Thread: Hot Sauces

+1 on the Yucateco Habanero. Nice flavor, a little shy on the heat compared with the habanero salsa I get at a couple of the local Mexican places though. The stuff is friggin' awesome on scrambled eggs or biscuits & gravy.

Originally Posted by Zip

+1 Dave's Insanity....best I've had.

For a little less intense, Dave's Temporary Insanity

I have a bottle of Total Insanity, but haven't worked up the courage to try it yet....

Zip,

I am guessing you just like heat because all of those Dave's, Blair's and the other"pepper extract" concoctions are putrid tasting crap. They are also way too hot to be considered food. Obviously I can only state my opinion but I do know a little bit about hot sauces. I know the hottest "natural" sauces are made from the hottest peppers, typically the habanero. If you want to make a pot of chili hot, sure you can throw in some of the capsaicin sauces (like Dave's Insanity)but you can get heat and so much wonderful flavor by using a blend of peppers like some habanero, serrano and jalepeno. I can make something too hot for anyone and never use a drop of hot sauce.

I do agree that the El Yucateco sauces are all great. Right now in the kitchen I have an open bottle of the El Yucateco Habanero and El Yucateco Chipoltle. They are both wonderful. I am enjoying also a bottle of Zulu Zulu Peri Peri Extra Hot Chile Pepper Sauce. You should all check this stuff out. Very hot and very yummyliscious: Chicken Peri Peri Sauce - Hotsauce - Chili Sauce Recipe - Gourmet Sauces - Zuluzulu.com

Que?

Several years ago we grew some hpt peppers to make our own chili power. The garden did real well that year and we had too many peppers and didn't onow what to do with them. I found this site Pepper Fool's Chile Pepper Recipes .................................................. .................................................. ..Chile Pepper Recipes / Holiday Recipes / Hot and Spicy / Habanero / peppers / hot Sauce / salsa / mexican / south and pulled up several recipies. Karen made these jellies (she doesn't eat them, just makes them for me) and they are a hit at the fire department I belong to.

PepperFool.com Jam / Jelly Recipes...Habanero Jelly

Pepper Fool's Chile Pepper Recipes .................................................. .................................................. ..Chile Pepper Recipes / Holiday Recipes / Hot and Spicy / Habanero / peppers / hot Sauce / salsa / mexican / south

I'm sure you'll find sonething on this site you will like if you like HOT.

Originally Posted by icedog

Zip,

I am guessing you just like heat because all of those Dave's, Blair's and the other"pepper extract" concoctions are putrid tasting crap. They are also way too hot to be considered food. Obviously I can only state my opinion but I do know a little bit about hot sauces. I know the hottest "natural" sauces are made from the hottest peppers, typically the habanero. If you want to make a pot of chili hot, sure you can throw in some of the capsaicin sauces (like Dave's Insanity)but you can get heat and so much wonderful flavor by using a blend of peppers like some habanero, serrano and jalepeno. I can make something too hot for anyone and never use a drop of hot sauce.

Icedog,
I'm glad you clarified. Although I thoroughly enjoy the taste of the two Dave's sauces I've tried, I agree with you about Blairs. I've only tried the original and it is crap, and about as spicy as jello.

I'm not claiming to have an advanced degree in hot sauce technology, just presenting a preference. I used to enjoy the lower heat sauces, but they no longer do it for me.

I don't necessarily have time to "make" things, and I use Dave's as a condiment more than an ingredient.

At what point does a fine hot sauce go from food to putrid crap???

Thanks for the hot sauce suggestion, there is a store near me that stocks hundreds of them. I'll give it a try.

Zip

Okay Zip, here's a bit that I've learned through my passion for sauces and the collecting of them for many years. I will try to explain how I can know what a sauce will taste like by the label or at least whether or not I will like it without ever opening the bottle. Before i go into a long (but I hope interesting) lecture on hot sauces, I must first point out the obvious. The like or dislike of any food item is strictly subjective. When I say something is "putrid crap" I am only giving one of my many opinions. While I believe everyone should accept my opinions as gospel, my thoughts on this topic are offered as guidelines to your own exploration into a selection of sauces that is quite literally a worldwide menu. I have had "hot sauces" from nearly every country on the planet. Some you don't even have to taste to know they aren't going to be any good. I hope my explaination will help folks understand how.

When I was actively collecting, I always tried to get two bottles of every "new" (I put quotation marks on the word "new" to indicate I mean new to my knowledge/collection) sauce I found. One bottle to eat, the other for display. I never display an opened bottle of sauce because the color of the product changes rapidly after they are opened. Eventually, after tasting hundreds of different sauces from hundreds of different places, I began to learn that there was much told by a closed bottle of sauce.

I had a bottle of sauce from Ireland. The first thing was that when viewed through the clear glass bottle the product was a lumpy, oilymess. The list of ingredients was not appetizing either. Well I never had to open the bottle to know that Irish folks don't know anything about hot sauce. This is a place where the cooks take a perfectly good hunk of beef, boil it until it is grey and tastless and season it with salt and pepper. Sadly the bottle fell from my overhead shelf and broke on the floor. WHile I ddon't think I needed to taste it, I still wish I had the sauce for my collection. MAybe someone reading this in Ireland would be able to replace that sauce for my. I think it was called Lakkewood (but I could be wrong). Now the single most attractive bottle in my collection is from Isreal. It is called Segal's Pepper Supreme. With a beautifully printed label with brilliant red peppers and gold Hebrew lettering.It looks more like a bottle of fine liqueur than a condiment. However, because I only have one bottle, I'll likely never know what it tastes like. Today I grabbed five bottles off the shelf. I will give you the name of the sauce, where it was made and the list of ingredients. Then I will tell you what those things tell me.

In no special order:
Sontava! Habanero XX Hot Sauce

from Belize
Choice habanero peppers
fresh carrots s onion, garlic
lime juice
vinegar
garlic
salt

Suck 'N' Duck
Franklin Park, Illinois, USA
Habanero, vinegar
Onion, garlic
Pepper extract
Spices, vegetable gum

Gray's
Westmoreland, Jamaica
Ingredients:
Scotch Bonnet Peppers
cane vinegar
sugar, salt

Blair's After Death
Highlands, New Jersey, USA
Habaneros
Vinegar, fresh cayenne
Garlic, chiipotle
Pepper extract
Lime juice, cilantro, herbs and spices

B]Habanero Heaven Deadly Pepper Sauce[/B]
Falmouth, Maine, USA
Ingredients:
Vinegar, water, tomato paste
mustard, sea salt, garlic
habanero peppers
natural spice extracts

Okay, the first one Sontava is from Belize which is in Central America separating Mexico from Guatemala. This is where the habanero was born. These folks there love big fresh flavor (very much like their Mexican neighbors. The simple list of natural ingredients with the habanero listed first, the vinegar and lime juice tell me this is going to be a pretty hot sauce with bright, tangy flavor. I know i'd love it. Oh, the second ingredient is carrots. While carrots won't do much for taste, the sauce is brilliant orange in color because of them.

Suck 'N' Duck is in a bottle with a sparkly hologram label. It is from Franklin Park, Illinois a suburb of Chicago. Not really known for anything in particular and more than a third of the population being latino if this sauce were made for the locals it would not have pepper extract. It has a silly name, pepper extract and a gimmicky label. This sauce is a joke. I wouldn't even try it but I'll bet it is way too hot to eat and it probably tastes crappy.

Anyone else want to describe one of the remaining three?

Brad

Living in Belize, being married to a Belizean, eating nothing but Belizean cuisine, I'm partial to Marie Sharp's habanero hot sauces. We finish a bottle every two weeks or so. If you like hot sauces and ever visit Belize be sure to visit her factory outside of Dangriga (formerly Stann Creek Town). You'll find a bottle on every table along with ketchup, black pepper, and salt. My favourites are the Hot and the Grapefruit hot sauces. She makes other condiments as well. Won an award for the world's hottest back in '94, I think.

I should visit her place before I go home. Take some pictures. Put them up. Plenty of hype in the marketing though. Untouched foothills of the Mayan mountains? I live in them.

Okay, the first one Sontava is from Belize which is in Central America separating Mexico from Guatemala. This is where the habanero was born. These folks there love big fresh flavor (very much like their Mexican neighbors. The simple list of natural ingredients with the habanero listed first, the vinegar and lime juice tell me this is going to be a pretty hot sauce with bright, tangy flavor. I know i'd love it. Oh, the second ingredient is carrots. While carrots won't do much for taste, the sauce is brilliant orange in color because of them.

No, carrots are all about the flavour. That is why we add them to unblended "pepper": a mix of sliced habaneros, onions, carrots, and vinegar. I guess they make it nice and orange too though. And you're right, you would love that sauce. Crack it open, man.

If you want any Marie Sharp's just PM me. I think you can buy it at Wal-Mart now though.

Does anyone know what gives Tabasco it's overwhelming flavor? I love Tapatilo, Cholula, Franks, Gringo Bandito, Sriracha, to name a few, but can't stand Tabasco. I think it might be way to vinigary for me, and when I use it, all I taste is the Tabasco, whereas with those other sauces, they just add a similar amount of heat and some flavor without overwhelming the taste of the food.

Originally Posted by twelvepbrs

Does anyone know what gives Tabasco it's overwhelming flavor? I love Tapatilo, Cholula, Franks, Gringo Bandito, Sriracha, to name a few, but can't stand Tabasco. I think it might be way to vinigary for me, and when I use it, all I taste is the Tabasco, whereas with those other sauces, they just add a similar amount of heat and some flavor without overwhelming the taste of the food.

Here's a link to the website explaining their process:
History of the perfect hot pepper sauce - Tabasco

Tabasco is my personal favorite. I buy it wholesale by the case of 12 oz bottles

I currently live in Antigua, and have found a new hot sauce that I put on pretty much everything. Its called Susie's Hot Sauce, made here locally. Filled with Scotch Bonnett peppers, so its got a pretty good kick. I use it literally everything - ramen mostly since Im a poor student. But they also make a good tamarind and mango hot sauce. Both make excellent chicken wings. She also makes special sauces for events on the island, like the cricket championships held here yearly. If you like more of a Jamaican taste, then this stuff is pretty good, and can be ordered online.