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Favorite Hot Sauce

kthomas

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 17, 2009
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Tucson, AZ
I love hot sauce, I put it on almost everything. I'm currently in Ashland Oregon, and found a local hot sauce that's the best I've ever tried. and this has me wondering what hot sauce is your favorite?

For me, Joey's 50/50 hot sauce is the best I've ever tasted. The depth of flavors is amazing, and the heat level is perfect. He also makes a few other kinds, but the 50/50 is just perfect. This has me wondering what else I'm missing out on for hot sauces? I'm sure there's a whole world out there that I'm missing.

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Note: I have no relationship or fiscal connection to this company. Sharing because it is so damn good.
 
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I'm just starting my hot sauce journey so all I got was Gordon Ramsey 4 pack. I love the Chipotle--big fan of smokey spice
 
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I'm just starting my hot sauce journey so all I got was Gordon Ramsey 4 pack. I love the Chipotle--big fan of smokey spice

A like a little smoke, certainly adds some depth to the flavor profile.

Personally I think a successful hot sauce employs a variety of peppers to achieve a depth of flavor - chipotle is one such pepper that can be used to achieve that.
 
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Melinda's. They sell a sampler pack of 6 varieties at Sam's Club sometimes, but the Red Savina is my outstanding favorite. about 7 on the heat scale but the flavor sets it apart.

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Not-so hot favorite. Has a mild habanero flavor:

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Little hotter favorite with a ghost pepper/chipotle combo:

iu
 
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Our batches here are 'working off' and before long it will be time to 'finish' and then bottle. The flavours have been 'developing' for a few years now.....

You are making your own hot sauce? I would love to do that.

Got any tips or secrets?
 
Melinda's or Marie Sharps. Really as long as it's pretty much just habanero. They don't have to smoking hot. Habanero is delicious 🤤
 
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personally I've never been a fan of pre made hot sauce from a company , Id rather mix my own onions , and peppers and garlic in a fry pan add your own hot peppers as you see fit , get that wonderful orange oil from the pan and add over your food maybe even de glaze the pan and add that to the mix but either way this guy make some killer General Tso's chicken
 
2019 God's Fingernail.gif

The pot above, is ~4.5 gallons.
We made a new pot, and it is ~14.5 gallons.

(having a real hard time trying to find pictures due to 'too many files' on 'too many drives', so it takes a while)
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Here's a pot we whipped-up, simply doing a water test (for leaks) and before said pot gets pickled.
 
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I’m a big fan of Crybaby Craigs’s.

As mentioned already, I also think that flavor is definitely the driver behind enjoying a hot sauce.

This one has decent heat, but I love the flavor.

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Our batches here are 'working off' and before long it will be time to 'finish' and then bottle. The flavours have been 'developing' for a few years now.....
I was fortunate to try some of Sean's sauce. Its a rarity and a treat.
 
I’d love to know your process. I love hot sauces and would really be interested on what the process is. Granted, I haven’t googled it but google are for people…well…for people that want to be experts without really doing anything. If you don’t mind could you please share what goes on in making hot sauce?
 
I like hot sauce, but house dressing is pretty good too.

I might be interested in stealing some secret recipes ifn someone here started thread about making hot sauce.
 
Not sure of a favorite, different heat and taste go with different food groups.View attachment 8200724

I do like Cholula, it has its place on certain foods.

I don't like Tabasco, never got along with the flavor profile. And I really dislike their version of siracha - way too sweet for me.

It's been a long time since I've had Franks Red Hot.
 
I grow a shit ton of peppers and make most all my own sauces. I do use Texas Pete and Valentinas gold and black label as everyday sauces for a change from my own.
 
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There is a particular 'way' in which I prefer my hot-sauce. And, it was so hard to find one anywhere even close to 'the way I like it' where I simply decided (over a decade ago) to start making my own. To-which it all begins with us (myself and My Lady) growing our own peppers.

The process has 'developed' over the years, and minor/subtle changes and improvements have taken place. We don't have a 'farm', we have a 'yard' so we're limited in what we can grow (right now only 24 plants are growing) and each year the 'yield' is a bit different. But then the 'procedure' starts and THAT is where a heck-of-a-lot of flavours get developed.

Our method is hemispherically different than the vast majority of 'bottles' out there. All they are (in my view) are "bottle as much as we can, as fast as we can, as simply as we can,,,,, because it's fashionable" and then there's the other group who're in "a race to the heat".

This year's runner-up will be Eleventy-Gazillion, Forty-three-Bazillion, Eight-hunnert'n-fifty-bunch-Million Scoville units because that's gooder'est.

Not mine.
 
And I judge hot sauce not on raw heat… one can make painful things easily.

But making excellent flavor combined with the “right” amount of heat is the proper art.

And lots of “Hot” sauce folks forget this.

It’s all about flavor and complimenting the food as the garnish it is intended to be!

Sirhr
 
easy on the pooper (says so on the label).

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Mine are starting to come in. About 30 plants
Ranging from mild Serranos to Carolina Reapers.

Jalapeños will start to ripen when I get home. This year planted in 3 gal buckets so I can move inside with frost and get weeks more production.

The dehydrator is going to be running full time!

Nice start, Sean! We should compare recipes!

Sirhr
 
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personally I've never been a fan of pre made hot sauce from a company , Id rather mix my own onions , and peppers and garlic in a fry pan add your own hot peppers as you see fit , get that wonderful orange oil from the pan and add over your food maybe even de glaze the pan and add that to the mix but either way this guy make some killer General Tso's chicken

Dudddeeee his General Tso is fantastic. I make it all the time
 
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I cannot do much hot sauce. But once in a while, I have tried. We used to have a friend who was from Mexico and she made a mole berde so hot that you could melt the chrome off the bumper. But I could handle it in small doses.

Sriracha is a beginner's hot sauce but one that I would recommend before trying others. Kind of like drinking whiskey or scotch. You have to learn to sip instead of shooting it.

That being said, I do like watching "Hot Ones" from First We Feast. Some of my favorite episodes have been with Dax Shepard and his wife, Kristen Bell.

Biggest lightweight who could not handle it? DJ Khalid.
 
Cholula is my go to sauce.

People in CO love good hot sauce, so a lot around to try.
Easy to see 50+ varieties at the basic grocery.

Lots of mexican folks means we can get some serious good eats with good salsa and sauces too.

I like to do stuff like pan sear left over pulled pork, then a little salsa verde with it, mild spice, mostly a little flavor.
Top with fried eggs and a good flavor sauce, something with mild but distinct flavors and medium heat.
Lotta choices.
Too lazy to get up and probably have 20 in the door of the beer fridge.

Add some fresh crispy hashbrowns under the pulled pork above and you will look for the Pearly Gates you musta entered.

(Bacon on the side of course, we aint commies!)
 
Yucatan Sunshine, Tapatio, classic Tabasco are all in my cabinet

I usually keep one in my truck center console thing for the days when we get chicken on the job

Today's harvest:

A friend of my father's grew all his own peppers and made his own salsa, it was really good

You cannot beat the homegrown for peppers but it takes effort to grow them
 
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Jalapeños are the only thing we can always grow. Almost no effort and they produce fairly late into the fall, or at least to the first frost.

My wife uses Franks and butter for hot wings.

I make my own hot sauce with Jalapeños and It is my go to hot sauce for everything. Stupid easy and great taste with just the right amount of heat. About eleven good sized peppers will make three 5 oz. bottles.
 
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Jalapeños are the only thing we can always grow. Almost no effort and they produce fairly late into the fall, or at least to the first frost.

My wife uses Franks and butter for hot wings.

I make my own hot sauce with Jalapeños and It is my go to hot sauce for everything. Stupid easy and great taste with just the right amount of heat. About eleven good sized peppers will make three 5 oz. bottles.

Home grown jalapenos are great.

I really dislike store bought jalapenos - they are never ripe, and because of that they are too sweet.

Ripe jalapenos have a really nice earthy taste to them.
 
I have some "Thai Dragon" chili plants I make mine with.
I have an assload of them that need picking so I'll do that tomorrow and try to give a rundown on how I make my sauce.
It is asskickingly brutal hot, seriously, no joke, but the flavor is off the charts.
I even try to tone it down with some Passilas, some Jalapenos, and some Serranos....I might even throw some Hungarian yellow chilis in this batch depending on how I feel.
But yea, Habaneros are kinda whimpy when you're dealing with the real shit.
 
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Definitely when roasting you can smell the difference between red and green. I like both.

It was so cool here with such a late spring I had potatoes onions and peas into July. I am pretty much at the point for my first pick of jalapeños to get another flush of growth. I didn't plant that many peppers. I put okra, pickling cucumbers, squash and some 65 day corn back in the potato beds. I also had garlic tying up beds until late this year.

Definitely planting garlic again in mid September to early October. Definitely in a diffrent spot so it's not tying up some of my best full sun beds.
 
For spicing up a pot of chili or a batch of cheese dip, I use Dave's Insanity Sauce. Got a bottle of their Ghost pepper sauce, doesn't seem as hot as the original.

I have a pint of ground pepper that's pretty spicy. Started off with a mixed of habeneros, jalapenos, cayennes, and Thai chilis, about 80% habeneros. Since the original batch, I've added some Ghost peppers and Carolina Reapers. Grown all the peppers myself.

Making some sauce is an interesting idea, but I don't have too many plants this year. A dozen each jalapeno and hot Hungarians, normally use those for salads & pizza. Also have a Ghost & Thai chili growing. I have about 20 Ghosts on the 1 plant so far, nothing ripe yet. The Thais are ripening, but growing weird, only about 1/4" long. I'm thinking I got a mismarked plant. :confused:
 
I have never seen any hot sauce with grapes or strawberries yet. Two nice sweet sour fruits. Peach jalpeno jam is pretty good as is chamoy on watermelon and strawberries and peaches.