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Taking a lesson from Vic & Wendy, I’ve discovered that you can find some pretty interesting items when you visit the local grocery stores when on vacation. At the same store where I scored all my Christmas hot sauces, I also came across a huge bag of Lay’s “Extra Hot!†Flamin’ Hot Chips. Now these are not a chip that I’ve found in New York and after the tasting of Doritos Brand Habanero chips, I just had to give these a whirl.
Ingredients: Potatoes, Sunflower Oil, Flamin’ Hot Seasoning (Less than 2% of the following: Sugar, Corn Maltodextrin, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil, Dextrose, Malted Barley Flour, Corn Syrup Solids, Torula Yeast, Monosodium Glutamate, Artificial Color [Red 40 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake], Salt, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Tomato Powder, Citric Acid, Onion Powder, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Sodium Caseinate, Garlic Powder, Spice, Disodium Inosinate, and Disodium Guanylate), and Salt.
Man, that’s a scary ingredient list. Good thing I didn’t look at that before eating a few chips! And wouldn’t you know, the only size the Flamin’ Hot flavor came in was the extra large “20% More Chips!” - translation: 20% more chemicals! But if you can forgive all the artificial colors and chemicals, then you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised by this flavor from Lays.
You can see that the chips are well covered with seasoning, what they call “Flamin’ Hot Seasoning” - but just like the Fiery Hot Habanero Doritos, the “Flamin’” part of the chips falls short. The best way I could describe the heat would be like a gentle tickle on the back of the throat. No tingling on the lips nor the need to drink excessive amounts of water or milk.
Flavor wise, there is no real discernable flavor - the “Flamin’ Hot” seasoning tastes like a dried up bottle of Tabasco, or some other vinegar heavy sauce. That’s not to say that the flavor or taste of the chips is bad - but don’t count on being able to determine the source of the so called “Flamin’ Hot” heat - it’s chemical based, not pepper based.
Over on The Chippie you’ll find a similar review - nothing but disappointment in the over hyped spice. But that’s what we as chileheads have come to expect from mass marketed spicy products - not enough heat. While I appreciate the big brands trying to incorporate more heat heavy foods in their product line, why can’t they take a stand and make some that is actually hot and not some sissified version of hot?
Would I eat these chips again? Sure, in smaller quantities and only if no Blair’s Death Rain Chips (or Fire Balls) are available. And I think I would take these over the Doritos Fiery Habanero…
Chilehead Comments:
Posted by: Nick Lindauer - Categories: Uncategorized
Permalink: Review: Lays Extra Flamin’ Hot Chips
One year ago: Review: JD's South Philly Two-Fer
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18 Comments »
Proof positive that the chili pepper trend is going more mainstream. When Lay’s and Doritos jump in, something is going on. As far as ingredients, it’s like a hot dog, you don’t want to know how it’s made, you just want to eat it.
They have that scary red day-glo color……
Has anyone checked to see if they glow in the dark?
I’m surprised to see the #1 ingredient is Potatos…..nice
locolunabrian on 12/29/2006 at 1:56 pm said:
Has anyone checked to see if they glow in the dark?
parker394 on 12/29/2006 at 2:48 pm said:
I’m surprised to see the #1 ingredient is Potatos…..nice
The Aliens have left the building !!!
We’ve had those chips here for quite a while now. You should try the flamin’ hot cheetos. They’re great.
Yo Grumpy- you dig out yet??? So sick of snow…..nothing to do but drink.
Lee@DC on 12/29/2006 at 6:45 pm said:
Yo Grumpy- you dig out yet??? So sick of snow…..nothing to do but drink.
Lee, bring the DC gang south a cpl hours. we have palm trees and sunshine!!! Yer always welcome yannow.
“Taking a lesson from Vic & Wendy, I’ve discovered that you can find some pretty interesting items when you visit the local grocery stores when on vacation.”
You’ve got that right Nick, see and you looked at me like I had three heads when I first said that to you. We do it every time we go somewhere new, every vacation, etc. We have so much fun with it and usually find cool stuff.
I went to Thailand this summer and I lived on Lays potato chips.. “Seaweed” flavor was my favorite. They tasted like the Lays sour cream and onion. Didn’t get a big selection it was either seaweed or shrimp flavor.
I am going to have to try them. I am addicted to the Hab Doritos!!!
Thoes things have a nice heat and killer flavor.
eman on 1/1/2007 at 9:14 pm said:
I am going to have to try them. I am addicted to the Hab Doritos!!!
Thoes things have a nice heat and killer flavor.
And only cause a small amount of Anal Leakage!!! Yum!!! 
Vic on 1/7/2007 at 10:46 pm said:
And only cause a small amount of Anal Leakage!!! Yum!!!
Kind oflike those “wow” chips a few years back, which used olean to fry them. To think, people actually bought these things when there was actually a warning on the label regarding a backside drip. LOL!
eman on 1/1/2007 at 9:14 pm said:
I am going to have to try them. I am addicted to the Hab Doritos!!!
Thoes things have a nice heat and killer flavor.
eman on 1/1/2007 at 9:14 pm said:
I am going to have to try them. I am addicted to the Hab Doritos!!!
Thoes things have a nice heat and killer flavor.
We’ll have to send eman some Depends and he can review those too!
LAYS FLAMMIN HOT CHIPS ARE THE BEST CHIPS I HAVE EVER HAVE. THEY ARE MY FAVORITE EVER. I PROBABLY EAT 5 OR MORE BAGS OF THOSE YUMMY CHIPS A MONTH. I EAT THEM LIKE CRAZY. THEY VERY SPECIAL TO ME. PLEASE DONT EVER STOP MAKING THESE CHIPS I WOULD VERY SAD.
I LOVE THE FLAMMIN HOT CHIPS AND I CAN,T FIND THEM ANYWHERE I WOULD BUY TEN T FIFTEEN BAGS A DAY AND ITS BEEN ALONG TIME SINCE I HAD THEM ABOUT A YEAR AGO AND I WOULD TO BE ABLE TO GO AND BUY SOME I WOULD SAT AND EAT A WHOLE BAG A DAY EVEN TWO OR THREE A DAY SO IF THERE IS A WAY I CAN ORDER OR BUY THEM PLEASE E-MAIL ME BACK BECAUSE I MISS THEM.THANK YOU JANICE CHARLESTON.
I love these things and I can’t find them anywhere! The stores in my area carry them off and on and then stop and I don’t know why. They sell out quickly and I know a lot of people who are crazy about them. Why do they do this to me? WHY?? 
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Nice Vic. But these darn chips turn your fingers red. Nice product.