Spicy Food
All about spicy food of all kinds - hot sauces, hot chile peppers, snacks, spicy dishes, hot wings, and more - and even bland food!
New! Spicy Food Reviews - Hot Sauces and Spicy Snacks
Merry Christmas to Everyone!
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I hope that during this Christmas time that every one of you are in a good place and are able to enjoy the closeness of family and friends. Never forget why we celebrate this season. I'm in a reflective mood right now, and I can't help but think how much things have changed since last Christmas, and last Christmas from the one before that. Life has changed for me and my two boys in many ways, but through it all God has blessed us so abundantly, and I'm very thankful for that.
I'd also like to expand a heartfelt thanks to YOU for you continued support of the blog, the podcast, and whatever other projects I happen to be involved in at the time.
I'm going to publish an abbreviated episode of the Weekly Firecast towards the end of this week, so be on the lookout for that!
God bless you all, and may you have true happiness this Christmas and in the coming New Year!
Rebuild the Jersey Shore
REBUILD THE JERSEY SHORE is a community of small business owners in New Jersey that are trying to give back to the community that gave so much to us. All of us have a direct connection to the Jersey Shore, and all of us want to help it rebuild and grow strong again.
Many families and businesses will be feeling the sting of Hurricane Sandy for years. We are here to make sure their needs are not forgotten, and to continue to raise money for the recovery effort long after the initial shock has worn off and the tragedy fades into the back of people’s minds. Join us in helping to rebuild this great Shore. Jersey will rise again...
Weekly Firecast Podcast Episode #17 - Scott's Picks For Best Products of 2012
The Audio Weekly Firecast with Scott Roberts:
Weekly Firecast Podcast Episode #17 - Scott's Favorite Products of the Year
It's the special year-end episode where Scott gives his picks for what he thinks are the Best Products of 2012 when it comes to everything in the fiery foods world - hot sauce, BBQ sauce, top new product manufacturer and more!
Links mentioned in the episode:
• Race City Sauce Works
• DEFCON Sauces
• Texas Brew Products
• Cajun Heat
• Bigmista's Barbecue
• Jeff's Gourmet Jerky
• Heartbreaking Dawns
• Madison Chocolatiers West
• Texas Creek Products
• Smoke Canyon
• CaJohn's Fiery Foods
• JAC's Tailgaters
• Mild to Wild Pepper & Herb Co.
• Step Up For Charity
• :finn Slide Guitarist Soundcloud Page
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Skeletor's Hot Pepper Challenge!
Skeletor, He-Man's arch-enemy from Masters of the Universe, tries his hand at eating a Trinidad Moruga Scorpion chile pepper. Can this tyrannical baddie survive the onslaught of the world's hottest chile pepper? Watch to find out.
Review - Henry Family Farm Varietal Chile Extracts Red Naga Jolokia and Yellow Fatali
David Rosengarten is a self-described "journalist, television personality, and cookbook author" and runs a food blog/website of sorts at http://drosengarten.com. On it, Rosengarten has the obligitory recipes and such, and he also sells a few items he has come across during his culinary travels. He discovered hot sauces produced by a small family farm in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia that use an enormous punch of chile peppers for both heat and taste. These are the Henry Family Farm Varietal Chile Extracts, which come in both Yellow Fatali African Habanero and Red Naga Jolokia flavors.
Now before we go any further, I want to clarify something with the name of these condiments from Henry Family Farm. Now, as many of you know, capsaicin extract (sometimes also referred to on hot sauce labels as chile extract, pepper extract, and capsicum, among other terms) is the substance that fueled the extreme heat of certain hot sauces from the 1990s and early 2000s such as the original Dave's Insanity Sauce and many of Blair's sauces. It allowed products to get up in the astronomical levels of Scoville Heat Units only obtained by eating pure habaneros...and at times even hotter. The problem with extracts is that they add bitter, putrid, chemical-like tones to the sauce. Nowadays, most learned chileheads vilipend extract as they feel it pollutes any good flavor the hot sauce might otherwise have, and would rather have ultra-hot burn come from a chile such as bhut jolokias or trinidad scorpions.
Well, in the case of Henry Family Farm Varietal Chile Extracts, the "extract" in the title is thankfully not actual nasty-tasting extract pulled from peppers. Instead, these babies utilize a lot of the pure taste and blazing heat from the chiles after which they're named. So hot sauce fanatics who might be turned off initially by the mentioned of "extract" can be rest assured that these are not those types of hot sauces...
Weekly Firecast Podcast Episode #16 - Interview with Michael Hultquist of Chili Pepper Madness
The Audio Weekly Firecast with Scott Roberts:
Weekly Firecast Podcast Episode #16 - Interview with Michael Hultquist of Chili Pepper Madness
Scott speaks with Mike Hultquist of the Chili Pepper Madness sites. An experienced cook, cookbook author and writer, Mike discusses things such as how he began his websites, how he likes to use chile peppers in dishes, creating book such as Jalapeno Poppers, and also his activities outside of the foodie world. Scott also reviews Oakridge BBQ Santa Maria Steak Seasoning.
Links mentioned in the episode:
• Chili Pepper Madness
• The Madness Blog
• Jalapeno Madness
• Habanero Madness
• Hot Sauce Madness
• Salsa Madness
• Seafood Madness
• All of Mike Hultquist's Cookbooks
• Quist Interactive
• Arena (2011) starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kellan Lutz available for purchase on Amazon
• Victim (2010) IMDB Page
• Oakridge BBQ
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December 2012 Poll: Do You Put Away Your BBQ Grill or Smoker for the Winter?
Are you a fair-weather griller or smoker? Do you put your BBQ grill away in the garage or shed at the end of the warm season in North America? Or do you cook, grill and smoke 365 days a year? Take this poll and let everyone know!
Review - CaJohn's Quetzalcoatl Hot Sauce
In an already outstanding year in the hot sauce world, leave it to CaJohn's Fiery Foods to keep the already-raised bar up to stratospheric levels. As unequivocally one of the best spicy food product makers in history, CaJohn's continues to push the envelope each and every year, very often releasing sauces that deservedly are put into the running for best new product of the year. It is no different for 2012 with their new Quetzalcoatl Hot Sauce.
CaJohn's has taken the basic recipe for their awesome Mexican-style sauce, Oaxacan Hot Sauce, and kicked up with some furious ghost pepper power, and made Quetzalcoatl a must-have for those craving some south-of-the-border delights. And, like Oaxacan (John "CaJohn" Hard pronounces it "wuh-HOCK-en"), Quetzalcoatl is another name of Mesoamerican origin that's hard to pronounce. On the interwebs, you'll find a half dozen differing ways to say the name, but perhaps the closest one to what it actually might be is "KETS-ull-KOHT-uhl". Fellow blogger Al "Buudah" Goldenberg has scrapped any attempts at the correct pronunciation and humorously dubbed this hot sauce "pretzel-coat".
Weekly Firecast Podcast Episode #15 - Interview with JD Cowles of All Spice Cafe, Plus Hot Sauce Maker Pet Peeves
The Audio Weekly Firecast with Scott Roberts:
Weekly Firecast Podcast Episode #15 - Interview with JD Cowles of All Spice Cafe, Plus Hot Sauce Maker Pet Peeves
An in-depth chat between Scott and JD Cowles while on the road. The California-based hot sauce maker discusses his origins making wing sauce, the possibility of him opening a physical brick and mortar cafe restaurant, and his pepper-colored facial hair. Scott also lists his biggest pet peeves when it comes to hot sauce & BBQ sauces makers when it comes to bottling and labeling.
Links mentioned in the episode:
• All Spice Cafe Official Website
• National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show
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Flatulence Information - Facts About Your Farts Infographic
Those of us who love gaseous cuisine (beans, beer, bell peppers, to name a few) might get a toot of this. It's Flatulence Information - Facts About Your Farts, a technical look at this often taboo and lowbrow activity. Enjoy!
Click on the image for a slightly larger version of the infographic:
How the Scovie Awards Are Judged Video
The exact ways by which the highly visible awards in the fiery foods world - namely the Scovie Awards and ZestFest's Fiery Food Challenge - are judged have been under hot debate between some members of the chilehead community. The means, motives and methods have been claimed by some to be on the side of being less than transparent.
Well, Dave DeWitt, who runs the Fiery Foods & BBQ Show in addition to being in charge of the Scovie Awards, has released a video giving you the behind-the-scenes peek of the judging process for his contest.
The judging of the 17th annual, 2013 Scovie Awards was held at the County Line Restaurant in Albuquerque on October 1, 2012. This is how the judging was conducted.
For a full list of 2013 Scovie Awards winners, go to http://scovieawards.com.
Teacher Fired Over Hot Saucing Crayons
Another gross over-reaction?
In Kissimmee, Florida, school officials say a teacher put hot sauce on crayons to stop a child from eating them, and now she's out of a job.
The Osceola County School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to fire special needs teacher Lillian Gomez.
Gomez said she put hot sauce on some crayons because a child was eating the waxy school supplies.
In August, an administrative board recommended that Gomez stay on the job.
School officials, however, decided to go against that recommendation. They said the incident was a mark against children’s safety and dismissed her.
The teacher does not face criminal charges.
Review - Happy Dogs Hot Sauce
I love supporting local businesses - the person you help may literally be the neighbor of someone you know. So here's another St. Louis, Missouri-based chile pepper sauce that I'm pleased to feature. The name brand is Happy Dogs Hot Sauce, a red vinegar, habanero and cayenne pepper-based condiment with a label shows off company owner Patrick Gilmore's lovable-looking pooches named Oscar, Coney and Brigitte. But does this condiment make me as happy as the canines featured? Read on to see...
Weekly Firecast Podcast Episode #14 - Interview with Anna Shawver of Apple Canyon Gourmet
The Audio Weekly Firecast with Scott Roberts:
Weekly Firecast Podcast Episode #14 - Interview with Anna Shawver of Apple Canyon Gourmet
Scott speaks with Apple Canyon Gourmet founder Anna Shawver, who talks about her many product lines of salsa (Santa Fe Seasons), drink mixes (Santa Fe Mixes), hot sauces and more, plus her proud New Mexico heritage, and if she prefers her chiles red, green or Christmas style. Scott also reviews the entire eight-sauce lineup from Bigfat's Hot Sauce.
Links mentioned in the episode:
• Apple Canyon Gourmet main site
• Bigfat's Hot Sauce
• Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Holiday Season hot sauce and BBQ sauce specials and coupon codes
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Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deals for Fiery Foods Fans
The chilehead blogs are always in support of helping the "little guy"; more specifically, our favorite sauce companies and producers of the flavor enhancers that we all love. In an effort to help out these hard-working folks this upcoming holiday season, we are listing the various promotions and sales that maers of hot sauces, salsas, BBQ sauces, wings sauces, rubs, spicy chocolates and more are having this coming Black Friday weekend, Cyber Monday, and for a few even through Christmas and beyond.
If you're a chilehead or know of a chilehead that's in your life, what better gift is there than some fine spicy sauces made by some very premiere artisan food makers?
In this effort, several blogs are teaming up - ScottRobertsWeb.com, ILoveItSpicy.com, HotSauceDaily.com, TheHotZoneOnline.com, Chili Pepper Madness, and RG Sauce Review - to give as wide of coverage as we can to these deserving companies.
If YOU are a sauce or seasoning maker of any kind and are having a holiday shopping special on your website, and would like to be included, please let Scott Roberts know about it at scott (at) scottrobertsweb.com with the deal details, dates/times and any applicable coupon code(s), and these will be added to the lists...
BBQ Girls Fail
As all grillers and BBQers can attest, if you're not careful with fire, outdoor cooking can be dangerous. But any intelligent person exercising caution and taking preventative measures can easily overcome such hurtles.
Well, a trio of British girls apparently don't know safety when the contents of their grill is overtaken by flames in this gargantuan FAIL. Laugh or do a facepalm as you say to yourself, "why don't these nincompoops just grab some water?"
Oh yeah, as a side note, you can hear what seems to be the alien tripods from Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds attacking somewhere in the background. ;-)
Weekly Firecast Podcast Episode #13 - Interview with Brian Henderson of BBQSauceReviews.com
The Audio Weekly Firecast with Scott Roberts:
Weekly Firecast Podcast Episode #13 - Interview with Brian Henderson of BBQSauceReviews.com
Scott talks indepth with reviewer Brian Henderson of BBQSauceReviews.com about how he started the website and what he looks for in a barbecue sauce. Brian also discusses his new book 'How to Market Your BBQ Sauce'. Scott reviews Race City Sauce Works' Lucky Dog Smoked Habanero Honey Mustard.
Links mentioned in the episode:
• BBQ Sauce Reviews Homepage
• How to Market Your BBQ Sauce book order page
• Race City Sauce Works
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Review - Hawaiian Brand Mango Habanero Kettle Style Potato Chips
I always say, "bring on the spicy snacks!" The quick and edible food market (AKA junk food) has exploded in the past five years with fiery-flavored variations of every kind, and I'm more than eager to try whatever it is new that gourmet manufacturers (along with the larger corporations) can throw at the heat freaks. Some of it metaphorically "sticks to the wall" while some doesn't, but meanwhile I'm both enthralled and surprised at what does ultimately work.
New Jersey-based Pinnacle Foods Group with their Hawaiian Snacks line have pitched a curve ball with their Mango Habanero Kettle Style Potato Chips. Finding a snack chip taste containing a dominant fruit flavor is rare, but I think this is the first I've seen of one featuring mango, let alone the hot sauce staple combo of habaneros and mango. Odd, for sure, yet I was jumping to see if this unorthodox flavor profile worked...
Review - JAC's Tailgaters Pineapple Orange Habanero Finishing Sauce
Another superb contender in the Product of the Year category comes in the guise of a sweet sauce from Louisiana-based JAC's Tailgaters. Now this is certainly NOT a new sauce from JAC's head honcho Tracy Carter; it's actually several years old, and has even won well-deserved Golden Chile awards (the top prizes given out during the Fiery Food Challenge at ZestFest) in 2006 and in 2009. The sole reason why JAC's Tailgaters Pineapple Orange Habanero Finishing Sauce is eligible this year is that I've only first tried this in 2012.
And, HOLY MOLY, I did not know what I was missing! I've always been a diehard devotee of the winning combination of "sweet and heat", and this is the ultimate example of how fruity tones can be intermingled with the natural flavor and heat of chile peppers. I mean, Tracy has absolutely nailed it! Not only is the overall taste unbeatable, but the scope and versatility are astounding. Instead of continuing to heap on accolades, I'll get straight to the review....
24th Annual Jack Daniel's International Invitation BBQ Contest Video
Every year, the fourth weekend of October is home to the annual Jack Daniel's BBQ Championship held in Lynchburg, Tennessee. The sleepy hollow becomes a whirling, fun-filled event with international and domestic BBQ teams from every corner of the globe to compete for one of, if not the single biggest, coveted prizes in all of competition barbecue.
There is always so much going on that it is hard to capture everything, so here is a small glimpse courtesy of BBQTV into the wonderful time called "the Jack".
Spicy Food Reviews - Hot Sauces, Spicy Snacks, and more.
