Hot pepper sauces for "chili heads"

[Gifted Gourmet]

I happened to find an article from our local paper on a guy who apprently is making a special hot sauce to accompany foods: article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

David Ryan is a purveyor of pain and pleasure in a bottle..... in metro Atlanta that caters exclusively to chili-heads, as hot sauce connoisseurs and collectors like to be called. He has an inventory of 700 different kinds of hot sauce, marinades and barbecue sauces on hand.....Some are merely threatening, such as Great White Shark Predator Hot Sauce. Crazy Jerry's Brain Damage hot sauce. Scorned Woman hot sauce. Hot as Hell hot sauce. Dave's Ultimate Insanity Sauce. Endorphin Rush.

Perhaps since the aficionados of hot sauce tend to be men, many labels are more risqué. Some labels are so raw that Ryan keeps the shelves covered with a curtain. On Valentine's Day, he advertises the reputed aphrodisiac qualities of pepper product.  But for balance, there's also the Salvation Series hot sauce that has scripture verses on the labels.

Which, of course led me to become interested in what types of hot pepper sauce people in this region, although hardly confined to this area, are enjoying to spice up their meals ... A very interesting article to be sure which, of course, prompts me to ask about your favorite hot sauce:

What brand do you favor? Why is this your favorite, or is it one among several?

Do you take a small bottle of it with you on a trip?

What temperature do you fancy: mild, hot, very hot ...?

Your favorites??

[FL Heat]

D L Jardine's Texas Champagne. Spicy, but not too much so, and a good tart bite from the vinegar. I use it when a dish I'm making that others might be eating calls for hot sauce.

When it's just me & the boyfriend, Tabasco (the original) makes it taste like my daddy cooked it, since he uses it with. . . .everything. The boyfriend has learned to give dishes with spice a good sniff before digging in to gauge the level of Tabasco involved.

I like Frank's Red Hot when making wings, and collect others for the labels. Well, not so much collect them as am gifted with them, since our friends have noticed my adoration for spicy foods.

Diana

[Bond Girl]

The one thing that's crowding up my refrigerator shelves and cupboards are the chili sauce.

For my Tex-Mex moods, I have the smoked jalapeno jam that I bought from the Ferry Market in San Fran, then there is a bottle of smoked chipole chili sauce from Mexico, and a Mexican green sauce for my burritos. I also have a Maria's red sauce but I don't like that one too much (no distinction)

For my Louisiana mood, I have a burbon hot sauce and good fashion old tabasco sauce. Some one gave me a Tennesee Whisky chili sauce but I haven't opened that one yet.

For my Asian moods, I have Sirachia sauce, the red rooster garlic chili sauce, and a Indonesian chili sauce that is absolutely the favorite, but I haven't been able to get it since the Internation Market closed in Jersey City.

Then, I have the smoked chili sauces from Australia that's also fantastic, but I'm not sure what's in it, and don't really want to ask either.

[tryska]

jamaican hellfire. the red-hot kind. nice fruity habanero with a pleasant after-burn.

and matouk's hot sauce (the red kind again)

and frank's red-hot too. usually for wings and snacking and whatnot.

Edited August 16, 2004 by tryska (log)

[Painting]

not to rain on GG's topic starter but I really don't understand the purpose of a chili sauce.

Growing up in mixed enviroment (dad = whitey mom = non whitey) we never used any of those products. When you needed chili (if you're Mexican, everything is called chili: the terms salsa and whatnot was an unknown word to us) to put in your chili, you have assortment of dried and fresh chilis to pick from. that was it.

Other then a pantry space saving opportunity, what are the benefits to using a pre-made sauce?

[Gifted Gourmet]

not to rain on GG's topic starter but I really don't understand the purpose of a chili sauce.

pain and pleasure in a bottle kind of sums it up!!

[tryska]

not to rain on GG's topic starter but I really don't understand the purpose of a chili sauce.

Growing up in mixed enviroment (dad = whitey mom = non whitey) we never used any of those products. When you needed chili (if you're Mexican, everything is called chili: the terms salsa and whatnot was an unknown word to us) to put in your chili, you have assortment of dried and fresh chilis to pick from. that was it.

Other then a pantry space saving opportunity, what are the benefits to using a pre-made sauce?

to tailor spiciness for food that isn't hot enough for you. think of it like salt or pepper on the table.

to put on scrambled eggs.

to dig microwaved hot dogs in.

to toss nacho cheese doritos with.

to put on crawfish etoufee to cut the butteriness.

and these are just a few of my favorite uses.

i also liek to add it to chili (the kind with ground beef) as a last step to add a vinegary tang.

ooh ooh and i forgot - what else are you going to use to make buffalo wings?!

[Suzanne F]

I've lost count of the hot sauces in my fridge -- they're taking over. Some of my favorites besides all the aforementioned are Trinidad, Batten Island (not very hot but very tasty), and Sontava.

The only kind of hot sauce I absolutely refuse to purchase is one that has capsaicin extract in it. That's cheating! Besides, I want FLAVOR, not just HEAT!!!

[JAZ]

not to rain on GG's topic starter but I really don't understand the purpose of a chili sauce.

Growing up in mixed enviroment (dad = whitey mom = non whitey) we never used any of those products. When you needed chili (if you're Mexican, everything is called chili: the terms salsa and whatnot was an unknown word to us) to put in your chili, you have assortment of dried and fresh chilis to pick from. that was it.

Other then a pantry space saving opportunity, what are the benefits to using a pre-made sauce?

One thing to keep in mind is that most of the sauces mentioned here are vinegar based, so they add not only heat but acid, which can serve to perk up flavors. They can also contain blends of other spices as well.

Also, since the sauces are liquid, they can be incorporated more evenly into some foods than minced fresh chiles or dried chile flakes. In a Bloody Mary, for example, I can't see any way to use fresh chiles instead of Tabasco or another similar sauce (unless you begin by infusing them into the vodka).

[oliveDC]

I'm a huge fan of Not Cool hot sauces. They're certified organic (one of the few hot sauces to claim the distinction, i think) and GMO free. My fav is the chipotle hot sauce (hickory smoked jalapenos), but for thrill seekers, try the chocolate habanero XXXXHot sauce. Wooo weee!

And much to my pleasure, I can now find it in D.C. even though it's produced by a small operation in Bahama, NC (that's ba HEY ma, not ba hä ma) outside my native Durham.