HOT SAUCES, A FAVORITE OR THE HOTTEST YOU'VE EVER HAD! - Page 3

Quote:

Originally Posted by revolink24 

I actually find Tabasco Habanero pretty tasty in a mango-ey way.

Could be. I am Finnish so I am not naturally veru used to hot foods. After certain spot I can only taste heat pretty much. I guess I have to keep training. Also since I mostly use it only several drops on food I am going to eat its taste gets pretty buried, only heat remains.

I have to try it raw from spoon, I havent tried that yet on Habanero one.

I've been a hot sauce junkie sine I was a child.  I usually have at least half a dozen hot sauces concurrently open and actively being used with daily meals.  My tastes range across the board, from Blair's After Death Sauce to regular Tobasco.  Two of my current faves are Mezzetta Habanero Hot Sauce and Melinda's Naga Jolokia.  I like my hot sauces to not be so hot that the rest of their flavor profile is obscured.  This is why I'm not overly fond of the hotter stuff from Blair's but do really like sauces like Melinda's Naga Jolokia.  Lot's of great flavor besides just the hot.  Also there''s always an open bottle of Sriricha and Chili Sauce around.

I'm not a fan of intense heat. I like Tabasco brand Chipotle, but it seems to have a fishy tase if I use too much. Red Hot is good too, but most of the time in cooking I use a Vietnamese Chili-Garlic paste from Huy Fong foods. I like it because it scales the heat well. A small amount delivers a nice flavor, more definitely gets HOT.

Yup, Huy Fong foods Sriracha or Sambal Oelek are also very tasty.

The History Channel's Modern Marvels did a show on hot and spicy foods.

http://hotsaucedaily.com/2010/02/18/hot-and-spicy-on-history-channel/ 

They explained in detail the differences and mechanics of various hot substances,  between chiles, pepper, mustard, and horseradish. Good show!

I just bought Tabasco Chipotle and... it is really good! Could be hotter though, but its strong taste is good, I can actually sense it on foods amongst other spicy stuff. Also tried Habanero Tabasco again, this time straight from the bottle. It has a nice fruity taste at first, but it is soon replaced by a taste that is not so good (to me). I cant describe it. And then the heat covers everything up. On food, unless I put a lot of it, there is only heat.

MY go-to heat when I make beans is cayenne pepper flakes if I am sauteing, or traditional Tabasco cayenne sauce for pureed things like hummus. Another great heat source for cooking are chili vinegars. I used one in Puerto Rico that was decades old, it was the hottest thing I've ever cooked with. When making beans or salsa, I like pureed chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for the flavor it imparts, and also for salsa I just grind up some of the the fresh pepper (usually jalapeno) seeds for the real heat. You would definitely leave the seeds out of a mild salsa.

Condiments are another matter, lots of great choices there but the Tabasco ketchup and soy sauces are great, Siricha, Cholula, and Tapatio of course, and on stir-frys I like Eden's sesame-chili oil.

But there are many great chili sauces out there that I have not tried. Looking at samplers, I am tempted to try this, but I naturally gravitate toward something like this, or this.

Has anybody tried this  ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit 

MY go-to heat when I make beans is cayenne pepper flakes if I am sauteing, or traditional Tabasco cayenne sauce for pureed things like hummus. Another great heat source for cooking are chili vinegars. I used one in Puerto Rico that was years and years old, it was the hottest thing I've ever cooked with. When making beans or salsa, I like pureed chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for the flavor it imparts, and also for salsa I just grind up some of the the fresh pepper (usually jalapeno) seeds for the real heat. You would definitely leave the seeds out of a mild salsa.

 

Has anybody tried this  ?

I use powdered and ground cayenne a lot as well.  Great stuff.  The one I use is rated @ 90,000 scoville.  Works well.  The chili vinegar you mention sounds good.  Where could someone find something like that these days?

I haven't tried the particular the Dave's Insanity Ghost Pepper Private Reserve 2011 you mentioned, but I would guess it's a little too much hot and too little flavor like most of Blair's hotter sauces/concoctions.  There are other jolokia based sauces that I really like.  JMO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwkarth 

I use powdered and ground cayenne a lot as well.  Great stuff.  The one I use is rated @ 90,000 scoville.  Works well.  The chili vinegar you mention sounds good.  Where could someone find something like that these days?

 

 

I pickle fresh Scotch Bonnet peppers (100,000 - 350,000 scoville) in vinegar. After a month the vinegar takes on all the flavour of the chilli. This thread has got me thinking to combine or using different chillies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwkarth 

I use powdered and ground cayenne a lot as well.  Great stuff.  The one I use is rated @ 90,000 scoville.  Works well.  The chili vinegar you mention sounds good.  Where could someone find something like that these days?

 

I haven't tried the particular the Dave's Insanity Ghost Pepper Private Reserve 2011 you mentioned, but I would guess it's a little too much hot and too little flavor like most of Blair's hotter sauces/concoctions.  There are other jolokia based sauces that I really like.  JMO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit 

Has anybody tried this  ?

I mentioned earlier in the thread about other Jolokia-based sauces and spices.  I'm a fan of CaJohn's.  I'm all about the Spice 10 (http://cajohns.com/Spices/Rubs/Spice-10.html) for cooking and dry rub (though I use very little to prevent horrible burning), and BBQ 10 (http://cajohns.com/BBQ-Sauces/Jolokia-BBQ-10.html), which happens to go awesomely with chicken tenders.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwkarth 

I use powdered and ground cayenne a lot as well.  Great stuff.  The one I use is rated @ 90,000 scoville.  Works well.  The chili vinegar you mention sounds good.  Where could someone find something like that these days?

They're usually home made but I have seen gift bottles. All you need to do is get some white distilled vinegar, and throw a bunch of chili peppers in it. Usually you will see herbs thrown in as well, hearty ones like thyme and/or rosemary spears. The way to do it is to make it strong at first, and let it sit for a few weeks. Then add more vinegar to replenish it as you use it, as it will continue to get stronger and stronger over time. You can add wine or cider vinegar also for added flavor, garlic cloves, even fruit. If you really want to get into it there are books about flavored vinegars, and chili pepper recipe books usually have a vinegar recipe or three in them. You want to keep them away from heat and direct sunlight. This one below has apricots in it:

I have hunted high and low, and I havent managed to find Blair's or similar brands here in Pori. I heard few local supermarkets had them at some point, but I couldnt find any in them. Perhpas they were hidden somewhere and I should have asked the shopkeepers. Anyway Blair's Original Death seems really intriguing. Its said to be delicious and is propably a good starting point for the hotter stuff. It does give Habanero Tabasco a run for its money, yes?

Luckily there are atleats two Finnish webshops that sell all kinds of different hot sauces including Blairs. But if I would order online then I would buy several bottles of different sauces, but I dont know which are good ones. Would someone browse this site recommend me some? http://www.poppamies.fi/

Chilikastike x-x are the hotsauce categories of different heat levels from 1 to 10.

Blair's Original Death definitely gives Habanero Tabasco a run for it money. Both are equally as hot but not so much that it's unbearable and both pairs well with many dishes.

Is this the hottest of them all?

7.1 Million Scoville Units