Chilli sauce-help please!

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Harry Cobean

Executive Chef
Joined
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i like my chilli sauce hot & i was in the supermarket today & saw bottles of "daves ghost pepper sauce" which,according to the label is off the richter scale of insanely hot & had all kinds of warnings about children,eyes,don't eat it without food 'cos it can burn yada yada yada.as it's made in the states have any of you guy's tried it? is it that hot & dangerous? if so i'll buy some:ROFLMAO:! but i ain't putting the equivalent of $8 in mr tesco's already over stuffed coffers for a tiny bottle of sauce if it isn't going to dissolve my fillings:LOL:!!
harry
 
i've had dave's insanity sauce, and it's really hot. i don't know how his ghost pepper sauce compares, but if it's any hotter you will need to go see a proctologist for a corn chute transplant.
 
i've had dave's insanity sauce, and it's really hot. i don't know how his ghost pepper sauce compares, but if it's any hotter you will need to go see a proctologist for a corn chute transplant.
hey buckytom
they had daves insanity sauce on the same shelf.according to the labels insanity sauce is insanely hot+ ghost pepper is insanely hot++:ohmy:!!
sorted! i'll get some tomorrow & i've already put a couple of rolls of toilet tissue in the freezer in anticipation:wacko:!!
thanks for the help bucky!
harry
 
That stuff is almost too hot to eat. I think the heat is so hot that it negates any flavor that the pepper may have. I don't see any reason to go hotter than habanero. Even that can be too hot for some applications.
I don't enjoy my meal when I have to get up and walk around and howl after every time I take a bite.:LOL: And I am insane enough to have done that many times......

Then there is always the day after....:wacko:
 
you're welcome, harry.

just for a reference point, i'm a big fan of "normal" hot sauces. i think tobasco is a very nice sauce for small children, and i can drink a shot of sauces like frank's or louisiana hot sauce as a matter of course. sriracha is also a favourite as i often squirt a good teaspoon on a slice of pizza.

but i usually don't go for the ones that are made from peppers grown by inmates in mexican insane asylums. i like hot and vinegary, but not so hot that you can feel it burn all the way into your stomach, making it tighten up.

i don't know what made me try about a good quarter teaspoon of dave's insanity one day. i must have been feeling my oats to try that much. shortly thereafter my oats spontaneously combusted...

good luck with it and i'd love to hear your review.
 
That stuff is almost too hot to eat. I think the heat is so hot that it negates any flavor that the pepper may have. I don't see any reason to go hotter than habanero. Even that can be too hot for some applications.
I don't enjoy my meal when I have to get up and walk around and howl after every time I take a bite.:LOL: And I am insane enough to have done that many times......

Then there is always the day after....:wacko:
hey rocky
i'm in real estate,i enjoy pain:ROFLMAO:!thanks for the warning but i'm still going to give it a go.won't need to let you know how it goes.......looks like you'll hear the screams your side of the pond,both during & the day after:LOL:!
harry
 
you're welcome, harry.

just for a reference point, i'm a big fan of "normal" hot sauces. i think tobasco is a very nice sauce for small children, and i can drink a shot of sauces like frank's or louisiana hot sauce as a matter of course. sriracha is also a favourite as i often squirt a good teaspoon on a slice of pizza.

but i usually don't go for the ones that are made from peppers grown by inmates in mexican insane asylums. i like hot and vinegary, but not so hot that you can feel it burn all the way into your stomach, making it tighten up.

i don't know what made me try about a good quarter teaspoon of dave's insanity one day. i must have been feeling my oats to try that much. shortly thereafter my oats spontaneously combusted...

good luck with it and i'd love to hear your review.
thanks again bucky,take a look at my reply to rocklobster,won't need to post a review,looks like you'll hear the screams your side of the atlantic!
harry
 
just for a reference point, i'm a big fan of "normal" hot sauces. i think tobasco is a very nice sauce for small children, and i can drink a shot of sauces like frank's or louisiana hot sauce as a matter of course. sriracha is also a favourite as i often squirt a good teaspoon on a slice of pizza.
A man after my own heart! I don't even consider tabasco a "hot" sauce and go through a bottle of sriracha every couple weeks.

I'm a HUGE hot sauce fan - my collection currently consists of 14 different varieties, including a bottle of Dave's Insanity sauce. The name sums it up perfectly - it's insane. I imagine drinking lava would be comparable. I rarely have a meal that does not have hot sauce for smothering/dipping purposes, but I can't use Dave's sauce in this manner - it's THAT hot.

Best use I've come up with? Toss it into pasta sauces or chilis while cooking - it slightly lessens the heat to something a human can safely consume, plus it really brings out the flavours.

I look forward to hearing the outcome as well!! Good luck!! :)
 
Shrek will make a red beer and then dip a toothpick into the Dave's Insanity Sauce and stir the beer with it. He says that's enough. I'm not crazy enough to try it.
 
I was having an Innocent Breakfast at a little diner. Eggs sausage toast. On the counter was a little bottle that said One Million Scovill heat hot sauce. I was just itching to try it. Opened the bottle and it had an eye dropper, so I put 3 drops on my plate. Dabbed a little egg using my fork. I Couldn't Breathe. :furious: And on top of that, it was a little oily/ thick, so that little bit lingered on my fork for many more mouthfuls. Don't remember what brand or who made it. I seldom use Habeneros or scotch bonnets, so anything beyond serrano chilies, tabasco, cholula or Sriracha sauces are usually hot enough for me.

I still have quite a few dried Thai chile peppers from last year's garden. I planted 2 Tabasco pepper plants a few days ago. I'll see how these are to use fresh this summer before drying them in the fall too. Jalapenos are plenty fine with me for most uses calling for chile peppers.
 
There is no hot or chili sauce too hot to eat. The only question is how hot do you want it and how much do you add?

And note that hot or chili sauce is not just a question of hotness or spiciness alone. There are many dimensions of the flavors, and the only way you can decide is to try them yourself and make your own judgements about their relative merit.

Buy a bottle and try it. If you don't like it then don't buy any more and maybe toss it out. Or if you like it, stock up!
 
There is no hot or chili sauce too hot to eat. The only question is how hot do you want it and how much do you add?

And note that hot or chili sauce is not just a question of hotness or spiciness alone. There are many dimensions of the flavors, and the only way you can decide is to try them yourself and make your own judgements about their relative merit.

Buy a bottle and try it. If you don't like it then don't buy any more and maybe toss it out. Or if you like it, stock up!
with you on that one gg,should try everything(well almost everything;))at least once.my local supermarket had some dorset naga in last year(yes the hottest chilli in the world grown in dorset uk!!).wish i'd bought more & frozen them.
"Dorset Naga is one of the hottest chillies in the world. It belongs to the species Capsicum chinense and was originally selected from naga morich, a landrace variety from Bangladeshi.
Annually, since 2005, we have tested the heat level of Dorset Naga, taking samples from different sites, various seasons and states of maturity. The heat level has ranged from 661,451 SHU for green fruit in 2007, up to 1,032,310 SHU for ripe fruit harvested in 2009."

smokin'!
harry
 
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuurgh nay nay and thrice nay to the Dorset Naga. Horrible, made me ill.

I like a nice hot fruity chillie like Scotch Bonnet, best sauces I have ever had were in Jamaica, hot but tasty too. And I'm a wuss, I don't really like them to burn on re-entry.
 
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuurgh nay nay and thrice nay to the Dorset Naga. Horrible, made me ill.

I like a nice hot fruity chillie like Scotch Bonnet, best sauces I have ever had were in Jamaica, hot but tasty too. And I'm a wuss, I don't really like them to burn on re-entry.
lightweight:LOL:!agree with you on the scotch bonnets tho'.made a stonkin' thai yellow chicken curry last night with bonnets.bigger hitters than the thai bird eye's and,you're right gravy,convinced i could taste them along with the other spices.right,i'm off to manchester to meet up with my son ben & his mum julie for some lunch & the movies.
hava nice day
harry
 
Both those "sauces", IMO, are really not for use as a table sauce. They are a flavor/heat enhancer, to be used sparingly as an ingredient. I love spicy food, but when all you get is heat, with taste bud blowing intensity, you've ruined the dish and are beyond the relm of good food.

These contests that involve eating insanely hot food, the only thing they prove is how stupid people can be.;)
 
Both those "sauces", IMO, are really not for use as a table sauce. They are a flavor/heat enhancer, to be used sparingly as an ingredient. I love spicy food, but when all you get is heat, with taste bud blowing intensity, you've ruined the dish and are beyond the relm of good food.

These contests that involve eating insanely hot food, the only thing they prove is how stupid people can be.;)
+1

I had a friend from Guiana. He made a hot sauce that was so hot you should only add two or three drops while cooking. That stuff was tasty.

We went to a party with some 20 something year olds. It was a potluck. One of the boys brought hot chicken wings. They were just hot. They were too hot for my friend. They weren't worth eating. But, we weren't surprised. The boy was at that macho stage in his life.
 
Both those "sauces", IMO, are really not for use as a table sauce. They are a flavor/heat enhancer, to be used sparingly as an ingredient. I love spicy food, but when all you get is heat, with taste bud blowing intensity, you've ruined the dish and are beyond the relm of good food.

These contests that involve eating insanely hot food, the only thing they prove is how stupid people can be.;)

+2

I love hot sauces and have 20 or so in the fridge plus I make my own with Habs from my garden. But they have to TAStE GOOD. Dave's Insanity is made from capsaicin and IMO is not very tasty. It's meant to make food hot, which I don't get.
 
Thanks

well,i did ask didn't i:LOL:! on balance i think i'll pass on the ghost pepper sauce.i like my food hot when i want hot but it's gotta taste good otherwise there's no point.heat for the sake of it? i think i'll leave that to adam richman & the rest of the man v food loonies:wacko:!
thanks again,sounds like you've saved my tooth enamel:ROFLMAO:!
harry
 
I think there's too much significance attached to which sauces are hotter than others, or which are too hot. If it's hotter it's more concentrated and you use less of it. Chili pepper sauces may be used as condiments, recipe ingredients, or both. The hotter sauces are probably less suitable as condiments unless the food or drink they are being applied to are amenable to sufficient mixing that hot spots can be avoided.

There are vast numbers of different chili species. All or almost all chilis contain the "hot" component capsaicin to varying degrees: bell peppers have little to none, habaneros have huge amounts. But capsaicin level is not the only difference between different chili species. Chili sauces vary by which chilis are used (and may use a mixture of different species) and also vary by the means the chilis are prepared, which other ingredients are used, and how the sauce is produced.

It's probably safe to say that no two chili sauces are exactly the same. One of the most obvious differences is hotness but there are many other dimensions they vary on including complexity of taste. Visit virtually any market and you're going to find a huge selection of chili sauces. If hotness were the only difference then we'd need only a very few types, or for that matter maybe even only one since you can generally use more or less to achieve the desired hotness.

I question whether most of us can even describe the difference between specific sauces except in the most general terms other than hotness--which I think in specific taste comparisons we could probably agree that sauce "A" is hotter, less hot, or equally hot as sauce "B." I know I couldn't give you a detailed answer comparing several different chili sauces in terms other than comparing their hotness (although I don't mean to imply that you folks couldn't do it either--maybe some of you can).

When you get right down to it IMO the only way you can tell whether you like one chili sauce more than another is to buy both brands and try them yourself. Luckily most of these sauces are relatively inexpensive, often starting out at 99 cents or even less (I use Tapatío more than any other brand, under $1 for 5 oz.), up to perhaps $4-$5 or several dollars for the most expensive ones. My advice is to just buy several, buy whichever ones seem interesting, and then you decide which ones you like the best and which are most suitable for your use.

And don't confuse condiment sauces with the hottest ones which are probably more suited for adding heat to dishes or beverages during preparation. Only "macho men" (and their female counterparts) are out to prove how hot they can stand it. Most people--particularly those of us on the forum--are out to enjoy food rather than taking punishment. Use your sauces appropriately. Add a little at a time and taste your recipes before adding more. It's like sugar or salt--you can always add more or even add more at the table, but once you have too much the only thing you can do is prepare more of whatever you're making and mix the unspiced portion with the too hot portion.

And Harry I know you're joking about your tooth enamel but capsaicin is an irritant, not a caustic. It may irritate the hell out of your gums, tongue and other soft tissues but I think your teeth are safe. :)
 
I think there's too much significance attached to which sauces are hotter than others, or which are too hot. If it's hotter it's more concentrated and you use less of it. Chili pepper sauces may be used as condiments, recipe ingredients, or both. The hotter sauces are probably less suitable as condiments unless the food or drink they are being applied to are amenable to sufficient mixing that hot spots can be avoided.

There are vast numbers of different chili species. All or almost all chilis contain the "hot" component capsaicin to varying degrees: bell peppers have little to none, habaneros have huge amounts. But capsaicin level is not the only difference between different chili species. Chili sauces vary by which chilis are used (and may use a mixture of different species) and also vary by the means the chilis are prepared, which other ingredients are used, and how the sauce is produced.
It's probably safe to say that no two chili sauces are exactly the same. One of the most obvious differences is hotness but there are many other dimensions they vary on including complexity of taste. Visit virtually any market and you're going to find a huge selection of chili sauces. If hotness were the only difference then we'd need only a very few types, or for that matter maybe even only one since you can generally use more or less to achieve the desired hotness.
I question whether most of us can even describe the difference between specific sauces except in the most general terms other than hotness--which I think in specific taste comparisons we could probably agree that sauce "A" is hotter, less hot, or equally hot as sauce "B." I know I couldn't give you a detailed answer comparing several different chili sauces in terms other than comparing their hotness (although I don't mean to imply that you folks couldn't do it either--maybe some of you can).
When you get right down to it IMO the only way you can tell whether you like one chili sauce more than another is to buy both brands and try them yourself. Luckily most of these sauces are relatively inexpensive, often starting out at 99 cents or even less (I use Tapatío more than any other brand, under $1 for 5 oz.), up to perhaps $4-$5 or several dollars for the most expensive ones. My advice is to just buy several, buy whichever ones seem interesting, and then you decide which ones you like the best and which are most suitable for your use.
And don't confuse condiment sauces with the hottest ones which are probably more suited for adding heat to dishes or beverages during preparation. Only "macho men" (and their female counterparts) are out to prove how hot they can stand it. Most people--particularly those of us on the forum--are out to enjoy food rather than taking punishment. Use your sauces appropriately. Add a little at a time and taste your recipes before adding more. It's like sugar or salt--you can always add more or even add more at the table, but once you have too much the only thing you can do is prepare more of whatever you're making and mix the unspiced portion with the too hot portion.
And Harry I know you're joking about your tooth enamel but capsaicin is an irritant, not a caustic. It may irritate the hell out of your gums, tongue and other soft tissues but I think your teeth are safe. :)
wise words gourmet g!so,i've got myself a bottle of tabasco habanero,louisiana hot sauce(green) & tabasco with chipotle all for only a few of our english pennies more than a small bottle of dave's:)!
harry
 
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