Lay’s is a long-time purveyor of snack foods and has quite a large variety “Flaming Hot” selections including potato chips, Doritos, Cheetos, and more. They have come up with this new variation which receives the endorsement of NBA basketball star Jayson Tatum from the Boston Celtics. (He’s from St. Louis which is known to have decent barbeque. Guess they couldn’t find an NBA star from a state like Texas or Kansas or Carolina.) This one—as the name suggests—blends flaming hot with BBQ seasoning to deliver the latest snack food twist.
So of course the question you are asking is whether these really are “flaming hot”?
Coming from a snack food company that markets to the average consumer with a blander palate, do you really need an answer to that question?
Lay’s likes to tantalize consumers into believing that they have come up with fiery new flavors, but apart from a few of their Doritos varieties (Hey Lay’s, bring back the Blaze chips!), they rarely turn up the heat beyond medium level. And personally, I have never been a fan of the “flaming hot” flavor no matter which crunchy surface they apply it to. It’s really more of a sour flavor that doesn’t deliver much in the way of good taste and also falls short on the heat promise. And when they throw in the limon twist, that just amps up the sour and decreases the enjoyability.
All that said, I actually think this new variation is a step in the right direction. The barbeque seasoning helps balance out the sour that you usually get from Lays flaming hot flavor. It doesn’t bring as much of the sweet and smokey taste you might expect from a BBQ sauce (perhaps this is inspired more by a vinegar-based Caroline sauce? But Jayson Tatum is from St. Louis. I’m confused.), but there are hints of that in the background. And they have the good crunch that you usually get from the Ruffles variety. Most importantly the sour does not dominate, and some heat does come through.
Not that it lives up the “flaming hot” claim, but I don’t really expect that from a major company marketing to a broad consumer base. These do have some heat and it builds the more you eat them. It never gets to the (oh so good) point that you have a fire in your mouth, but the burn is there and it lingers for a bit. I would put these around a medium heat level, though the average mortal may consider them hot. And they definitely are addictive, so go easy on the portion control otherwise you may have to loosen that belt!
I was unable to find this flavor at HEB (which dominates the San Antonio market), so I had to make a trip to Walmart to find a bag. The price stamped on the bag was $4.29, but Wally World had them discounted to $2.98. I enjoyed them enough that I would pick up a bag if I saw them again, but I wouldn’t go out of my to hunt them down. Of course, these will eventually disappear to Limited-Time-Only-Ville, so if you want to try them I recommend doing it soon. And before long they will come up with yet another “flaming hot” variety, maybe one that actually lives up to its name.
Tale of the Tape:
Ingredients: Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (Sunflower, Corn, and/or Canola Oil), Maltodextrin (made from Corn), Salt, Spices, Molasses, Onion Powder, Brown Sugar, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Yeast Extract, Tomato Powder, Artificial Color (Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake), Potassium Chloride, Citric Acid, Sodium Diacetate, Natural Flavors (contains Milk and Animal Ingredients), Garlic Powder
Serving Size: 28g (About 11 chips)
Calories: 150
Fat: 9g (1.5g Sat/0 Trans)
Protein: 2g
Carbs: 16g
Sodium: 200mg