Food Theory: I Found the SPICIEST Fast Food Chicken Sandwich!

Well, here we are, my first episode.

I can't tell you how excited I am to be here with all of you.

And what better way to start a new chapter than by spicing up an old favorite, eh?

Eh?

Look, Matt was the one that specialized in puns, okay?

Hit it!

Hello, Internet!

Welcome to Food Theory, the show that's stepping up its hotness in more ways than

one.

Speaking of which, you may notice that there's something slightly different, and I figure

now is as good a time as any to settle some things.

First of all, hi!

I'm Santi.

I've known Matt for a long time, since I was in high school, so being here is pretty

surreal to me.

For those of you who don't know me, before the Grays set in, I once got frosted tips

because I wanted to so badly be a member of a boy band.

I still have hope, though it dwindles every day.

What doesn't dwindle, though, is my love for all things spicy.

If you've been a fan of the channel for a while, you may remember the chicken sandwich

episode from a few years back where Matt found the overall best sandwich using science.

That's always been one of my favorites.

Even way before I joined the team. But as someone who loves spicy foods, I always

told myself that if I had the opportunity, I'd remake the episode with hot chicken

sandwiches.

So here I am with you today to do just that.

For those of you who aren't spice fiends, even if you are, you may not be familiar with

where the hot chicken sandwich originated, and let me tell you, the story is probably

spicier than any chicken sandwich I'll ever eat.

Legend goes, Nashville's own Thornton Prince, a taste maker, essentially an influencer of

Yesteryear, came home from a wild night out, and while no one knows exactly what did him

in, his girlfriend found out he had cheated and decided to take revenge.

Did she elect to murder him?

Poison him?

Good ol' draw and quarter?

No.

See, Thornton was something of a fried chicken lover, and his girlfriend figured the best

revenge for his adultery would be to make his fried chicken super duper spicy.

She loaded his nightly fried chicken with heaps of cayenne pepper, expecting him to

break down in tears, but instead, he loved it.

He was such a fan of this dish that he decided to start selling it out of his own house.

He decided to perfect the recipe and open up his own restaurant, Prince's Hot Chicken,

which is still open to this day almost a hundred years later.

So the fiery flavors of Nashville Hot Chicken came from the fiery loins of one adulterer.

Now that's what I call a cheat meal.

I'm so sorry for that.

And so Nashville Hot Chicken was born, and it became the hottest thing around, and now

it seems like every restaurant worth their salt is coming out with their own version

of the spicy chicken sandwich.

But taking a look at the landscape of chicken sandwiches on the market, you'll notice

that there's way more diversity in how they prepare this classic craving than you might

have originally thought.

It's a chicken sandwich with some heat.

How much could you possibly change?

Turns out, a lot.

From the breading and the spice blend to the buns and the toppings, there's clearly no

consensus about what makes the perfect spicy chicken sandwich.

Until today, my goal is to definitively find out the scientifically best spicy chicken

sandwich.

I'm going to be testing eight spicy chicken sandwiches from popular fast food chains,

Popeyes, Chick-fil-A, Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's, and finally KFC, but also including

some local favorites from here in Los Angeles, Dave's Hot Chicken and Howlin' Ray's.

We wanted to include some local establishments that specialize in hot chicken sandwiches

to see how they would differ from the larger chains.

I feel like I should mention here that because some of these places allow you to choose from

a range of how spicy you want your sandwich, we decided to keep it as equal as possible

by asking for medium spice levels wherever it was offered.

Each sandwich will be judged in four different categories on a scale of one to five.

First, the overall taste.

Pretty self-explanatory.

Second, the chicken.

Namely, the actual quality of the chicken itself.

Nobody wants to chew on rubber while their eyes are welling up from the heat.

From there, we'll be looking at the toppings and how they add or take away from the overall

experience of the sandwich.

And finally, and most importantly, the spice.

This part can get pretty subjective, so not only will I give a ranking based on how each

spicy sandwich worked best for my tastes, I'll also be looking at the combination of

peppers used, how the peppers are cooked in, whether in the breading, a sauce, or a dry

rub on top, and how the overall spice journey is so that it's not all about more spicy

equals better.

In other words, does the spice hit you all at once and go away, or do you get a wonderful

roller coaster where it builds up slowly to a peak and then dies down before you go in

for a second bite?

Round one, taste.

Now that we've got all that squared away, it's time to get to testing.

We're gonna be going down the line from left to right, starting with local favorite Howlin'

Ray's.

Howlin' Ray's uses a mixture of ghost pepper and habanero, so two really spicy peppers

that they dust on top of the coating.

So a lot of the spice is going to come from the ghost pepper and the habanero, so let's

dig in.

Oh God, that is very crispy.

It was very crispy, but once I was able to actually go in again and take a bite of the

complete sandwich, my initial reaction cooled down a bit.

While the taste of the chicken and the spice was great, it was overwhelmingly pickley,

so I had to knock it down to a four.

Popeyes had a tough act to follow and fell flat on its face.

I gotta say, from a flavor overall, it's kind of basic, we're gonna go with a two.

There was nothing in the sandwich that popped out to me from a flavor standpoint.

The sauce was more sweet than spicy, and the pickles didn't provide much of a briny addition

to the chicken.

And if you thought Chick-fil-A would do any better, you'd be very wrong.

From a flavor standpoint, it's hard to get over the strong flavor of tomato and lettuce.

It really overpowers the ensemble.

I'm not a big fan of that.

I'm gonna give it a two right there, and it's a pretty easy judgment for me.

I gotta say, I'm not the biggest fan of Chick-fil-A.

I think it's overrated.

The waffle fries?

Great.

But their name is Chick-fil-A, not Waffle Fry-A.

Needless to say, I figured this would be rock bottom and that Burger King would be where

the flavor started to bounce back, but um...

This is really not good.

This is a one.

Honestly, it seemed like this episode was over before we even started, but finally,

Wendy's of all places brought some life to the competition.

From a flavor standpoint, this is actually really good.

Despite the mayo, the ghost pepper seasoning, the crispy onions, sure you have the lettuce

and the tomato, but the flavor of everything working together really goes together well.

I'm really surprised because the mayo adds a little hint of freshness at the very front,

and then you get all that spice and you're kind of eased into it.

This is a four.

Wendy's ghost pepper chicken sandwich, this is a four from a flavor standpoint.

I may not be a huge fan of their burgers, but man, I know what I'll be getting every

time I go to Wendy's from now on.

McDonald's, on the other hand, no, no, no.

The potato bread is giving me flashbacks to Burger King.

It's again, dry.

It's kind of tough to get through and it immediately is what you taste.

But then once you get past that little hurdle, you get so much mayo in this spicy mayo sauce.

I will say it packs a good amount of heat, but it's just mayo.

It's mayo spicy.

From everything else, it's just underwhelming.

The tomato is really thick and it adds a lot of tomato flavor.

The chicken gets completely lost in everything, and what you get is just mayo.

Yeah.

Looks like Ronald and the King are going to be taking home the lowest ratings in this

category.

With only KFC and Dave's Hot Chicken left, it honestly started to seem a bit one-sided.

From a flavor standpoint, honestly, this is great.

I wouldn't give it a five because I think it is a little one note, but it all comes

together really well.

This is a four, easily.

Great showing for the Colonel.

His bread was nice and soft.

The pickles added just the right amount of brine and the mayo complemented the chicken

perfectly.

Local chain Dave's, on the other hand, I wanted to like this so much more than I do.

So much more.

Honestly, despite giving it a two, ranking it higher than McDonald's and Burger King,

this was the biggest disappointment for me.

The chicken looked great.

The colors in the sandwich were vibrant and it had a diverse mixture of toppings from

pickles and cheese to kale slaw.

It was actually the only sandwich of the bunch to include kale and the second with a slaw

after Howlin' Ray's.

But the flavor, their choice of seasonings made it seem like I was licking a sweaty armpit.

If that sounds bad, I guarantee you tasting it wasn't fun either, folks.

Closing out the first round, Wendy's, KFC, and Howlin' Ray's led the pack with four

points each.

Popeye's, Chick-fil-A, and Dave's Hot Chicken lagged behind with twos and Burger

King and McDonald's were scraping the bottom of the barrel with one point each.

Round two, chicken.

Looking at the taste and quality of the chicken in this round, honestly, I thought going into

it that the rankings would stay pretty much the same.

But I was quickly proven wrong by Popeye's, which redeemed itself once I isolated the

chicken from the other components of the sandwich.

The breading is so good and it's a nice, thick, chunky piece of chicken.

I'm gonna go for a five with this chicken.

It's not spicy, but if we're just looking at the chicken alone, oh boy, is this delicious.

Chick-fil-A continued to be lukewarm, coming in at a three for its chicken.

It had an off-putting sweetness in the breading and it was a tiny bit dry because it was on

the thinner side.

It wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't good.

And while Burger King had a horrible first round, it also had a horrible second round.

The chicken is soggy, but it is so tough and dry that when you bite through the bread and

get to it, you have to kind of rip it off.

And that is the last thing you want with a spicy chicken sandwich.

Not a good day for the king.

It ended up earning a two thanks to the passable breading.

Wendy's continued the strong streak with a four alongside KFC and McDonald's got itself

a three to really make this category much more competitive.

It was a weak three, but it was a three nonetheless.

So the chicken breading has no spice in it whatsoever.

It is soft.

It's soggy.

It's not dry, which is a nice welcome difference from the previous couple.

There's a weird flavor in the breading that I can't quite put my finger on.

It's a little pickly, almost briny.

Unfortunately, the disappointment with Dave just kept on coming.

It's well cooked.

It's not dry, but it's also not juicy either.

It's kind of just there, but that breading is horrendous.

So I'm going to give this a two.

Gotta say, so far, Howlin' Ray's is really putting the LA hot chicken game on its back.

Number three, toppings.

This round saw some big winners and some big losers.

Howlin' Ray's downfall in the first category ended up earning it some points in this one.

The pickles, however, are really good.

I think that that's what helps cut the spice level.

So when it gets to that peak, the pickles come in and just slice it like a samurai.

And I gotta say, that is a very, very good pickle.

Toppings wise, this probably gets a four just because of the pickle.

KFC also came out of the gate strong with a four.

But Wendy's was the standout star for a unique topping here.

Their ghost pepper crispy onions.

That crispy onion that is coated in ghost pepper is the greatest thing any of this has.

I could go in for another bite and another bite very easily.

While all the others struggled with ones and twos, Dave's in particular incorporated a

kale slaw that brought everything crashing down.

The kale slaw itself really takes so much away from the experience and it doesn't help

anything with the spice.

If anything, I feel like it makes it worse because with the bitterness, my mouth is focusing

on that and the spice alone.

You may have noticed that almost every sandwich on this list came with a pickle.

But why?

Well, pickles add a combination of acidity, which helps neutralize the alkaline capsaicin,

as well as saltiness and even sweetness from the brine that helps cut through the heat

and the fat from the rest of the sandwich.

They're the perfect counterbalance to save you from tearing up from spice and pain with

every bite.

A lot of the weaker scores came down to just being unbalanced, not having the freshness

or acidity of the pickle to cut the spicy mayos that the restaurants would slap onto

their chickens.

And for the places that elected to use tomato, why?

Why would you do this?

Sure, tomatoes are refreshing and can provide sweetness and some tang, but they don't deliver

the right amount of acidity, like from a pickle.

And with such a strong flavor, it completely ruins the ensemble.

Even taking a cue from another Food Theory episode didn't help.

Even turning it upside down, all I get is tomato.

I do have to give a special shout out to Burger King here, though, because the king went above

and beyond to keep their losing streak going.

I'm going to talk about the bread for a second here, because while all the other breads have

been fine and not really a contributing factor or a detrimental factor, the bread here is

horrendous.

It is dry.

It's falling apart.

Yet at the same time, it's all you taste.

It's all you feel in your mouth.

Yeah, where every other sandwich had bread that ranged from good to completely inconsequential,

this almost had BK coming out with a zero.

Instead, we'll just have to replace his crown with a super dry bread bun.

Round four, heat.

Like I mentioned earlier, because spice is subjective and what works for me spice-wise

may not work for others who are more or less tolerant to heat than I am, I'm ranking these

more on the spice journey, how the heat kicks in, giving way to sandwiches that give a quick

ramp up to a tolerable peak and then cooled off enough to go in for a second bite.

What also factored into this was how the spicy peppers were implemented.

In other words, was the spicy mayo better than the dry rub?

This way, we were able to keep the subjectivity of preferred spice level out of it.

The three big winners here were Wendy's, who's just been crushing it, Howlin' Ray's,

and KFC.

Interestingly, they all got their heat in different ways.

Howlin' Ray's has a dry coating of their ghost and habanero peppers that goes on top

of their regularly breaded chicken, and whatever they did, from a heat perspective, it was

awesome.

Wow.

The taste of that is phenomenal, which is interesting because there's the spice.

Oh, I didn't think it would be that bad at first.

It gets a lot worse.

It's a slow build, but then it goes away very quickly.

That's actually the most impressive thing.

It went to a peak super quickly, but then it kind of mellowed out.

Wendy's incorporates their ghost pepper straight into the breading of their chicken and adds

to it with the delicious ghost pepper crispy onions.

Seriously, I can't stop raving about how good those were.

More than that, the heat from everything involved worked together like a symphony of heat.

Everything works together to get to a very nice peak, and it goes away.

Doesn't go away as much as Howlin' Ray's.

I think the toppings have a lot to do with that there, but it's manageable throughout.

I could go in for another bite and another bite very easily.

Man, Wendy's, you got something right there.

I'm going to go in for another bite.

I'm not even mad at the tomato.

That's impressive.

And then there's KFC, which uses a spicy mayo to top their chicken.

There is a good hit of cayenne in here.

It's not a burned flavor.

It's not a spice that makes you have to pause after every bite.

I'm not a fan of the mayo, but I am a fan of the spice.

All of them provided excellent heat that hit you perfectly and then subsided just in time

for you to go in for more.

The big takeaway for this category, though, is that the dry rubs of powder like Howlin'

Ray's did have a tendency to be a bit front loaded.

And without being cooked or mixed into the sauce, they tiptoed into the realms of tasting

like battery acid, which wasn't ideal.

Still packed a punch and did so in a very manageable way.

But when you're out looking for spicy chicken sandwiches, probably best to stick to ones

with sauces or with the heat fried right into the breading of the chicken.

So now that I've gone through and just absolutely massacred every single spicy chicken sandwich

here, I mean, look at this.

I'm a barbarian.

It's time to go through and tally up all the scores to figure out which spicy chicken sandwich

is best.

Now, it only felt right to give two different final rankings here.

This is a spicy chicken episode after all, so it makes sense to give you which one I

deem to be the spiciest one straight from my gut as opposed to my brain.

If you're looking for the best sweat on your lip, tear inducing spicy chicken sandwich,

that title goes to Howlin' Ray's hands down.

You saw it as soon as I took a bite.

It took me a second to recover once it hit me.

The best part about it for all you other spice heads, that was a medium.

There's not one, not two, but three levels of heat above this.

If you ever find yourself in sunny LA, you have to make time for the sandwich.

I actually went back and had the hot version of the sandwich after we filmed this episode

and boy, let me tell you, it almost got the best of me, but it was so delicious.

I had to finish it.

I wanted to try the extreme heat, but you can only do it once you've eaten their other

heat levels and signed a waiver.

Needless to say, it's still on my bucket list.

If you're not looking to take a plane just for a sandwich though, the heat from Wendy's

Ghost Pepper is definitely a worthy runner up.

Putting my gut aside and whipping out the calculator, it was time to look at how all

the points for the sandwiches added up.

In a spicy twist, there was actually a tie for second place.

Howlin' Ray's and KFC ended up with 20 points.

Both had strong numbers across the board, so it only felt right to break this tie by

going back to the drawing board, or the calculator.

See, it made sense to break the tie by finding which sandwich gave you the best spice at

the nicest price.

It wasn't as simple as just looking at the price tag though, since Howlin' Ray's boasted

one that was double KFC's and it felt wrong to dock it points just for that.

So we decided to measure the weight of the chicken in each sandwich to calculate the

spicy chicken per dollar spent and that's when the gap between them really emerged.

With both of their heat ranks being equal, it was Howlin' Ray's price point and KFC

just having more chicken in their sandwich that separated them.

With both of their heat ranks being equal, this landed Howlin' Ray's squarely in third

place with the bronze and KFC holding the silver in second.

And in first place, none other than Mother Cluckin' Wendy's.

As soon as I tasted this bad boy, I knew this was going to be ranking high.

It had a delicious, balanced, and complex flavor with great texture as well thanks to

those crispy onions.

While the chicken itself may not have been the crispiest, it was propped up by the rest

of the toppings.

Across the board, the Little Redhead stomped the competition and ended up with 26 points.

And whatever you do, stay far, far away from Burger King which landed itself in last place

with 8 points.

Sorry BK, but the numbers don't lie.

It honestly had nothing going for it.

Not only did it have the second most expensive sandwich of the bunch, it also had the worst

ratio of chicken in the sandwich.

The bread alone was enough for it to come dead last if you ask me.

So there you have it.

If heat is what you're looking for, hop on a plane for LA so you can try Howlin' Ray's.

But when it comes to the overall best spicy chicken sandwich, look no further than Wendy's.

Not only did it have the best spice per dollar value, it also just had an amazing flavor

and became my favorite right away.

In the end, despite going up against chains who specialize in chicken, good ol' Wendy's

showed that she won't chicken out.

But hey, that's just a theory.

A food theory.

Bon Appetit.

If you enjoyed this episode, then definitely make sure you go back and watch the original

chicken sandwich episode right here to find out which sandwich has the loudest crisp and

the most calories per dollar to fill your stomach right up.

And from here on out Loyal Theorists, I'll see you next week.