The Pringles Scorchin’ BBQ and Scorchin’ Cheddar are rather tasty, but as with most snacks from the major brands, they don’t quite deliver on the heat.
Pringles are well-known as the uniformly-sized, stackable potato chips that come in a can and they are one of the main competitors to the big guy on the block Frito-Lay’s. To keep up in the race for snack supremacy, Pringles regularly puts out new flavors to cater to the recent preference for “spicy” foods (I put the word in quotes, because spicy is defined differently by chiliheads vs. the average mortals). And the latest offering along this line from the consignor of canned chips is the “Scorchin” line.
These come in three different varieties: Chile & Lime, Cheddar, and BBQ. According to the website, these chips offer “the perfect balance of flavor and heat”, and that little thermometer on the can that replaces the “i” in “Scorchin” suggests that these will deliver some burn. I tried the latter two flavors as I have grown quite tired of the lime added to snacks because it usually tips the scale too much on tang and sourness without giving much boost to the flavor.
So are these chips really “Scorchin” and do they really bring the heat that chiliheads are searching for? Well, us chiliheads are a niche market and even though many people like to believe they can handle spicy food, companies like Pringles and Frito-Lays sell primarily to the average consumer with much blander tastes.
The BBQ have that sweet and smokey taste you expect for a BBQ chip. There is also a little bit of tang from what I assume is the hot sauce flavoring that is supposed to add the heat (don’t bother trying to find it in the tome of ingredients on the label). However, as expected, there is not much burn in these chips. These deliver a little bit of a tingle, but nothing that will bother any more than the mildest palates. They are certainly tasty, though, and if you like Pringles this is a nice variety that adds a little extra zing. But given the choice, I would probably reach for the regular Jalapeno version which is my favorite flavor from these guys.
The Scorchin’ Cheddar have that cheese taste you expect from snack items that delve into the fromage realm. There is maybe a bit of a tang there, but not too much, and they are definitely not as sour and overwhelming as the many Lay’s flaming hot products. These have a little bit of heat that is noticeable from the first bite and that builds. And it lingers for a bit after having chomped on them as well. But still, it barely rises much above the mild level. The average mortal might like to believe they are eating something really hot with these, but chiliheads will need to dab on some hot sauce to satisfy their need for heat. (Might I recommend Trader Joe’s Habanero Hot Sauce which goes really well with the cheddar chips?)
Both flavors are good and I can see myself buying them again, but they are nothing that I would go out of the way for. Pringles has quite a number of flavors to pick from on the shelf (I count over twenty listed on their website), with the Jalapeno as the best in my opinion (both the classic and wavy versions). The company has actually made their large selection of flavors part of their marketing by suggesting that you combine multiple varieties to create your own taste combinations. That surely sounds like a fun thing to do in your spare time (?) . . . and it surely sells plenty of extra cans of chips. (Technically, they are “crisps” and not chips because they are made from a dough consisting of dried potatoes and do not meet the definition for potato “chip”. The potato snack business is a pretty tough industry!)
Pringles first came on the scene in 1968 when Proctor & Gamble introduced them as “Newfangled Potato Chips” (and they were first sold in India). Over the years, they have been marketed as a less messy and less greasy alternative to Lay’s potato chips. They have proven quite popular around the world where you can find such interesting flavors as Eggs Benedict (Japan), Prawn Cocktail (Germany), and Salt & Seaweed (Thailand). (You can see more interesting flavors at this link). The company has since been bought by Kellogg’s and eventually we will all be owned by Google or Disney. The new Scorchin’ varieties are tasty and worth a try, just don’t be expecting too much on the heat scale.
Tale of the Tape:
Scorchin’ Cheddar
Ingredients: Dried potatoes, vegetable oil (corn, cottonseed, high oleic soybean, and/or sunflower oil), degerminated yellow corn flour, cornstarch, rice flour, maltodextrin, mono- and diglycerides.contains 2% or less of whey, salt, monosodium glutamate, sugar, dextrose, citric acid, onion powder, nonfat milk, cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), natural and artificial flavor, buttermilk, blue cheese (milk, salt, cultures, enzymes), lactic acid, butter (cream, salt), disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, turmeric extract color, paprika extract color, red 40 lake, wheat starch, yellow 6 lake, yellow 5 lake.
Serving Size: 15 Crisps (28g)
Calories: 150
Fat: 9g (2.5g Sat/0 Trans)
Protein: 1g
Carbs: 16g
Sodium: 190mg
Scorchin’ BBQ
Ingredients: Dried potatoes, vegetable oil (corn, cottonseed, high oleic soybean, and/or sunflower oil), degerminated yellow corn flour, cornstarch, rice flour, maltodextrin, sugar, mono- and diglycerides.contains 2% or less of salt, tomato powder, monosodium glutamate, citric acid, onion powder, spice, garlic powder, yeast extract, hydrolyzed corn protein, malted barley flour, malic acid, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, paprika extract color, natural flavors, whey, wheat starch.
Serving Size: 15 Crisps (28g)
Calories: 150
Fat: 9g (2.5g Sat/0 Trans)
Protein: 1g
Carbs: 16g
Sodium: 135mg
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