yeah it's hot it is hot
we're finally getting hot I'll have a
simple my haven't happening hey what's
going on everybody four first we feast
I'm Sean Evans and you're watching hot
ones it's the show with hot questions
and even had her wings and today I'm
joined by Alton Brown he's a TV food
show pioneer and award-winning author
you know I'm from massively popular
shows like good eats
iron chef and you can catch him on iron
chef gauntlet now on the Food Network
mr. Brown welcome to the show thanks for
having me did you do anything special to
prepare for the heat is there a science
to all of that but I didn't laminate my
tongue with you know beef tallow or
anything like that but you did and it is
a hot ones first with the half and half
instead of the milk substitute I'm not
stupid
either fat or alcohol or what you want
to get in your mouth to help to mitigate
some of the pain so since nobody offered
me two kilo shots and by the way a
little disappointed I went with
half-and-half knowing that I don't want
to drink full cream dry honey
it's like eating spoonfuls of mayo so
we're gonna start with the the mild
stuff and then move our way down
that's exactly how it works we start
with the mild stuff and work our way
okay here
[Music]
do we talk at all about the Scoville
level we ran where are we at here this
is a very chill spot I think we're under
a thousand Scoville with this one I'd
say 25 but that's just me so when you're
doing the eat your science tour you took
a unique approach to dining on the road
crowdsourcing coffee shops and lunch
spots from your fans everything we ate
Vance told Steve what was one regional
discovery that blew your mind and then
one that made you wonder if your fans
are better than a bunch of Yelpers well
I think if we learned anything it's that
regionality almost doesn't matter
anymore and in fact in some places
regionality gets in the way because once
a region believes that it's got the lock
on something the quality almost
immediately starts to go downhill like
with the Cuban sandwiches are true the
whole the chicken wings I'm sorry if you
really want great buffalo chicken wings
where do you go you don't go to freakin
Buffalo Wow and there you go I'll never
be able to play Buffalo again I just
remove that for my list um and finding a
really great Cuban sandwich
are you and yet I spent an entire day
looking for a truly great Cubano in
Tampa and never really got one damn okay
so I think that that's a problem that
when when a region thinks that their
identity is kind of locked to it we got
this that's when they start making too
much of it to tourists that don't know
the difference and then pretty soon
you're you're del Taco
[Music]
anyway you're gonna mess up my math out
okay which one are we supposed to work
I'm too now oh are you like 15 minutes I
know you're right I know you did put
that in the trash
I'll go back and eat a little no that
one's overcooked since you first got
into the food TV genre there's been a
massive explosion or collective
obsession with food and one could argue
an increase in the culinary IQ of your
average diner but I'm curious from your
perspective as foodie culture actually
made people better in the kitchen I
think that what food media has done is
made everyone more educated more
appreciative perhaps you know I know
people now that can barely boil water
who can walk into a Spanish restaurant
and tell whether or not they were using
you know Spanish or you know Turkish
saffron in the rice the downside to food
media is also kind of our idea of what
food and hospitality is and I think that
you know Instagram is a really great
example of a force that's I'm not sure
that's for good by objectifying the
visuals of food over everything else
it demeans taste and flavor and
hospitality and sitting and talking
across the table because now we're all
just taking pictures of our food you
okay
there's a lot of plates spinning on this
side of the table out and you know I
understand that in the wings I
understand you in the interview it's a
whole situation I still learn when you
have to eat and talk where to tuck food
in your mouth so that you don't you know
spray it when you have any tips because
I'm very animalistic like I just take
the bite I try to swallow it down as
quickly as possible or kiss my feet I
mean then that works I I occasionally
stash them over in the bottom left you
you save it yeah I save it for later
there's a fruity sweetness to it mm-hmm
I like that
there's some sour it's got a nice
balance of spice to it I think so you're
a man of many talents and through the
Alton Brown trio you've been able to
combine two of your passions food and
music dropping songs like airport shrimp
cocktail and grandmom forgot to brine
the bird so as an accomplished food
lyricist I think that you're uniquely
qualified to weigh in and some of the
great food bars and the history of hip
hop soda my rating them between one and
ten or what's the what's the deal I want
to know if you like it if you don't like
it if it rings true to you if you're
confused I just want your reaction so
this first one is from lo fused I'm 6
foot 7 foot paper chase and tell that
paper look I'm right behind you
[ __ ] real jeez move in silence like
lasagna that's a reach that's a reach
for a rhyme but it is it does work
I'm givin thumbs up to that I'm giving
thumbs up this one's from Rick Ross okay
am I really just a narcissist because I
wake up to a bowl of lobster bisque
don't like it not enough so the
syllables don't work out for me it's
it's it's a bad rhyme does that make you
a narcissist if you wake up to a bowl of
lobster bisque I don't think so and I
think that makes you a narcissist at all
which means you're hanging out the right
places
I would who would hear wooden lobster
bisque for breakfast anybody
Rishi everybody would everyone all ops
so I don't think that makes me a
narcissist now if I saw my reflection in
the bowl of a lobster bisque and fell in
love with the room that would be a
narcissist but just eating the best no
one more for you Alton this one's from
Eminem off of bagpipes for Baghdad
master locked in Mariah's wine cellar
all I had for lunch
was red wine more red wine and Captain
Crunch red wine for breakfast and for
brunch and to soak it up and in between
snack crackers to munch
where the hell did the Captain Crunch
come from that was ass why no body keeps
Captain Crunch in the wine cellar do you
think that do you think Mariah Carey
would have I think if anybody would I
don't know I'm not not buying it I got a
good thumbs down on that one thumbs down
I'm sorry Marshall
[Music]
the hot ones we've got some fiery
Chipotle back at the line and don't get
the ghost that goes chilly maybe I do
you got to work in a while
[Music]
I really like that I like the lime allow
take a little bit of that goes she likes
the lime is the brilliant thing going on
in there
I spit on that so don't eat it that's
all yours that's all yours out and
fantastic oh nice move it's nice I like
it
I appreciate that I appreciate that well
that's a good sauce thank you very much
meant your your balance of acidity and
in coriander and cardamom out of the
creepy that's right go ahead you were in
this School of Drama at the University
of Georgia before you got into food and
then I know that you worked on music
videos including our EMS the one I love
what were the hallmarks of the Alton
Brown music video style did you have a
visual style I was a very early user of
a device called Steadicam these would
people know what that is from their
thumb I was I got onto that very very
very early and then later when I was
directing commercials was based on very
complicated long camera movements
because I had the tool to do it which
director do you think would make the
best food show
Hitchcock because he would know when to
choke somebody with a bone Hitchcock was
a master of pulling terrifying human
traits out of mundane situations in
ordinary situations so I think if you're
gonna go into a kitchen and have
somebody cook food he'd be the guy that
I'd want to see that get twisted up by
what's the best food movie of all time
Wow you know I did a food on Film
Festival at the Metro after theater a
couple years ago and and tortured myself
over this this question I think that for
me I am still going to have to give it
up to Babette's feast and here all along
I thought it was ratatouille you're
ready to move on ratatouille some top
five it really isn't top 5 apps lutely
maybe even top three this one I've had I
like yours better
[Music]
Thank You Alton
but if I if I was rating them yeah and
that's all really yeah beat them as I go
I like that yeah one two with one being
right there so far and I'm gonna put
damaging how much the the proportion of
lit burned to a palate burn is off it's
too much lip too much too little not
enough palate
exactly I don't mind look burn but you
know you'd like it balanced all right
Alton we'll be every crane segment on
our show called explain that Graham
where I do a deep dive on our guest
Instagram pull interesting pictures that
need more context so I'll bust out the
laptop I'll show you the picture and
then you just tell me the bigger story
does that sound good my my Instagram
feed pretty much pretty boring first
things first
late sleepless night I do most of my
grocery shopping a black midnight
interesting well number one people don't
stop me to ask me how to cook something
rush during the day could take up a lot
of time Girish tours depress me by and
large hear some about the music and the
lighting and the things that I see
people buying oh yeah it gets me down so
I shop really late at night yeah and
this is this was me starting to tell the
story of my love affair with sriracha
you love sriracha I did she stand to me
now what happened it's just too much and
it ended up in everything you know it's
it's just like American culture that you
know the second you start selling
sriracha beer we're done why do you get
depressed seeing what other people shop
for because people buy crap
and a lot of it I worry about that stuff
I do and so there are there have been
times and grocery stores arrived I just
left my cart and walked out really yeah
I get really bummed well I'm sorry that
we brought it up yeah thanks for that
I'm done here all right that didn't do
anything for me Matt there's not as much
flavor there to me is there there should
have been where's it fallin on your
board I got to put it down here beneath
the hatch Aang to be honest your your
fiery Chipotle still on top the people
usually break these window on your first
time first person half first person to
rank it I love that gun maybe we'll just
keep this order going forward you'll see
I think it is something to to try so I
understand that you went to culinary
school in large part because you are
frustrated with the state of food TV and
felt as though you could do better by
yourself I also thought that food media
was gonna be the next big thing and I
wanted desperately to get out of
directing TV commercials and I I was a
cook as a hobbyist cook and I really
felt that my napkin I'll just use this
and in that 20 years the TV food scene
that's exploded you know from the stand
and stir shows to the cooking
competition boom to the current
obsession with culinary travel and when
you look at that timeline because you've
spent about 20 years in this game now
what do you see as some of the watershed
moments the highlights and the lowlights
when you look at that time that's a
really interesting question I have to
say 911 because the entire country
wanted comfort and they turned to food
food was all of a sudden the only thing
that people really wanted to watch and I
remember what happened to the ratings at
Food Network it was unreal if anybody
ever had any doubts about foods ability
to bring people together the completely
dispelled by that one incredibly tragic
event downsides when food network moved
from being a specialty channel into a
general audience network there was a
very very big change in programming
because all of a sudden we had to play
the game that everybody else's
and that game at the time was called
reality television which I abhor by and
large dislike immensely don't like what
it's done to the industry don't like
what it's done to people's minds the
other high point I'm gonna shout out
Iron Chef America Iron Chef America was
able to take a venerated Japanese show
really understanding the amazing
intensity of what being a chef at that
level is like it's also a very very bad
thing because it made so many young
cooks want to be a cook so that they
could become stars way too many kids
during the the 2000s decided to go into
the culinary field so they could become
TV stars
[Music]
I'm suspicious of this sauce almost
automatically because of its packaging
heat meter 8 out of 10 well well freakin
see about that
crap that's crap
that's the Dawson's rappin Dawson's
alley doesn't even get to be on the
table with these Wow won't even dignify
it nope
shots fired done Dawson's come at me I'd
say bring the heat but you don't seem to
be able to do that hey bang sorry I'm
sure they're lovely people so know that
your gear head but it seems that you
sort of shifted away from the motorcycle
hobby to instead focus on piloting
airplanes have you ever had a
frightening midair experience yes before
I even have my mind my private pilot
license I was doing just circling the
airport that I trained at and doing
landings and I came in too fast and I
touched down I lost control of plane and
I didn't realize how bad it was until
the fact that I was listening to
somebody in the control tower talking to
someone else and they stopped talking
because I realized oh [ __ ] they're
watching me I'm about to crack to this
plane and I was I thought it was gonna
go off thrown way into a ditch and I
managed to get it back up in the air
there was a crosswind I hadn't planned
for but I was literally and then about
five minutes afterwards I got the shakes
yeah I imagine is it still a dream of
yours to do a show about airplane food
yeah a lot of people don't realize that
there are thousands of little bitty
airports all over America and a lot of
them are connected to really groovy
towns if it's a Municipal Airport we'll
have what's called a crew car
this is usually a decommissioned cop car
and you can just borrow it I would love
to do a show about doing just that
flying into these what town is this why
is it here why is this why is this
airfield even here and then getting in
the getting in the old cop car and you
know just spots yeah have you ever
gotten into the science of it at all
because I once read that it's difficult
to taste food on an airplane because at
altitude it dries out your nasal
passages there there are a lot of
physiological challenges to feeding
people in airplanes
there are airlines that have managed to
do it and they usually do it correctly
by playing off of contrasting flavors
and textures in multiple smaller courses
crunchy spicy salty that's you go with
time
warning this sauce is extremely hot I
keep thinking I'm gonna see something in
your eyes but the same of you poker face
the whole time out
[Music]
this is hot but it's not good right
it's just bitter a nun flavorful yeah
it's hot it is hot
we're finally getting hot I'll have a
simple my haven't happening that's smart
so you're one of the more dapper guests
that we've ever had on the show it's not
every day that we have somebody wearing
a suit for their date with the wings of
death but I am surprised to see you in a
necktie and not a bowtie why is the
bowtie superior to the necktie in your
opinion uh well you can't strangle
somebody to death with with a bow tie
it never gets caught in the cab door
you're flying an airplane it doesn't
tangle up in cables this is dangerous
it really is blesses kill me did
finishing second to Anthony Bourdain on
Vanity Fair's list of the best-dressed
chefs bother you at all no no of course
not I mean it's wrong come on Vanity
Fair what are you gonna do I love Tony
Bourdain snappy dresser though looks
good in black leather he does looks at
this drill what was more flattering
being named that best-dressed list or be
named one of the sexiest chefs alive by
People magazine that can't be right is
that right did that actually happen
couple of years ago yeah back when yeah
I had hair all right we've got the Mad
Dog 9:57 this is the 25th anniversary
turbocharged and it's up north number
nine plutonium it's true
my prediction is this isn't going to
taste very good well it's actually
better than a bomb it's true
it could use some I could fix this what
would you do to change it grill spices
they got cheap of the spices and there's
too much vinegar you know what if this
had some cumin in it and I know it's
gonna sound weird a little bit of
clothes but this is really a
self-defense device right right yeah I
mean it says right here over 1 million
Scoville and it says this sauce will
blow you away
mm-hmm well it's better than the bomb so
the Mad Dog 357 which only sounds like
something a long-haul trucker would take
the stay away doesn't it yeah 75 our
energy is what that sounds like but it's
better than the bomb but not the end of
mom why do you respond to fans on
Twitter by writing out the response on a
post-it note and then taking a picture
of said post-it note and then posting
that picture of said posted note with
the response in the early days when I
first got on Twitter I was like I don't
like being told that I can only have so
many characters I wanted and I wanted to
be able to draw things and so it kind of
became a thing and then I know that you
took a break from social media for a
while what was it that made you throw in
the towel and then what brought you back
to the party yeah somebody like started
an account saying that they were my
spouse and it was kind of like you
people are all creeps social media
brings out the worst and a lot of people
and I see your eyes starting down is you
really don't want to eat that the reason
I'm peaking is not because I'm a worried
or I'm afraid or whatever it's because I
anticipate I'm like excited I almost
want to just inch the interview that
direction I would say there's nothing I
really like about this label mm-hmm okay
yeah Shawn hit me there's not much on it
I kind of like that it's very I mean
it's very sparse compared to Mad Dog 357
that's true there's a silky Ness to the
finish of this paper yes you haven't
gone cheap no on this label this is an
expensive label it's premium Prada now
I'm impressed by the the flavor pack
here and Fletcher the pain thanks to a
healthy head of mustard ginger and
turmeric
live the tradition what the hell does
that mean
this is the last dab and as you've
piqued
we call it the last dab because it's
tradition around here to put a little
extra on the last wing now you don't
have to if you don't want to but I knew
you would come out see I like that this
is kind of choke right yeah
lotta ginger okay
I mean I'm thirsty my dress
so smart to bring the ginger
[Music]
you make good sauces thank you very much
out yeah where are we gonna put it
fiery Chipotle is my favorite here I am
going to put this in the middle of back
right above the karma sauce and then the
Dawson's which we're not even to talk
about all right Alton Brown why
appreciate the education and for
rearranging our hot sauce line up here
we are at the top of Mount Scoville and
I just have one more hoop for you to
jump through because we want to come out
of a bottle
it does come out of a bottle we want to
celebrate the occasion by Tai Chi me I
can't do it with that knife I'll try
I'll teaching me how to saber a
champagne bottle you know sometimes it
works sometimes it does any occasion
will be very nice in the edit out you
know what I mean if you may not happen
the odds of this working are slim to
none but that's why you play the game
I'm gonna take some of this tape off I
won't ungreased food access to the same
all right well if you're gonna do this
yeah there's not much of a punt in this
bottle either which is the thing you put
your thumb down at the bottle you want
to run the blade of the saber straight
up a seam on the bottle
all right I don't know where this is
from French bottles are usually thinner
in the neck
so if it doesn't happen the first time
the odds of it happening or almost
incredibly incredibly that
so nope not gonna happen
sorry about that that's okay please Liam
asked that's why you play the game and
sometimes you just have to do it this
way
you just have to stumble at the finish
line that's how you know that it's real
but enjoy that champagne Alton Brown
because I'm at the Tolly crap of my big
oval what is it just the buzz is worse
than anything I put in my mouth here
okay oh my god where'd you get that well
that cost six dollars and he spit it all
out of his nose
and on that note there's nothing left to
do again the red carpet for you good day
this camera this camera or this camera
let the people know what you have going
on in your life what's going on right
now
iron chef gauntlet season two starting
up Iron Chef America will be back after
that and I am relaunching a rebooting a
little show called good eats later this
year
fun show next time try to get something
hot though you know one dab to dab three
dab what the what this is Sean Evans
checking in from a wingless table and
you know what that means we're proud to
announce a new member of the last dab
family
Trinidad's famous Moruga scorpion pepper
the hottest pepper in the world from
2012 to 2013 is now in the fold same
base recipe and no one loved but now
with a new super hot in the mix and I
know that one of you spice Lords out
there is going to hit the triple dab the
scorpion into the Reaper into the pepper
X you know the drill heat nice calm by
it while supplies last
Godspeed spice Lords be careful out
there