Tobasco vs. Jack Daniels - Smoke Test

Pepper Monkey BBQ

I've had some Jack Daniels oak barrel chips tucked away for a while and hadn't used them much. Yesterday at the butcher I came across Tabasco oak barrel chips, which somehow I didn't know existed. For those not familiar ... using wood smoke for flavor, these are chips made from actual barrels used to age Jack Daniels, and for the pepper mash used to age tabasco prior to it being filtered ... or so they claim.

Tonight we took six plain chicken breasts and hit them with just a little Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust ... then put three in a small the Tabasco chips ... and three in the other small with Jack Daniels Chips.

A unique, slightly vinegary smell creeped out from the Tabasco smoke and a sweet, dare I say toasted marshmallow smell creeped out from the Jack Daniels smoke. Smoked each for 40 minutes then finished with a quick sear.

The photo doesn't show it too well (sorry, used phone at the last minute, normally not my style) but the breasts in the Jack Daniels smoke were completely covered in liquid ... it looked like I'd just sprayed them with apple juice ... and the bag of chips was very moist ... could have been the egg, but I think the moisture came from the chips ????? Any way .... Tabasco smoked chicken was tasty .. but had a bit of a twang ... hard to describe. The Jack Daniels chicken was REALLY good ... a deep, rich smoke, but slightly sweet ... I'm sure most of you have tried these ... but I was bored and felt like posting! Going to do some more Jack smoke experiments .......

Any creative chip soaking / smoking experiments you've done ???? Encourage you to share here!



The competitors!


Hard to see ... tried to capture the pooling of liquid from the Jack Daniels smoked chicken

CaptHowdy

I saw some Jack Daniels wood chips at the grocery tonight. Wish I'd have picked them up and tried them now. Oh well, there's another reason to cook something else lol

Little Steven

Man,

I went to Avery Island a few years ago and visited the Tabasco factory. They weren't even running that day but the whole island smelled like Tabasco. The scuttlebutt is that Jack Daniels uses the barrels twice, sells some of them to Tabasco and they use them ten times and then make the chips. My supplier hasn't brought them in for the past three years and I ran out last year. They are the best things to smoke with IMHO.

Steve

Pepper Monkey BBQ

Very interesting ... that isn't mentioned, of course, on the little blurb on the bag for tabasco ... but it does say they use the barrels for multiple cycles of pepper mash.

JM

Grandpas Grub

 
Thanks for the post. I have always wondered what the Tobasco chips would taste like, I need to get some.

The JD chips I used did nothing to moisture and the flavor imparted into the chicken was nothing like the aroma from the bag. That chicken is darn tasty though. If folks haven't tried the JD chips it is worth a try. The JD chips are pretty pricey out this way.

GG

Hoss

I buy the JD chips whenever I can find them. Pecan,hickory,apple,peach and others are free,but I buy the JD chips.

NibbleMeThis

I love using the JD chips for beef, it has a great flavor. I need to retry the Tabasco chips, I haven't tried them since I've had Eggs. It came across a little bitter on my old offset smoker.

Great post, it got me wanting to shake things up.

BB1857

I really enjoy using the JD chips as well. No I have to go on the hunt for Tabasco chips. Always up to give something new a try.

ChuggaBrew

From what I understand J.D. only uses theirs one time, around a 4 year aging. Tabasco ages their pepper mash in barrels for 3 years. So if that is true, those are some well used old barrels. I know some scotches are aged in old Jack Daniels barrels, and a lot of scotches are aged in bourbon barrels. The only way I can explain knowing this,(or at least thinking I do) I have been a tabasco junkie for decades, and have a weakness for good whiskey as well.

Austin Egghead

Try getting some chip from used wine barrels. When we lived in CA the used wine barrels were easy to get. A woodworking friend used the stays and we used the left over chips for smoking.