The Website Has Been Redesigned!

scott-roberts-website-developerIt’s good practice to keep your website looking fresh and modern, no matter if you own a rinky-dink blog or a site that reaches millions of eyeballs everyday. As you may have noticed, ScottRobertsweb.com has gotten a sleak new design this past weekend!

Of course, I have to give the obligatory warning that “things may not be up to 100%” or “things may still have minor breaks here and there”, but the vast majority of the website should be full functional and ready for action. There is nothing drastically different about the new layout, so you really don’t have to “relearn” the website.

If you have any thoughts, let me know in the comments below. If you see anything egregious in regards to pages or sections that aren’t working correctly, please contact me, and I’ll try to get to fixing the issues as soon as I can.

New Hot Sauce & BBQ T-Shirts Available at ChileheadTees.com!

chilehead-hot-sauce-t-shirts-tees-bbq-chili-peppers

ChileheadTees.com, the web’s #1 source of chilehead-related t-shirts for both men and women, is back with new designs!

Are you a heat freak? Whether you love hot sauce, chile peppers, buffalo wings, BBQ, bacon, or anything dealing with fiery & spicy foods, this is the place to get t-shirts and swag to show off your obsession.

Take a look at the categories page to see the new items:

These make some killer gifts both for yourself (hey, you gotta splurge a little now and then) and for loved ones who are heat freaks! Go to ChileheadTees.com today!

Regional BBQ Sauce Styles Infographic

us-regional-bbq-sauce-styles-infographic-thumbnailAlthough there are no hard and fast rules, and U.S. geographic-based barbecue sauce styles and flavor profiles can cross lines and get blurred, there are definitely some favorite types based on the regional of the country you’re in.

The following Regional BBQ Sauce Styles Infographic shows the basic formulas for what four or five different areas are most famous for, roughly based on the amounts of these ingredients: tomatoes, peppers, vinegar, mustard and sugar.

Sure there are many other unique styles of BBQ sauce (for instance, the white BBQ sauce of northern Alabama), but these are the most well-known blueprints for barbecued, saucy goodness that is slathered on smoked and seasoned meat right out of the pit, from Texas, Kansas City, Memphis, North Carolina and South Carolina.

While you peruse this infographic, I urge all BBQ novices to experiment with different styles and try their own, and see what best satisfied their own personal palettes.

World Food Championships Coming in November!

The World Food Championships, Nov. 3-10, Celebration, Florida –
In the Heart of Kissimmee, Florida

world-food-championships-2015Every foodie’s dream come true!

The World Food Championships features more than 500 competitors seeking food fame and fortune. The fourth annual event, scheduled for Nov 3 – 10, 2015, will invite the champions from the biggest and best food competitions around the world into a single high stakes culinary showdown for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Following a tournament-style format across multiple iconic food categories, the WFC will culminate with a Final Table faceoff where category champions brave potential elimination in front of a live audience and a discerning panel of culinary celebrities. For more information, visit worldfoodchampionships.com.

Chicago-Based All Spice Cafe Gets Fired Up About The Success Of Its Award Winning Product Line

FIND ALL SPICE CAFE ONLINE:
www.allspicecafe.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHICAGO-BASED ALL SPICE CAFE GETS FIRED UP ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF ITS AWARD WINNING PRODUCT LINE

Gourmet Fiery Hot Sauces Now Available at Grocery Retailers Nationwide

All Spice CafeCHICAGO, IL (AUGUST 2015) – Midwesterners love spicy food and thanks to Chicago-based All Spice Cafe their award-winning gourmet fiery hot sauces are now available across the region to satisfy this blazing craving! The complete line of one-of-a-kind, vegan and gluten free hot sauces, developed by Los Angeles-based Chef J.D. Cowles, and named “Best Hot Sauce Maker” by Los Angeles Magazine, has taken a strong foothold in the region and is expanding rapidly throughout the Midwest, thanks to two Chicago-area businessmen.

Buddy Feldman, a food industry sales and marketing veteran from Highland Park, IL, and Michael Brindza, a former financial industry executive from Downers Grove, IL, were introduced to Cowles by Don Mazzoni, a real estate developer, as Cowles incredible hot sauces were only available at select LA restaurants and online, and partnered in June 2014, forming the perfect trifecta of business, retail and gourmet experts….

Homemade Sriracha BBQ Sauce Recipe

Being one of the big flavor brends, it wasn’t long before sriracha was applied to BBQ sauce. Here’s a homemade sriracha barbecue sauce recipe courtesy of McCormick.

homemade sriracha bbq sauce recipe

Homemade Sriracha BBQ Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:
1 8oz. Tomato Sauce
3/4 lb. Fresno Chile Peppers
4 Cloves Garlic
1/2 Cup Water
1 Tsp Smoked Paprika
1 Tsp Sicilian Sea Salt
1/4 Cup White Vinegar
1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Molasses

Directions:
Once cooked, blend and then strain to remove the seeds.

2015 World Hot Sauce Awards Winners List

2015 World Hot Sauce Awards ListJust released today from the Louisiana Hot Sauce Expo held this weekend – the 2015 World Hot Sauce Awards Winners List!

Condiments Division:
Chile Oil
3. Chili Beak – Spicy Roasted Chili Oil
2. Hot Licks – Hot Licks Blood Orange Habanero X Virgin Olive Oil
World Champion: Sutter Buttes Natural and Artisan Foods – Citrus Habanero Infused Olive Oil

Ketchup
3.CaJohn’s Fiery Foods – Scotch Bonnet Ketchup
2. Culley’s Chipotle Ketchup
World Champion:Uncle Roy’s Comestible Concoctions – Chillichup

Mustard
3. Uncle Roy’s Comestible Concoctions – Chocolate Chilli Mustard
2. Poca’s Hottest – Shak Nasti Cajun Honey Mustard
World Champion: River Bend Specialties, LLC. – Grandpa Spencer’s Hot & Spicy Mustard

Relish
3. Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen – Lime Leaf Sambal
2. Posh Pickles and Preserves – Sa’ Va’ Tu’o’ng ‘o’t
World Champion: B-Dubb’s Desert Inferno Hot Sauce LLC – Chow-Chow Extreme

Salad Dressing
3. Texas Brew Products/Salsa – I’m Your Huckleberry Dressing
2. Stagecoach Salsa Company – Miss Kim’s Spicy Bacon Ranch
World Champion: FrogBone Cajun Sauces – Remoulade

Steak Sauce
3. B.T. Enterprises – Buffalo Tom’s Gourmet Hot Sauce
2. SMOK BRAND, LLC – SMOK Brand Whiskey Glaze
World Champion: Jimmy’s Sauces (South Africa) – Jimmy’s Steakhouse Sauce

Table Seasoning
3. Gary’s Seasoning- Too Hot for Mama
2. Dell Cove Spice Co. – Butt Kickin’ BBQ Popcorn Seasoning
World Champion: AmberFyre Foods/Chicks and Salsa – Sassy…

“Crazy Hot” Documentary Trailer

crazy-hot-trailer-documentary-chile-peppers-chileheads-movieAbout a month ago, I was given a sneak peek of a trailer for a new documentary on chile peppers by filmmaker Eric Raine. He had traveled to 26 cities in 4 countries to showcase a wide swath of subject matter concerning our favorite capsaicin-filled pods, which included the chile pepper heat horse race, chilehead culture in general, and the phenomenon of hot sauce shows.

Back then,  I gave him feedback, which included my opinion that the trailer focused a bit too much on the drama surrounding the claims of Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper pepper being the world’d hottest chile. I personally have gotten out of the online (and offline) bickering about what pepper is the hottest. In fact, I think there is very little to no difference between most of these new “hotter” strains, and issued a chile eating challenge to anyone who is able to prove otherwise (and so far no one has been gutsy enough to take up the challenge). But I digress…

The trailer appears to be identical to the one I viewed back in June, with no less chile pepper drama removed or edited based on my suggestions. But that is not exactly indicative of what content is featured in the entirety of the movie documentary as a whole.

Overall I am exited about Eric’s effort, and he has indeed talked to…

The World’s Hottest Pepper Carolina Reaper Video Taste Test

buzzfeed-the-worlds-hottest-pepper-carolina-reaper-taste-test-video

People Try The World’s Hottest Chili Pepper

Everybody’s jumping on the bandwagon to feature the most daring and the most extreme, even in the “general populace” world. The linkbait-heavy site Buzzfeed recently did a video of non-chileheads trying out the world’s hottest chile pepper, Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper, on video. When I first tried the Carolina Reaper on video three years ago, I definitely found that it was among the hottest things I’ve ever put in my mouth, so the burn felt by these test subjects were no doubt real and funnily painful. Enjoy!

Hot Island Wings Recipe

ashlynn-gourmet-hot-island-wings-recipeAshlynn’s Gourmet is a hot new sauce company based out of sunny Florida who makes an impressive array of “flavor enhancers”, including tapenades, hot sauce, barbecue sauce and basalmic glazes. Annthea and Mike, owners of Ashlynn’s, sent along this recipe for some island-inspired hot wings that encompass so many flavors and builds to an amazing heat crescendo.

Everything is not too overpowering, and the heat and flavor do the dance amazingly well in your mouth. This wing recipe uses two of Ashlynn Gourmet’s products (Hot Island Que BBQ Sauce and Kings Judgement Pineapple Habanero Hot Sauce), along with fresh red onions, red peppers, pineapple and cilantro, try these spicy appetizers for yourself, and you might feel like you’re sitting in an island bar watching the relaxing blue waters of Bimini…

Firecast Podcast Episode #81 – Scotty O’Hotty Hot Sauces’ Scotty and Suzi Owens

firecast-scotty-ohotty-hot-sauce-ep-81Listen Instantly!

Click Above to Listen to This Episode Now!

Episode #81 – Scotty O’Hotty Hot Sauces’ Scotty and Suzi Owens

Detroit pepper sauce makers Scotty and Suzi Owens of Scotty O’Hotty Hot Sauce join Scott for a chat about their rising new fiery foods company. Also, show sponsor Dan Arnold of Sucklebusters returns to tell Scott about several of his delicious new BBQ seasonings and sauces.

Links mentioned in the episode:

The Firecast is Sponsored in Part By:

  • American West Beef Company – Get FREE SHIPPING and meat delivered to your house for up to 60% off!
  • Chilehead Tees – Are you a heat freak? Whether you love hot sauce, chile peppers, buffalo wings, BBQ, bacon, or anything dealing with fiery & spicy foods, this is the place to get t-shirts and swag to show off your obsession.
  • Sucklebusters – Texas BBQ Rubs, BBQ Sauces & Texas GunPowder! SuckleBusters is preferred by competition BBQ Cooks, and has won numerous awards including back-to-back 1st Place sauce wins at the American Royal – the World series of BBQ competitions.
  • Dr. BBQ’s Low & Slow BBQ at Home Online Barbecue Class

Other Links mentioned in the episode:

Listen Instantly!

Click Above to Listen to This Episode Now!

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How People Grill Around the World Infographic

How People Grill Around the World Infographic

While as die-hard BBQers grill and smoke year ’round, many people kick off grilling season around Memorial Day weekend. Now’s the time to wipe off the grill, refresh your favorite dry rub recipe and invite the neighborhood over. While dogs, burgers, steaks and chicken on the grill reign supreme in the U.S., perhaps this year you’ll want to add some different flair to your fire. That got us thinking – how do people grill around the world?

We researched 10 of the most popular grilling methods around the globe, as well as what different countries love to grill most. So for your next block party, instead of buying grocery store franks, consider making your own custom recipe to invoke the flavors of Japanese yakitori or Mexican carne asada. Your barbecue will be out of this world – and have neighbors lining up for seconds.

Click on this grilling infographic to view…

Three Mobile Devices for the BBQ Lover

Mega-barbecue - meat on the grill/griddle and fireThe Best BBQ Apps for Smartphones

There’s nothing quite like sitting the delicious, smoky, juicy flavor of a perfect barbecue, and we all know that the hours spent slaving away to get the taste of the sauce just right is all part of the process. The effort just makes the barbecue that much more delicious. But we can’t deny that, sometimes, we just want a good barbecue without as much effort, and constantly keeping track of temperatures can be quite the hassle.

Luckily for us, the smartphone revolution has paved the way for us to be able to experience hassle-free barbecuing. For years now, the idea of “the smart kitchen” has been circulating, but it wasn’t until recently that the technology really took off. According to the company that relaunched Free Bingo Hunter late last year, growth in mobile internet is among the fastest growing trends on the internet landscape to date, and this has resulted in nearly 2 billion people who use their smartphones for a variety of functions, including cooking and grilling…