 80% of men find them tolerable/enjoyable. So women are somewhat more likely to find Buffalo chicken to be unpleasantly hot compared to men who would classify it as moderately spicy.
Age and ethnicity also play a role, with sensitivity to capsaicin declining with older age. And people of East Asian descent tend to be more sensitive on average compared to those of European or African descent.
So there is no universal consensus on whether standard Buffalo chicken wings are hot or just spicy, since heat perception lives on a spectrum across individuals. The sauce may be mildly spicy and pleasant to some folks while still being too hot for others.
How Buffalo Chicken Heat Compares to Other Cuisines
Another way to evaluate the heat level of Buffalo chicken is to compare it to spicy dishes in other regional and ethnic cuisines around the world:
Mexican Food
Authentic Mexican cooking makes liberal use of hot peppers like jalapeños, serranos, habaneros, and more. Salsa in particular often contains raw, chopped peppers. So Buffalo chicken generally can’t compare heat-wise to truly spicy Mexican dishes.
Indian Curries
India is the homeland of the infamously hot ghost pepper. Indian curries can include spices like cayenne and chili powder along with hot peppers. The spiciest Indian curries are much hotter than Buffalo sauce.
Thai Cuisine
Thai food also uses a dynamic range of chili peppers, with ubiquitous condiments like Thai bird’s eye chili and Sriracha on the hotter end. Spicy Thai curries and stir fries tend to be hotter than Buffalo wings.
Sichuan Cuisine
With its liberal use of tongue-numbing Sichuan peppercorns and red chili oil, Sichuan cooking from Southwest China excels at spicy-hot flavors. Scorching Sichuan dishes leave Buffalo chicken in the dust heat-wise.
Korean Spicy Food
Spicy Korean dishes often use a red chili pepper paste called gochujang along with other chili ingredients. Authentic fiery Korean specialties like buldak chicken challenge the heat intensity of Buffalo wings.
Ways to Make Buffalo Chicken Hotter
For those seeking a little more heat, the Buffalo chicken experience can easily be amped up in a few ways:
- Use a hotter pepper sauce like Tabasco instead of Frank’s RedHot
- Add extra dashes of cayenne, chili flakes, or hot sauce
- Leave out the butter to remove the cooling effect
- Order the wings “extra crispy” – more char means more heat
- Dip the wings in straight blue cheese dressing instead of creamy ranch
Conclusion
When compared to other famously fiery global cuisines, Buffalo chicken wings are relatively mild. The classic Buffalo sauce recipe was designed to be tongue-tingling but not painfully scorching. The combination of aged cayenne pepper sauce, vinegar, and butter in Frank’s RedHot balances out the heat. Individual sensitivity to capsaicin still plays a major role, but Buffalo chicken is likely to register as pleasantly spicy rather than dangerously hot for most people. Die-hard chili heads may find the wings to be fairly tame and in need of extra heat. But the modest spicy kick combined with addictive savory flavor is likely why Buffalo chicken has remained a perennial American favorite appetizer for over 50 years.