Dangerously Queasy: Taste Testing Cheetos Mac ’N Cheese

06/07/2024
Botch Job Society
Episode 10: Dangerously Queasy: Taste Testing Cheetos Mac ’N Cheese

What happens when you mix Cheetos with mac & cheese?" We subject ourselves to this culinary catastrophe so you don't have to. From the deceptively named Bold & Cheesy to the stomach-turning Flamin' Hot, we try them all, and boy, do we have some thoughts. Watch as we bravely navigate this neon-orange disaster zone. Will any of these abominations earn a spot in our pantry, or are we destined for a date with regret and indigestion?

[00:00] - Introduction
[00:26] - Opening
[01:04] - What We're Doing Now
[04:05] - Original Flavor Taste Test
[05:54] - Flamin' Hot Taste Test
[07:53] - Ramero Dies
[07:59] - Cheddar Jalapeño Taste Test
[10:25] - Epic Rock, Paper, Scissors
[10:54] - Ramero's Challenge
[16:36] - Chris' Challenge
[22:09] - Final Taste Test

Transcript

Introduction

Speaker 1 0:18

Botch Job Society is produced by Rock Opera Studios . Check out our YouTube channel . You can find the link on our website or you can go to youtubecom . Slash at botchjobsociety

Opening

Speaker 1 0:26

.

Speaker 2 0:31

How would you like to start Start ? With random dialogue of us talking nonsense and then just cut to the actual episode .

Speaker 1 0:37

That's how we always do it . That's pretty much what it is .

Speaker 2 0:41

This is a paid advertisement brought to you by Cheeto . I wish man , this one here . Let me tell you

What We're Doing Now

Speaker 2 1:04

what he's a Philly .

Speaker 1 1:08

Can you see how ?

Speaker 2 1:09

maybe it would have been a failure . Ladies and gentlemen , welcome to another episode of Bot's Job Cooking . As you can see , based on what's in front of us here today , we're taking a look into some mac and cheese . We've got Cheetos on the scene .

Speaker 1 1:32

So we already have experience with mac and cheese Cut to clip .

Speaker 2 1:37

You wonder when you see recipes like this , chris , like who comes up with this crap ? You know these noodles aren't softened up or anything . What is this that we're cooking here ? I've never not wanted to eat something so bad in my life .

Speaker 1 1:51

So I'm hoping that this will be a bit of a better adventure into the world of mac and cheese , although not too confident , but I guess we'll see , you'd have to try really hard to be worse than that first one , though that's true that's true .

Speaker 2 2:04

Better ingredients , better mac and cheese .

Speaker 1 2:09

So what we've got is we've got three different flavors of some microwave Cheeto mac and cheese . We'll just start up here . We have just a normal bold and cheesy flavor of Cheetos , just kind of your classic Cheetos . We have the other fan favorite of Flaming Hot Cheeto and last but not least , we have a cheesy jalapeno flavor . Now , these are all obviously based on real Cheetos flavors . I am not a huge fan of Cheetos . I will eat them if they're there , but that's not usually what I choose to go with when I'm looking for a crunchy snack . Yeah , especially the jalapenos .

Speaker 2 2:51

You know what I actually really do , like the jalapenos . I remember when those started popping up and I was like , hmm , what's that ? Oh , really delicious , it's a pleasant . They're really good , right , if anybody were to make a mac and cheese .

Speaker 1 3:06

I'm okay with it being them . I was gonna say I think that's kind of like a it's a reasonable Doritos . I would actually I would prefer that than the Cheetos actually I'd be interested .

Speaker 2 3:14

Doritos , if you see this . If you see this , maybe bring us some Doritos mac and cheese .

Speaker 1 3:23

At least we have a time stamp on when we came up with this idea you know so back to Cheetos .

Speaker 1 3:28

So the idea is that we're going to test taste each flavor and then the second half we're gonna try to recreate a flavor . One person will be sitting in our isolation station which we have over there . They'll have headphones on . They'll be watching something completely blocked out from the rest of the world , while the other person is going to choose one of these . They have to recreate the flavor that they choose . The person sitting in the isolation station will come back blindfolded and they have to see if they can figure out which one is which .

Speaker 2 3:55

Any early favorites , for which one you think you might want to try to recreate .

Speaker 1 3:58

I think jalapeno . I was thinking that too . Well , that's fine , I mean we can ,

Orignal Flavor Taste Test

Speaker 1 4:06

if we end up choosing the same one . I mean then it'd be kind of unique to see who made the better remake .

Speaker 2 4:11

Who made the better dupe ? Yeah , interesting .

Speaker 1 4:17

Yeah , so let's get started .

Speaker 2 4:21

Original first .

Speaker 1 4:22

Original . So basically just put it in the microwave , all right , so we've got this microwaved here and stirred for the appropriate amount of time . I just wanted to show this color . It's a little unnatural , real . Cheeto Not found in nature . Nah , this is a fabricated orange . It definitely it's a combination of Cheeto , but I also think it just smells like regular microwave mac and cheese . There's a hint of Cheeto , for sure .

Speaker 2 4:58

That cheesiness . It's got that orange five in it . That's what that is .

Speaker 1 5:02

Alrighty , that orange five in it . That's what . That is All righty , not what .

Speaker 2 5:10

I thought , yeah , it's super like not cheesy , but Cheeto cheesy . Yeah , you know it's fine , I mean I would . I can see why my roommate ate them . When we were supposed to buy a couple to share , my roommate ate them when you know we were supposed to buy a couple to share and he ate them both . But I get it . They're pretty good . That's okay . You know , if you wanted something quick .

Speaker 1 5:32

Yeah , it's not really . It's kind of a last resort kind of thing that I would not choose over anything else .

Speaker 2 5:40

But that's fine .

Speaker 1 5:41

Did you ?

Speaker 2 5:42

really get in there .

Speaker 1 5:43

Like where it's , really saucy .

Speaker 2 5:44

Oh , let me get that . That's , that's super Cheeto-y .

Speaker 1 5:49

Yeah , yeah , it is like just kind of hot , soft Cheetos

Flamin' Hot Taste Test

Speaker 1 5:54

.

Speaker 2 5:55

Hot cross buns .

Speaker 1 5:58

Okay , not as much of a failure as I thought , but I get it Decent , decent , All right . Next up is Flamin' Hot .

Speaker 2 6:11

Oh , wow it All right . That's .

Speaker 1 6:16

Flamin' Hot Cheeto yeah .

Speaker 2 6:17

That is Flamin' Hot Cheeto right there For sure .

Speaker 1 6:19

And also again , just this color is very unnatural . Yeah , vibrant red , very vibrant , fluorescent .

Speaker 2 6:30

Like this could glow under a black light yeah Ready . Cheers . Look at it , just even the sauce on the fork . I know .

Speaker 1 6:47

Oh my God , that's flame on hot . Oh geez , oh Mmm . It's got some kick to it . Yeah , I don't know . I mean so far . Do you think it's better or worse than the first one ? Worse ?

Speaker 2 7:02

I don't think this has nearly as much flavor . Not that the flavor of the first one was great .

Speaker 1 7:08

Well , it tastes like nothing .

Speaker 2 7:09

This just tastes hot .

Speaker 1 7:10

Yeah .

Speaker 2 7:11

Like I just taste the spicy of Flamin' Hot Cheetos .

Speaker 1 7:13

But not even at first . It's like , once you swallow it , then you feel the hot . Then you're like , oh , this is Shut up , I'm sorry . I think , yeah , I'd put it second .

Speaker 2 7:26

So far it's gonna finish . Third yeah , I have high hopes for the jalapeno cheddar . I think it'll be pretty good . Yeah , and I think really , if you took some of the other one .

Speaker 1 7:38

Mm-hmm , oh , and mixed it in . Mix it in a little bit .

Speaker 2 7:40

It would probably be good .

Speaker 1 7:41

Yeah .

Speaker 2 7:42

Because that one was like a little too overpowering as far as cheesy yeah and this one's a little too , and this is just straight spice . Yeah .

Speaker 1 7:47

No cheese . Well , I think , then , this one might be the easiest one to recreate , because really

Ramero Dies

Speaker 1 7:53

all you need to do is just add spice , make hot noodles .

Speaker 2 7:55

Yeah , that's all you need to do . All right , which one is it ?

Cheddar Jalapeño Taste Test

Speaker 1 8:02

Yeah , Alrighty Well , moving on to number three , cheesy jalapeno , would you care to ? Oh , yes , Care to grab a bite Perhaps .

Speaker 2 8:19

Oops , come on , yeah , cheers , cheers , cheers . That's just like the chip .

Speaker 1 8:37

Yeah , but there's not much to it . I think there could be more . There should be more .

Speaker 2 8:43

I think their problem on the . There should be more . I think their problem on the normal Cheeto . They tried so hard to drive home that extra cheesiness that the other two just tastes like the flavor itself , not so much the cheese part Once again if you combine some of the normal one you got something here . Take a little bit of the cheesiness off the top of the regular , pour it into your other flavors , cheeto , and maybe these will be a little better .

Speaker 1 9:13

It's not terrible , though . No , they taste just like the chips .

Speaker 2 9:16

Yeah , which maybe is probably very easy to do , but kudos to you .

Speaker 1 9:20

either way . Think about it Most Cheetos , it's a corn puffed thing with a powder .

Speaker 2 9:27

Shaking up in some yeah .

Speaker 1 9:29

So you just put the powder in a packet and Theoretically it sounds easy .

Speaker 2 9:32

Maybe it's not , I don't know . And if it wasn't easy , good job , because it tastes like the chips for sure . Yeah , pretty much . So what we're gonna do next is do we want to do rock paper scissors to see who goes first ? I will redeem myself today , okay okay .

Speaker 1 9:49

So the rules are we're going to cook the pasta ahead of the five minutes , because this takes at least six to eight . So we'll cook that first , and so you'll have sort of a blank slate to start putting stuff in , and I'll have plenty of stuff , blank slate to start putting stuff in .

Speaker 2 10:09

I'll have plenty of stuff up here to choose from . One thing the biggest takeaway , or giveaway , I should say , is probably gonna be how much better these noodles will feel texture-wise .

Speaker 1 10:16

Yeah , rather than microwave . Don't think too hard about the noodle Right . Well , I guess we could cook these past al dente to make them a little more like Overcooked .

Speaker 2 10:24

Yeah , like we could cook these past al dente to make them little

Epic Rock, Paper, Scissors

Speaker 2 10:25

a more like Overcooked . Yeah , like you know , micro-flavored . Yeah , yeah .

Speaker 1 10:32

So it's one , two , three go .

Speaker 2 10:33

Yeah , okay , one , two , three go .

Speaker 1 10:35

All right , best two out of three , yes , okay , okay , here we go . Whoa , okay , here we go . Alright , here's the final .

Ramero's Challenge

Speaker 2 10:55

I knew you would go back to that . I knew it . I knew it you redeemed it .

Speaker 1 11:00

I'll do it . You redeemed Alright , so that means you get to go first . Okay , so now that our noodles are done boiling .

Speaker 2 11:06

You redeemed it . I'm not doing it , you redeemed All right , so that means you get to go first , Okay , so now that our noodles are done boiling , I'm gonna start my recreation process while Chris sits in the isolation station . Again , he cannot hear nor see what I'm doing , so he doesn't even know what flavor I'm trying to recreate , and then he won't really be able to tell , hopefully , which one is the real and which one is the dupe . So Chris is over there finding something to watch and about to get the timer started , and then I'm going to tell you guys what I'm gonna make . Hopefully this works .

Speaker 1 11:38

All right , you can start in three , two , one go .

Speaker 2 11:44

All right , guys , my timer has officially started . Keeping an eye on the isolation station , making sure that Chris' video is started so he definitely can't see or hear me . Okay , now that he's going . So I'm thinking , guys , guys , I'm probably going to remake the original . Flamin' Hot is a very hard flavor to replicate , to be honest with you , and the jalapeno cheddar sounds fun . I just , I don't really like the midget .

Speaker 2 12:25

I don't know I'm gonna see how closely we can replicate the other stuff . So here I just got my bowl of noodles . Crack these open , smash up some Cheetos to make my cheesy powder .

Speaker 1 12:48

I wonder what he's doing . I wonder which one he's actually making .

Speaker 2 12:59

Can't have too many of these right , wasting some . Okay , I'm going to close up my Ziploc . Try to finely crush these . That ain't really working too well . So we'll see how it goes . The only thing , guys , I don't really sorry . I don't really have an eye on how long this is going to take , or like I don't have an eye on my timer , so I'm really just kinda going with the flow here , hoping for the best . We'll see what happens . Wish me luck . Okay , so I've crushed up my Cheetos about as finely as they'll probably get . Hopefully it blends well whenever I begin to do my mixings . There we go . This is not fine enough , but it's close . See if I can use my fingers to smash it up a little more .

Speaker 1 14:24

I'm wondering which one I'm going to do . I'm just chatting to myself .

Speaker 2 14:30

So no , it's fine , it's fine . I hear you , buddy , hold that thought , guys Hold that thought , guys hold that thought . Can we have butter ? Mmm , I don't even know if my pasta is still hot enough . Okay , so , reheating my pasta a little bit , trying to make sure that it's hot enough for the butter . You got one minute , one minute already . One minute , wowzers . Okay , guys , there's really no time at all . Then Mix that in there a little bit , try to mix in some of this . Crack that open , put a little dollop of that in there and then a little bit more of this .

Chris' Challenge

Speaker 1 16:40

Five , four , three , two , one and done . All right . So it is now my turn to attempt a remake of some Cheetos Romero's over in the Mac Museum , aka the isolation station , and he's gonna watch something while I do my thing . So I think I'm ready .

Speaker 2 17:05

Your timer begins in three , two , one now .

Speaker 1 17:10

Okay . So what I'm gonna do first is , because these noodles have been sitting out for a while , I'm going to try to sort of re-get them warmed up here very quickly . I think I'm gonna try the jalapeno one . It seems a little more doable .

Speaker 2 17:31

I failed miserably , not my best attempt . Ah see , now I'm debating .

Speaker 1 17:39

I don't know if I wanna do jalapeno or if I want to do the flaming hot .

Speaker 2 17:43

Maybe I do the flaming hot .

Speaker 1 17:44

I'll do the flaming hot , okay , so I'm going to use some of the spicier ingredients here , and then some of that and some of that . Okay , all right , so I've got . The noodles are a little more hydrated , so in order to make it a little more creamier , I'm going to use a little bit of milk . It's only 2% , so it's not going to be super creamy or anything . Okay , it's only 2% , so it's not going to be super creamy or anything . Okay , I'm going to add a little bit of the cheese powder from the macaroni box , just to get a little consistent . Let me get the original , just so I can sort of help gauge what it's supposed to taste like . Okay , not as creamy . Let me get a little bit of some butter . Hopefully I can get that to melt quick enough .

Speaker 1 19:18

So let me start adding in some of my powders . I'm going to use some garlic and I'm going to primarily use some chili powder , because that seems to be what most of the flavor of Flamin' Hot Cheetos is . Okay , it's looking a little more creamy . I'll give it a quick taste test here . Mmm , it needs more spiciness . Add what is this Cayenne pepper ? There's not enough cheesy flavor .

Speaker 1 20:07

I'm going to add some of this cheese sauce I'm a little afraid of that and maybe some paprika and a little bit more chili powder . Ooh , that's a little too much . Okay , I'm hoping that if I make it spicy enough that he won't really notice . He won't really notice the difference , he'll just taste the spice and sort of be confused . Now I can really taste the . Let me try this . It's hard because I don't know how much time I have left .

Speaker 2 21:07

One minute remaining Alright , one minute . See , guys , look how calm he looks in comparison to like . I freaked out when he said that to me One minute already .

Speaker 1 21:29

I don't think this is gonna improve it , but we'll try . Maybe if I give it a little bit more chili powder , although it already has plenty of kick , that is kind of burning my mouth right now . Okay , well , it's a good thing we're doing this blind , because obviously you'd be able to tell which is which .

Speaker 2 21:56

Okay , ten , oh , all right you'd be able to tell which is which .

Speaker 1 22:04

Okay , ten , oh , all right .

Speaker 2 22:05

Okay , five four three two , one .

Speaker 1 22:08

It's just gonna

Final Taste Test

Speaker 1 22:09

have to be that way .

Speaker 2 22:10

Your time is up , chris , all right .

Speaker 1 22:15

Oh boy .

Speaker 2 22:16

Step away from your station , chef .

Speaker 1 22:21

I feel like my ears Fold it over .

Speaker 2 22:23

Yeah , Just kidding guys . There will be no mac and cheese .

Speaker 1 22:28

Send us the money or Chris gets it All right , guys .

Speaker 2 22:32

So here we have our two test subjects Chris , left or right , ooh Um .

Speaker 1 22:42

Left Our two test subjects .

Speaker 2 22:45

Chris , left or right , ooh left .

Speaker 1 22:47

I don't like your answer , so I'm just gonna undermine it , okay left .

Speaker 2 22:51

I considered it after the fact .

Speaker 1 22:53

Okay , so you know , because I can't see where the fork is . You can just hand me the fork whenever .

Speaker 2 22:57

Yeah , yeah . Yeah , I figured you probably didn't want me passionately feeding you on camera .

Speaker 1 23:02

Ah , here comes the airplane . Oh , okay , all right , all right , this is the first one . Okay , I'll save my final judgment for it . I'll save my final judgment , I'll save it . And number two Okay , the first one is definitely yours .

Speaker 2 23:42

It's painfully obvious , isn't it ? It's not even close , but it's not bad . It would have been good if I actually finished out what I was doing Right Versus freaking out when I heard one minute left , one minute already .

Speaker 1 23:56

So what was your ? Just briefly explain your process .

Speaker 2 24:01

I started off with the intent to crush the Cheetos . And then I realized they weren't really crushing very well . It's hard to get it really fine . And then I began rushing to throw in a dollop of the nacho cheese . Try to pour in some of this . I wanted to pour in some of the original cheese mix , but not like I didn't want to just be like pile it on .

Speaker 2 24:21

Maybe , it would have worked , because it's super cheesy . Honestly , it came down to poor time management . It was supposed to be crushed Cheeto , the nacho mix and some of the nacho cheese , right , but the noodles got kind of cold and very like starched up together , so I tried to throw some water and some butter in there to kind of get it back liquidy .

Speaker 1 24:40

Yeah , and it just yeah , it didn't work . So there's my botched version of mac and cheese .

Speaker 2 24:50

You can see that the noodles have not even fully changed color at all .

Speaker 1 24:53

Yeah , they're not coated .

Speaker 2 24:55

You couldn't really bind it .

Speaker 1 24:56

I'm wondering if we had blended the Cheetos , if that would have been better to get a yeah .

Speaker 2 25:05

Probably in retrospect , but we wouldn't be botched up , folks , if we weren't Right yeah , all right , let me get the overhead camera .

Speaker 1 25:14

Just to compare , these are mine . Oh well , this is mine and the other one is not . All right , would you like , let me mix them up .

Speaker 2 25:24

I think I'm gonna be able to tell yours , just for the fact that I smell the garlic powder , and I'm gonna taste this Gosh dang it . To be fair , I smelled it when I left the isolation station . Okay , all right , but texture-wise I'm sure yours will be more similar .

Speaker 1 25:37

Left or right , not like I have a choice here Right , right okay , it's not like I have a choice here , right , right , ok .

Speaker 2 25:44

Yeah , wait , choose again , choose again . Yeah , I never second-guess myself . Right , ok , I can't hear you scooping .

Speaker 1 26:01

I just know you're doing it , it's fine . It's fine , all right , you ready .

Speaker 2 26:35

Probably already know I have some water right here if you need some water . Yo , yo , that's crazy . I'm going to commit . That's crazy . I'm going to commit . That's crazy .

Speaker 1 26:49

That's the original . Okay , you ready here you go Okay , obviously , dupe original . Yeah .

Speaker 2 27:07

The hardest part about this and now I'm seeing this and tasting yours and mine you simply cannot recreate the creamy feel and texture of the original . Yeah , it's very hard to like match it .

Speaker 1 27:20

Yeah .

Speaker 2 27:21

So , off bat , the moment you put a couple of the noodles , the moment you get a taste of a couple of the noodles figuring out the best way to phrase that there's a chalkiness , like a dryness to it that just doesn't match up to what's in the microwavable cup . So that's the first dead giveaway , aside from the fact that you tried to kill me in between cayenne and crushed red pepper . Sorry , no like . Immediately I was like that's some pepper , that's some pepper .

Speaker 1 27:49

My process was well . Originally I was gonna do jalapeno . I think I'm gonna try the jalapeno one I thought you were .

Speaker 2 27:57

I thought you were gonna commit to that . I was looking forward to it .

Speaker 1 27:59

But then I was like maybe do flaming hot . My whole process was like if I just make it spicy enough , maybe he won't notice , Like all he'll taste is spicy , and then he'll be like I don't know which one is which .

Speaker 2 28:11

I like the thought At least all your noodles are coated . Yeah , this whole side of my tongue . I just still taste the spices . I'm so sorry .

Speaker 1 28:19

Like it's like . I guess that's where most of my bite was .

Speaker 2 28:21

Let me re-taste it . No , it's actually very funny .

Speaker 1 28:26

Because I only did it like , I only taste-tested it twice . Oh , that's really spicy .

Speaker 2 28:33

Almost immediate . You're like oh , that's spice .

Speaker 1 28:35

Yeah , when it's just it's not . I mean it's just , it's not not even close , really it's not even close . It's just , it's not not even close , really it's not even close . It's so hard . These spices are a little . I don't know what the word is , but it's just like a . It's not a . I don't know . I keep trying , but I think just , and a loss for words . This is just so artificial that you can't .

Speaker 2 28:58

Yeah , you can't replicate it , really , yeah , and I think , really the only way to get close is probably to just fully blend a bag of the corresponding Cheeto flavor , along with maybe some butter and some milk .

Speaker 1 29:10

Yeah , If we were to do this again .

Speaker 2 29:13

I feel like I know what I did wrong . First of all , shut the heck up . Second of all , figure it out . But they were interesting . I'm glad we tried that , oh yeah .

Speaker 1 29:21

I mean , I don't know how long they've been around , but oh , at least a year .

Speaker 2 29:27

At least a year and some change , yeah , so check it out , tell us what you think . How would you make it better ?

Speaker 1 29:34

Yeah , I'm curious to see if there's anybody who's actually into food who would know how to sort of reconstruct it from scratch If you gave me more than five minutes and a timer that I could actually see .

Speaker 2 29:44

I'd wow , you Give me some privacy with this mac and cheese and I'm gonna bring it back and he won't know the difference . Again , as always , follow the socials . Subscribe on YouTube . Like this video . It'd be nice if you could comment too , but you know , whatever , yeah , we'll respond to everything .

Speaker 1 30:03

I respond . I could comment too , but you know , whatever , yeah , we'll we'll respond .

Speaker 2 30:04

I respond . I have nothing better to do um I get the notifications and I'm like , oh yeah , how about this ? What you think , yeah , um , also an underrated thing you guys are forgetting to do . Leave a voicemail .

Speaker 1 30:16

Yes , I've been checking every week and there's not been a single voicemail , except for the one that I did to test . Um , and every time I log in I'm like oh , there's oh , no , it's me . Yeah , it's just me leave a voicemail , except for the one that I did to test . And every time I log in I'm like oh , there's a oh , no , it's me .

Speaker 1 30:26

It's just me Leave a voicemail . You'll actually be on the show . You'll hear yourself on the show , and we love hearing just anything . It can be really , really be anything . Super easy . Just go to the website and there's a whole section that says leave a voicemail here and just click on it .

Speaker 2 30:41

Which brings me back to the important notes . Follow the socials . Subscribe to the YouTube . Hit the bell as well . Please comment . Go to the website . There's plenty of nice little stuff on there and it's just pretty . There was a lot of work that went into that website , yeah , so please go enjoy it . Thank you all for watching . We look forward to seeing you next time on Botch Job Cooking .

Speaker 1 31:22

Goodbye .