Wing Country

Wing CountryWhat’s in the bottle

Every number here came off a label. Who wins gets argued elsewhere, at length.

22
bottles read
22
with an ingredient list
20
with salt on the panel
19
with sugar on the panel
1
with a published Scoville number

Salt, by the tablespoon

One dot per bottle, 20 in all; the upright tick marks its row's median. Across every bottle the median runs 227 mg a tablespoon, against the 2,300 mg the FDA counts as a day. Old Bay Seasoning tops it at 1,680 mg. Careful with the far right: 2 of these are dry seasonings whose own serving is a quarter teaspoon or less, scaled to a tablespoon here so they sit on the same axis. Nobody eats a tablespoon of them. Hover a dot for the bottle.

05001,0001,500milligrams of sodium per tablespoonCayenne and buttermedian 460.0460Buffalo sauce (McCormick & Company, Inc.) — 460 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonVinegar and peppermedian 487.5487.5Crystal Hot Sauce (Baumer Foods, Inc.) — 405 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonFrank's RedHot (McCormick & Company, Inc.) — 570 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonDry rubmedian 1080.01,080Memphis dry rub (Adams Extract Co.) — 480 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonOld Bay Seasoning (McCormick & Company, Inc.) — 1,680 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonCitrus and peppermedian 720.0720Lemon pepper (McCormick & Company, Inc.) — 720 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonHerb and garlicmedian 120.0120Garlic parmesan sauce (P. K. Kinder Co., Inc.) — 120 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonSweet and redmedian 140.0140Mumbo sauce (Capital City, LLC) — 80 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonMild sauce (Southern Signature, Inc.) — 140 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonHoney barbecue sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's Inc.) — 150 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonSoy and sweetmedian 520.0520Soy garlic sauce (Korean Delights LLC (We Love You)) — 430 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonTeriyaki sauce (Kikkoman Sales USA, Inc.) — 610 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonDairy dipsmedian 145.0145Ranch dressing (The HVR Company (Hidden Valley)) — 120 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonBlue cheese dressing (Ken's Foods, Inc.) — 145 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonAlabama white sauce (In-Between Sportwear, Inc. (Saw's)) — 150 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonOthermedian 220.0220Hot honey (Mike's Hot Honey Inc.) — 0 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonMango habanero (Sweet Baby Ray's Inc.) — 100 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonSweet chili sauce (PANOS Brands LLC (Ka-Me)) — 220 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonYangnyeom sauce (American Roland Food LLC) — 234.5 milligrams of sodium per tablespoonJerk marinade (Georgia Peach Products, Inc. (Spur Tree Jamaican)) — 700 milligrams of sodium per tablespoon
The same numbers as a table
SauceMakerBaseSodium mg/tbsp
Old Bay SeasoningMcCormick & Company, Inc.Dry rub1,680
Lemon pepperMcCormick & Company, Inc.Citrus and pepper720
Jerk marinadeGeorgia Peach Products, Inc. (Spur Tree Jamaican)Other700
Teriyaki sauceKikkoman Sales USA, Inc.Soy and sweet610
Frank's RedHotMcCormick & Company, Inc.Vinegar and pepper570
Memphis dry rubAdams Extract Co.Dry rub480
Buffalo sauceMcCormick & Company, Inc.Cayenne and butter460
Soy garlic sauceKorean Delights LLC (We Love You)Soy and sweet430
Crystal Hot SauceBaumer Foods, Inc.Vinegar and pepper405
Yangnyeom sauceAmerican Roland Food LLCOther234
Sweet chili saucePANOS Brands LLC (Ka-Me)Other220
Alabama white sauceIn-Between Sportwear, Inc. (Saw's)Dairy dips150
Honey barbecue sauceSweet Baby Ray's Inc.Sweet and red150
Blue cheese dressingKen's Foods, Inc.Dairy dips145
Mild sauceSouthern Signature, Inc.Sweet and red140
Ranch dressingThe HVR Company (Hidden Valley)Dairy dips120
Garlic parmesan sauceP. K. Kinder Co., Inc.Herb and garlic120
Mango habaneroSweet Baby Ray's Inc.Other100
Mumbo sauceCapital City, LLCSweet and red80
Hot honeyMike's Hot Honey Inc.Other0

Sugar, by the tablespoon

The same bottles on the other axis, 19 of them. A tablespoon of table sugar holds about 12.6 g, so a bottle out at the right-hand end is most of the way to syrup. A cayenne sauce sits at zero and a honey-barbecue sits where the sweet is. Same wing, two different foods.

02.557.5101215grams of sugar per tablespoonCayenne and buttermedian 0.00Buffalo sauce (McCormick & Company, Inc.) — 0 grams of sugar per tablespoonVinegar and peppermedian 0.00Crystal Hot Sauce (Baumer Foods, Inc.) — 0 grams of sugar per tablespoonFrank's RedHot (McCormick & Company, Inc.) — 0 grams of sugar per tablespoonDry rubmedian 12.012Memphis dry rub (Adams Extract Co.) — 12 grams of sugar per tablespoonCitrus and peppermedian 0.00Lemon pepper (McCormick & Company, Inc.) — 0 grams of sugar per tablespoonHerb and garlicmedian 1.01Garlic parmesan sauce (P. K. Kinder Co., Inc.) — 1 grams of sugar per tablespoonSweet and redmedian 5.55.5Mumbo sauce (Capital City, LLC) — 5 grams of sugar per tablespoonMild sauce (Southern Signature, Inc.) — 5.5 grams of sugar per tablespoonHoney barbecue sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's Inc.) — 7.5 grams of sugar per tablespoonSoy and sweetmedian 4.04Teriyaki sauce (Kikkoman Sales USA, Inc.) — 2 grams of sugar per tablespoonSoy garlic sauce (Korean Delights LLC (We Love You)) — 6 grams of sugar per tablespoonDairy dipsmedian 0.50.5Alabama white sauce (In-Between Sportwear, Inc. (Saw's)) — 0.5 grams of sugar per tablespoonBlue cheese dressing (Ken's Foods, Inc.) — 0.5 grams of sugar per tablespoonRanch dressing (The HVR Company (Hidden Valley)) — 0.5 grams of sugar per tablespoonOthermedian 6.06Jerk marinade (Georgia Peach Products, Inc. (Spur Tree Jamaican)) — 1 grams of sugar per tablespoonYangnyeom sauce (American Roland Food LLC) — 3.5 grams of sugar per tablespoonSweet chili sauce (PANOS Brands LLC (Ka-Me)) — 6 grams of sugar per tablespoonMango habanero (Sweet Baby Ray's Inc.) — 7 grams of sugar per tablespoonHot honey (Mike's Hot Honey Inc.) — 14 grams of sugar per tablespoon
The same numbers as a table
SauceMakerBaseSugar g/tbsp
Hot honeyMike's Hot Honey Inc.Other14
Memphis dry rubAdams Extract Co.Dry rub12
Honey barbecue sauceSweet Baby Ray's Inc.Sweet and red7.5
Mango habaneroSweet Baby Ray's Inc.Other7
Sweet chili saucePANOS Brands LLC (Ka-Me)Other6
Soy garlic sauceKorean Delights LLC (We Love You)Soy and sweet6
Mild sauceSouthern Signature, Inc.Sweet and red5.5
Mumbo sauceCapital City, LLCSweet and red5
Yangnyeom sauceAmerican Roland Food LLCOther3.5
Teriyaki sauceKikkoman Sales USA, Inc.Soy and sweet2
Garlic parmesan sauceP. K. Kinder Co., Inc.Herb and garlic1
Jerk marinadeGeorgia Peach Products, Inc. (Spur Tree Jamaican)Other1
Alabama white sauceIn-Between Sportwear, Inc. (Saw's)Dairy dips0.5
Blue cheese dressingKen's Foods, Inc.Dairy dips0.5
Ranch dressingThe HVR Company (Hidden Valley)Dairy dips0.5
Buffalo sauceMcCormick & Company, Inc.Cayenne and butter0
Lemon pepperMcCormick & Company, Inc.Citrus and pepper0
Crystal Hot SauceBaumer Foods, Inc.Vinegar and pepper0
Frank's RedHotMcCormick & Company, Inc.Vinegar and pepper0

What comes first on the label

A label lists ingredients in descending order by weight, so the first word states the sauce's whole argument. Watch for the bracket: aged cayenne peppers are printed with their own vinegar inside the bracket, which is a pepper sauce, not a vinegar one. Numbers on the segments count bottles; the number at the right is the row total.

Pepper or chile firstVinegar or water firstButter or oil firstSugar or tomato firstSomething else first
Cayenne and butterCayenne and butter: 1 of 1 bottles, vinegar or water first11Vinegar and pepperVinegar and pepper: 2 of 2 bottles, pepper or chile first22Dry rubDry rub: 1 of 2 bottles, sugar or tomato first1Dry rub: 1 of 2 bottles, something else first12Citrus and pepperCitrus and pepper: 1 of 2 bottles, pepper or chile first1Citrus and pepper: 1 of 2 bottles, something else first12Herb and garlicHerb and garlic: 1 of 1 bottles, butter or oil first11Sweet and redSweet and red: 3 of 3 bottles, sugar or tomato first33Soy and sweetSoy and sweet: 2 of 2 bottles, something else first22Dairy dipsDairy dips: 3 of 3 bottles, butter or oil first33OtherOther: 1 of 6 bottles, pepper or chile first1Other: 2 of 6 bottles, vinegar or water first2Other: 2 of 6 bottles, sugar or tomato first2Other: 1 of 6 bottles, something else first16
The same counts as a table
BasePepper or chile firstVinegar or water firstButter or oil firstSugar or tomato firstSomething else firstBottles
Cayenne and butter010001
Vinegar and pepper200002
Dry rub000112
Citrus and pepper100012
Herb and garlic001001
Sweet and red000303
Soy and sweet000022
Dairy dips003003
Other120216

Where the makers are

One little country per sauce. A dot marks a bottler's town, not a restaurant; several bottles from one town sit on one dot.

Cayenne and butter 1 bottle · aged cayenne pepper sauce loosened with melted butter. Buffalo.
Buffalo sauce — McCormick & Company, Inc., Springfield
Vinegar and pepper 2 bottles · the bottle itself, before anybody adds fat.
Crystal Hot Sauce — Baumer Foods, Inc., ReserveFrank's RedHot — McCormick & Company, Inc., Springfield
Dry rub 1 bottle · no liquid at all: salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, shaken on hot.
Old Bay Seasoning — McCormick & Company, Inc., Hunt Valley
Citrus and pepper 2 bottles · lemon pepper, dry or loosened with butter into wet.
Lemon pepper — McCormick & Company, Inc., Hunt ValleyLemon pepper wet — , Atlanta
Sweet and red 1 bottle · tomato, sugar, vinegar, cooked to cling.
Mumbo sauce — Capital City, LLC, Washington
Dairy dips 1 bottle · blue cheese and ranch: the cup beside the basket.
Alabama white sauce — In-Between Sportwear, Inc. (Saw's), Birmingham
Other 2 bottles · everything the map above does not hold.
Hot honey — Mike's Hot Honey Inc., BrooklynNashville hot paste — , Nashville
Lower forty-eight only on these panels. State outlines: Natural Earth, public domain. Towns geocoded from OpenStreetMap, ODbL.

Heat nobody measures

1 of 22 bottles carry a Scoville number anybody publishes. Scoville heat units come from a lab assay of capsaicin, and almost no wing-sauce maker pays for one; the word on the front — mild, medium, hot, and whatever a challenge sauce calls itself — is a maker's claim about its own product and nothing more. Each claim sits on its sauce's page as heat_claim, in the maker's own words.

Every bottle we read

1 means first on the label. A dash means it isn’t on there. Blank means we couldn’t find a label.

SauceMakerTownBasePepperVinegarFatSugarSoySodium mg/tbspSugar g/tbspLabel
Buffalo sauceMcCormick & Company, Inc.Springfield, MOCayenne and butter2154600seen here
Lemon pepperMcCormick & Company, Inc.Hunt Valley, MDCitrus and pepper57200seen here
Lemon pepper wetAtlanta, GACitrus and pepperseen here
Alabama white sauceIn-Between Sportwear, Inc. (Saw's)Birmingham, ALDairy dips3151500.5seen here
Blue cheese dressingKen's Foods, Inc.Dairy dips3161450.5seen here
Ranch dressingThe HVR Company (Hidden Valley)Dairy dips11141200.5seen here
Memphis dry rubAdams Extract Co.Dry rub6148012seen here
Old Bay SeasoningMcCormick & Company, Inc.Hunt Valley, MDDry rub21,680seen here
Garlic parmesan sauceP. K. Kinder Co., Inc.Herb and garlic7141201seen here
Hot honeyMike's Hot Honey Inc.Brooklyn, NYOther231014seen here
Jerk marinadeGeorgia Peach Products, Inc. (Spur Tree Jamaican)Other2497001seen here
Mango habaneroSweet Baby Ray's Inc.Other7311007seen here
Nashville hot pasteNashville, TNOtherseen here
Sweet chili saucePANOS Brands LLC (Ka-Me)Other3722206seen here
Yangnyeom sauceAmerican Roland Food LLCOther213452343.5seen here
Soy garlic sauceKorean Delights LLC (We Love You)Soy and sweet6214306seen here
Teriyaki sauceKikkoman Sales USA, Inc.Soy and sweet5316102seen here
Honey barbecue sauceSweet Baby Ray's Inc.Sweet and red211507.5seen here
Mild sauceSouthern Signature, Inc.Sweet and red321405.5seen here
Mumbo sauceCapital City, LLCWashington, DCSweet and red6524805seen here
Crystal Hot SauceBaumer Foods, Inc.Reserve, LAVinegar and pepper124050seen here
Frank's RedHotMcCormick & Company, Inc.Springfield, MOVinegar and pepper125700seen here

The bottles

Alabama white sauce

A mayonnaise-based barbecue sauce, thin, pale and sharp. Typical ingredients are vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and horseradish stirred into

Blue cheese dressing

A thick white dip of blue cheese with mayonnaise and buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt, plus milk, vinegar, onion powder and garlic powder.

Buffalo sauce

Cayenne pepper hot sauce cut with melted butter. Two things, warmed together and held warm, poured over fried wings in a metal bowl and shaken.

Crystal Hot Sauce

A reddish-orange Louisiana pepper sauce made by Baumer Foods since 1923: aged red cayenne peppers, distilled vinegar, salt. Three ingredients on the 6 fl oz bot

Frank's RedHot

A thin orange cayenne pepper sauce: aged cayenne red peppers, distilled vinegar, water, salt, garlic powder, in that order on the label. McCormick & Company mak

Garlic parmesan sauce

A pale, garlicky wing coating with parmesan in it. Two versions share the name: a creamy emulsified sauce built on oil and egg yolk with parmesan powder, sold b

Honey barbecue sauce

A thick sweet red sauce: corn syrup or sugar, vinegar, tomato, honey, smoke flavour and spices. Sticky enough to hold on a wing without butter, sweet enough to

Hot honey

Honey with chillies in it. Sweet first, then a heat that builds slowly — the flavour writers describe as "sweet-first" with a "slow-building heat".

Jerk marinade

A wet marinade, or a dry rub, built on allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers — both native to Jamaica and grown there by the Taíno.

Lemon pepper

A dry blend of granulated lemon zest and cracked black peppercorns. The zest is mashed into the pepper so citrus oil soaks in, then the mix is baked and dried.

Lemon pepper wet

A wing that has been through something wet and then through lemon pepper.

Mango habanero

A sweet-then-hot wing sauce: mango purée and corn syrup in front, habanero and cayenne behind. Orange, thick, and built to be tossed.

Memphis dry rub

A dry mix of salt, paprika, sugar and spices, patted onto meat before it cooks and shaken over it again after.

Mild sauce

A red-brown condiment poured over fried chicken and wings on Chicago's South and West Sides. Recipes vary a great deal; many versions combine ketchup, barbecue

Mumbo sauce

A carryout condiment of Washington, D.C.: red-orange, thick, poured over fried chicken wings, french fries, fried jumbo shrimp and fried rice.

Nashville hot paste

A cayenne paste, spooned onto fried chicken the moment it leaves the fryer.

Old Bay Seasoning

A blend of eighteen herbs and spices built on celery salt — salt and celery seed — with red pepper, black pepper and paprika.

Ranch dressing

A savoury creamy dressing of buttermilk, salt, garlic, onion, black pepper and herbs — commonly chives, parsley and dill — mixed into mayonnaise or another oil

Soy garlic sauce

A brown glaze of soy sauce, sugar and garlic, brushed onto fried chicken after the fryer. Sweet and savoury rather than hot; often heavily garlicky.

Sweet chili sauce

A clear, thickened red sauce of chillies, rice wine vinegar and sugar, often with garlic and sometimes fish sauce. Red chilli peppers — Fresno, Thai or red jala

Teriyaki sauce

Soy sauce, mirin or sake, and sugar, boiled down to a glaze. The Japanese name for it is tare (タレ).

Yangnyeom sauce

A sweet and spicy glaze built on gochujang — a fermented Korean paste of red chili powder, glutinous rice, fermented soybean powder, barley malt powder and salt

Labels were read on the makers' own pages, on retailers' product pages and in the USDA's FoodData Central branded-food panels, which are public domain; each row links to the page it was read from, and the date sits on the sauce's own entry. Nutrition Facts round sugar to the gram, so a bottle showing 0 g may hold a little. The data is at api/sauces.json.

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