Quick Answer
What is the Scoville rating of buffalo sauce?Frank's RedHot Original (the hot sauce base) measures approximately 450 SHU. Frank's RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce (the pre-mixed buffalo sauce with butter) measures approximately 300–450 SHU — the butter dilutes the perceived heat. For comparison, jalapeños measure 2,500–8,000 SHU. Buffalo sauce is mild on an absolute heat scale, which is why it appeals broadly. Crystal Buffalo Sauce is the hottest widely available option, measuring approximately 800–1,000 SHU.
Buffalo sauce is notably mild on the global hot sauce scale — most brands cluster between 300 and 1,000 Scoville Heat Units, which places them below jalapeños (2,500–8,000 SHU) and far below habaneros (100,000–350,000 SHU). This mild heat range is intentional: buffalo sauce is designed to be eaten in volume, coating every wing, over the course of a meal. Extreme heat would make that impractical.
Understanding the Scoville numbers matters for three reasons: knowing what you're buying, managing heat for different audiences, and understanding why changing the ratio changes the perceived heat in predictable ways. This guide covers all three.
What Scoville Heat Units Actually Measure
The Scoville scale, developed by pharmacist Wilbur Scoville in 1912, measures the concentration of capsaicinoids — the chemical compounds (primarily capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin) that create the sensation of heat in chili peppers and hot sauces. Technically, the original Scoville Organoleptic Test was a dilution test: how many parts of sugar water are required to make the heat undetectable? A jalapeño at 5,000 SHU requires 5,000 parts dilution.
Modern testing uses High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), which directly measures capsaicinoid concentration rather than using human testers. The results are expressed in Scoville units for consistency with the historical scale.
🔬 Why Butter Affects Perceived Heat
Capsaicin is fat-soluble — it dissolves in fat, not in water. When you add butter to hot sauce, the capsaicin molecules distribute into the fat, which slows their release during eating. Instead of hitting your mouth receptors all at once (as in plain hot sauce), they release gradually as the fat melts. This creates the illusion of lower heat — the total capsaicin content is the same, but the rate of delivery is slower. This is why dairy products (milk, butter, cream) help relieve the burning sensation from hot peppers: the fat absorbs and removes capsaicin from your mouth receptors.
How the Butter Ratio Changes Perceived Heat
If you make buffalo sauce with a 2:1 ratio (hot sauce to butter), you're not halving the Scoville rating — the total capsaicin content hasn't changed. But the perceived heat drops significantly because:
- The capsaicin is distributed through a larger volume of sauce (more sauce per wing, same capsaicin concentration)
- The fat in the butter slows capsaicin release from the sauce to your mouth receptors
- The richness of the butter reduces the "attack" sensation that makes straight hot sauce feel hotter than its SHU suggests
The practical result: a 2:1 buffalo sauce made from Frank's RedHot (450 SHU) tastes noticeably milder than Frank's RedHot applied straight as a hot sauce. Same capsaicin, very different experience. This is why the ratio guide says that going above 3:1 hot sauce to butter is about more than just Scoville numbers — the physics of capsaicin delivery change with every ratio shift.
Brand-by-Brand Scoville Ratings
Note: Most buffalo sauce manufacturers don't publish official Scoville ratings. The values below represent published data where available and widely-cited independent testing results where manufacturer data is unavailable. Batch variation means any specific bottle may test slightly differently.
Frank's RedHot Products
- Frank's RedHot Original: ~450 SHU (published by manufacturer)
- Frank's RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce: ~300–450 SHU (butter content reduces perceived heat)
- Frank's RedHot XTRA Hot: ~2,000 SHU (published)
- Frank's RedHot Stingin' Honey Garlic: ~200 SHU (sweetness counteracts heat perception)
Anchor Bar
- Anchor Bar Original Buffalo Wing Sauce: ~350–400 SHU (estimated from consumer reports and comparative testing)
- Anchor Bar Medium Buffalo Wing Sauce: ~250 SHU
- Anchor Bar Hot: ~600–700 SHU
Crystal Louisiana's
- Crystal Original Hot Sauce: ~800–1,000 SHU (published)
- Crystal Buffalo Wing Sauce: ~800–900 SHU (retains more of the base hot sauce heat character)
Other Major Brands
- Moore's Buffalo Wing Sauce: ~300–400 SHU (thicker sauce, milder perceived heat)
- Sweet Baby Ray's Buffalo Wing Sauce: ~200–300 SHU (sweetness suppresses heat)
- Primal Kitchen Buffalo Sauce: ~300 SHU (mild, honey-sweetened)
- Texas Pete Buffalo Wing Sauce: ~500–700 SHU (Texas Pete base is hotter than Frank's)
- Mike's Hot Honey Buffalo: ~400–600 SHU (honey and chili combination)
Full Scoville Comparison Table
Buffalo Sauce Scoville Ratings by Brand (approximate)
| Brand/Product | SHU (approx.) | Heat Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ★ Crystal Buffalo Wing Sauce | 800–1,000 | Medium | Hottest major brand |
| Texas Pete Buffalo Wing Sauce | 500–700 | Medium-Low | Texas Pete base is naturally hotter |
| Mike's Hot Honey Buffalo | 400–600 | Low-Medium | Sweet heat combination |
| Frank's RedHot Original | 450 | Low-Medium | Plain hot sauce baseline |
| Frank's RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce | 300–450 | Low-Medium | Butter dilutes perception |
| Anchor Bar Original | 350–400 | Low-Medium | Slightly milder than Frank's |
| Moore's Buffalo Wing Sauce | 300–400 | Low | Thicker sauce, gentler heat |
| Primal Kitchen Buffalo | ~300 | Low | Clean ingredients, mild |
| Sweet Baby Ray's Buffalo | 200–300 | Very Low | Sweetness suppresses heat |
| Tessemae's Buffalo | 150–200 | Very Low | Mildest major brand |
Putting the Numbers in Context
Buffalo sauce sits at the mild end of the Scoville scale. To put these numbers in context with other familiar foods and sauces:
- Bell pepper: 0 SHU
- Pepperoncini: 100–500 SHU
- Frank's RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce: 300–450 SHU
- Tabasco Original Red Sauce: 2,500–5,000 SHU
- Jalapeño: 2,500–8,000 SHU
- Chipotle (smoked jalapeño): 2,500–8,000 SHU
- Serrano pepper: 10,000–23,000 SHU
- Habanero: 100,000–350,000 SHU
- Ghost pepper: ~1,000,000 SHU
- Carolina Reaper: ~1,400,000–2,200,000 SHU
Buffalo sauce at 300–1,000 SHU is genuinely mild by any objective measure. It's approximately 5–20 times milder than Tabasco. The heat sensation from buffalo sauce comes more from the vinegar's acidic brightness and the volume in which it's consumed (coating every surface of a wing) than from raw capsaicin concentration.
This is also why some people find buffalo sauce "too hot" despite its low Scoville rating — they're responding to the acidity and the sustained exposure (eating multiple wings) more than to capsaicin intensity. For those guests, increasing the butter ratio (see the ratio guide) reduces both heat and acidity simultaneously.