What's Your Favorite Hot Sauce?

blasting

SmokeOnTheMountain said:

 
@blasting if you don’t mind me asking, what book are you reading on fermentation? 

It's called Fiery Ferments by Shockey.  I can't recommend it yet, as I have not read much of it.  Nice looking book though - seems to explain the concept of fermentation.  Lots of pics.  There is also lots on Youtube on the subject.

gdenby

I have a bottle of Cholula and El Yucateco Picante Red on the kitchen table most of the time. A couple of varieties of Walkerwood's jerk in the fridge. Over the years, I've tried many, and these are the ones I try to have on hand all the time.

Local market started carrying some Marie Sharp's from Belize. Will have to try that soon.

The best I've had is "Pain is Good Jamaican Style." My daughter gave me some for birthday a few years ago. Hot hot hot, but crazy tasty.

Doc_Eggerton

Nothing is as versatile as Crystile.

Mickey

Crystile

FrostyEgg

Franks, Sriracha, and Cholula have a constant spot in my fridge. Others rotate.

CigarCityEgger

Right now I’ve got Crystal as my regular hot sauce, chipotle Tabasco, Franks wing sauce, and sriracha. I need to get some Cholula again

alaskanassasin

Love the labels, but you didn't say anything about what they taste like -- are they good?

 Good point, I have only had the devils barrel and it was very good almost all gone, it is reaper based. 
 Next I will try rankels revenge, it is Trinidad Scorpion based and that is a first for me so looking forward to cracking that one open.  The beach party looks mild will save that for guests. 
 Another favorite I’ve been hitting hard is this firewalker made in Asheville NC, reaper based hotter than the clamlube but also good. 
  Finally someone on this forum mentioned scotch bonnet peppers so I bought the first bottle I saw and it does have really good flavor, not as spicy but very good!
 Ohh and the reaper purée is for cooking with not much in the flavor department but it kicks up salsas and chili.


 

Brason

gdenby said:

I have a bottle of Cholula and El Yucateco Picante Red on the kitchen table most of the time. A couple of varieties of Walkerwood's jerk in the fridge. Over the years, I've tried many, and these are the ones I try to have on hand all the time.

Local market started carrying some Marie Sharp's from Belize. Will have to try that soon.

The best I've had is "Pain is Good Jamaican Style." My daughter gave me some for birthday a few years ago. Hot hot hot, but crazy tasty.

Marie Sharp's is my favorite hot sauce. You need to try it! The Habanero hot is my favorite. The white label. 

Brason

Sea2Ski

jeffwit said:

@lkapigian sent me this one in the exchange. Not screaming hot, but a great flavor. 

@jeffwit I buy that stuff by the case.  Both the original and the garlic. The flavor to me is outstanding and the burn is perfect for my tastebuds.  If you go to their website, do not get the rub. It is so salty I can not use it. Huge disappointment to me. The sauces though are spot on. 

unoriginalusername

JohnEggGio said:

My favorite - plenty of heat and a bright all pepper flavor.

jdsmithii said:

These two are really great in pretty much everything and are my go to sauces for guests who want hot sauce but don’t know what they are in for by grabbing one of the bottles further back in the fridge. 

Love this one http://www.hellfirehotsauce.com/product-page/fear-this-reaper-sauce

And a dab will do ya on this one
http://extremefood.com/Ultra-Death-Sauce/

cccoltsicehockey

epcotisbest said:

That is a really good sauce.   

This is also a good one.  A friend told me about it a little over a year ago and first found it at a Firehouse subs to try in their large selection of sauces.  Use it everytime I am there now.  Been meaning to try some wings and chicken breasts with it.

jonnymack

Depends, Tabasco is my workhorse sauce. Tiger sauce is good, the green El Yucateco great. But I'm not above Franks or any other good cayenne based sauce. I'm not much for the super hot stuff. 

fishlessman

i just have been making my own,  F_CK'N B_TCH'N BASTARD SAUCE.  needs to get some labels   I make mild medium, and hot but dont label them so....

Theophan

alaskanassasin said:

... I have only had the devils barrel and it was very good almost all gone, it is reaper based... Trinidad Scorpion based ... The beach party looks mild will save that for guests... reaper based hotter than the clamlube but also good... scotch bonnet peppers ... reaper purée is for cooking with not much in the flavor department but it kicks up salsas and chili.

Thanks for the reply!  I might try one of them.

It sounds like you're especially interested in the hotness of the chilis, and you really like the super hot ones.  I used to love really hot food--if it didn't make you sweat, it wasn't hot enough--but as I've gotten old, somehow I don't enjoy super fiery food as much as I used to.

I like sauces that add some zip to something, but that also taste really good.  I want to love Texas Pete because I like Texas (for the name) and I live in NC, where it's actually made.  But to me, it has no flavor -- just vinegar and some red chili.  Even Tabasco, because the chilis are aged and fermented, has a deeper, richer, more interesting flavor.  My favorite general hot sauce is Crystal for that reason.  Lots of aged, fermented flavor in addition to the vinegar and chili, and I like it better than Tabasco.  I also love Cholula for Tex-Mex dishes, Walkers Wood Junkanoo, Tiger Sauce, Chipotle sauce, some others.  But habaneros/scotch bonnet chilis are as hot as I want to get.  No reapers, etc., for me, thanks!

alaskanassasin

Thanks for the feedback! A little goes a long way. I will check out Crystal thanks for the recommendation.

BizGreenEgg

Secret Aardvark, Valentina's, Cholula are always heavy rotation.  These as well:

JohnEggGio

Of the thin, red Tabasco-ish sauces, Crystal is my favorite.

Hub

UNCHeels08

I’m partial to good old Texas Pete. Probably mostly because it’s everywhere here in NC, but it’s also super versatile in my opinion. Not much heat at all but it adds lots of flavor to different types of foods

One that I can’t stand is regular Tabasco. 

PoppasGrill

My dad started me on this sauce many years ago. Spent a lot of time trying to find it here in the states and even paid over 15$ each to get it when I was up north.
Now I am working in south Florida and can get in the local grocery stores for 4$ each.
Its got great flavor and just enough of a bite .

Stubby

I love my Texas Pete all I need.. Good heat and flavor...I am interested in fermentation option.. 

thetrim

I bought some Gochuchang sauce, and it wasn’t very good. 

Botch

There's a very interesting conundrum here.  
Hot sauces, along with ALL sauces, aren't meant to be tasted by themselves; they're meant to compliment the main dish.  And that changes everything.
 
I mentioned I love Tabasco sauce, and I know a few here absolutely hate it.  It all depends on what you marry it with; I think its great on eggs, and my favorite oddball breakfast: sourdough biscuits with deviled ham.  It doesn't work with beans, but the new Tabasco "green" sauce is fantastic with beans, IMNSHO.  
I like the Chipotle-flavored Tabasco too, but it doesn't work on the dishes I mentioned above, but damn its good on other things, like burgers.
 
I haven't found a single hot sauce that's good with everything, and I'm actually glad about that.  
I'd rather explore, and experiment...

Theophan

UNCHeels08 said:

I’m partial to good old Texas Pete. ... One that I can’t stand is regular Tabasco. 

NOT trying to argue or start a fight -- we all have different tastes!  But I'm fascinated, and if you could put some more detail on what you like or dislike about them I'd be interested.  For me, Tabasco isn't my favorite, but I'd take it over Texas Pete any day.  For me, Texas Pete just isn't very flavorful, mostly vinegar and chilis, whereas Tabasco (and Crystal, which I like better) have vinegar and chilis AND they've been aged/fermented!  It's like grape juice vs. wine.  The fermentation produces richer, more complex flavors.  I find Texas Pete rather one-dimensional and just not very interesting.  Crystal has more chili and less vinegar than Tabasco, which is why I like it better.  I WANT to like Texas Pete -- I love Texas and I live in NC where it's made.  But it just seems boring to me compared to so many other hot sauces.

Can you say more about what it is that you like better about Texas Pete, and what it is about Tabasco that you hate?

UNCHeels08

@Theophan hard to say exactly other than TP just “tastes better” to me (I’m not too sophisticated here lol). I take no offense to the idea of TP being pretty basic, but maybe that’s why I like it. Gives a little vinegar/spicy kick to foods without overpowering it, so it works for me as an all purpose hot sauce. I also grew up on it so there’s that too.  

There’s just something about the aftertaste of the regular Tobasco that bothers me compared to other hot sauces. That said I like the green Tobasco so who knows. 

What’s ironic about the fermented comment is that I’m on a big gochujang kick right and have been mixing gochujang paste into a lot of sauces I make. So maybe it’s not the fermented part that I don’t like about Tobasco, but something else? Again, I’m no hot sauce connoisseur so take it FWIW. 

EGGHEAD83

Texas Pete here in NC but I only use regular Franks on wings. I have started to really enjoy Tiger sauce too. 

buzd504

GrillSgt

Texas Pete is my go to. Then it becomes food specific. Haven't had Tabasco in the house in a couple of decades. 

fishlessman

theres the homemade island one like pique from puerto rico for rice. anyone have a recipe for that stuff.  you can almost drink the stuff