Cholula and Franks are great hot sauces. As for general purpose hot sauces, we are using Valentina right now. It has a nice flavor and comes in a huge bottle. That’s good because we put hot sauce on everything.
I also love Tabasco, and usually have three or four varieties on hand. Right now I have the classic as well as the jalapeno and garlic sauces.
Anything from Busha Brownes is excellent. Try their Pukka (scotch bonnet pepper) sauce and their Spicy Jerk Sauce. They are wonderful carribean hot sauces.
Also, for those of you still using A-1 on your steaks, etc., get a clue and buy some Pickapeppa sauce. This stuff is like heaven to the taste buds. Granted, a good steak needs no condiments, but once you try this stuff, you’ll be addicted.
I think I’ve tried Crystal before and liked it. I’ll have to pick some up next time.
I really like Dave’s Insanity Sauce. I have a bottle of Dave’s Total Insanity sauce that I bought about a year ago, and it’s only half gone. I pretty much treat it as a radioactive substance when putting drops in my food. But I think everything could be a little bit spicier, so I add it to almost everything. A few drops go quite well with a bowl of ramen. Chili not hot enough? Throw in some Insanity Sauce.
Warning:
Use this product one drop at a time. Keep away from eyes, pets and children. Not for people with heart or respiratory problems.
I think the main problem with the sauce is confusion over the size of a drop. For instance, my roomate was making red beans and rice and asked me how much sauce he should add. I told him just a drop or two. When we served it up it was hot enough to be next to inedible, you couldn’t taste anything. I asked him how much he put in and he said, “Just a drop. The size of a dime.”
“The size of a dime! What are you crazy?”
I’ve seen grown men turn beet red and burst into sweat from just a tiny amount of the stuff. I think the problem could be resolved if they just put a dropper on it, like they do with bottles of soy sauce.
Anyway, Dave’s Total Insanity Sauce is a mainstay of my condiment shelf. Of course, I’m the same person who ate a whole habanero pepper just to see how hot it could be. (For your information, you can replicate the effect by jamming a bare wire in your mouth and leaving it there for the better part of an hour.)
Also, the end of that Daily Show was the funniest part. They convinced some poor guy on their staff to try a spoonful of the hottest stuff there. Fifteen minutes later the guy was still fighting back the tears.
I have just posted my recipe for Salsa Casera at my “Ultimate Recipe Thread”. Although it is not a hot sauce per se, I doubt that there is a person here who wouldn’t like it. Please link directly to it here. I will also post a recipe for my “Agent Orange” Habenero hot sauce just for you masochists.
The unit of measuring the amout of capascin in a given item. Bell/Green peppers have 100 Scoville Units. Pure Capascin has 1 500 000. The hottest pepper, the rare red habinaro(sp) has 500 000.
I was just stowing my latest batch of Pico de Gallo in the icebox when lo and behold a recently procured bottle of hot sauce jumped out at me.
You gotta know that I’m a fool for green salsas and sauces and I had forgotten how this one tasted. No problem… A dab on the tongue and, say! This is a good sauce. I just wanted to share this one with you. It came out recently and is pretty D@mn decent.
It’s called Arriba! “Tomatillo Pepper Sauce”. They are even astute enough to put the real title on the side of the bottle, namely “Salsa Manzana”.
For those of you who are unfamiliar, “manzana” is Spanish for “apple”. The reason the pepper is named this way is because it is the only one (to my knowledge) to have black seeds (like an apple). The heat range is comfortably below the Habanero, yet quite spikey (as it were).
Just wanted to share this find with all of you. This is one worth checking out. One of the few “high test” green salsas that has some character to it. Check out:
Daves Insanity is the only one of all the sauces mentioned here that actually brought me to tears. I got it for Christmas, I dipped my finger in the lid, and licked it.
At first I was dissapointed as there was no heat, then about 15 seconds later Bang!! I was in pain, there is nothng to describe it.
After that, I could drink Tabasco by the gallon and not be bothered.
There’s a good explanation of the Scoville heat-rating system here. That site is a pretty good hot sauce store, they seem to have just about everything. Please, mods, don’t beat me too much for linking to a FAQ on a commercial site; I swear I get no benefit from them.
Four sauces are listed as hotter than Dave’s; ICU, Helldorado, DOA Cyanide Sauce, and Rigor Mortis. You brave souls might wanna try 'em out.
I HAVE a bottle of Dave’s. It’s not hot. I use it for everyday cooking. For 2 chicken breasts, I use 4-6 drops apiece, with garlic, pepper, and salt. Nice and spicy. I’ve eaten Total Insanity straight, and it’s not even eye watering.
Habeneros are fun. I ate one once on a dare. Didn’t even need water. Next day, I ate another one, a bigger one. This time I got a single drink, after 30 minutes. The second time, though, I got the ‘ring of fire’ effect something awful.
After working with any pepper that falls under the “Screaming-Ass-Hot” category, be sure to wash your hands BEFORE you go to the bathroom. Any witnesses to a failure to do this will think it’s funny as hell.