Friday, October 24, 2008

Janna's obsession continues....

I bought some new barbecue sauce the other day.
Other people have exciting lives where they take expensive vacations to faraway lands and swim with dolphins and meet millionaire movie stars....
I get excited by spending a quiet evening at home, trying new kinds of barbecue sauce.
What can I say. It's cheaper than plane tickets.

Anyway, I have some chicken in the oven right now, and I'm about to try this sauce for the very first time. I'll blog about my impressions immediately afterward.

Here are the kinds I'll be trying:
1) Famous Dave's "Devil's Spit". The bottle says "XXX Hot", so of course I had to try it.

2) Sticky Fingers "Habanero Hot". The bottle says "Meek taste buds beware!"

3) Uncle Dougie's "Bang Zoom!" This isn't really a BBQ sauce; it's more of a simple hot sauce. Still I had to try it anyway. The bottle says it has "Out of this world heat, and exploding flavor".

Talk amongst yourselves while we wait for the chicken to finish cooking....
.
.
Done!
Are you excited???
If not, start pretending!
Here we go!

First I'm going to try the Devil's Spit.

(*dip* *munch* *chew chewchew*)

Eh. It's ok. Maybe slightly hotter than the average BBQ sauce, but nothing that makes my heart soar with joy. Not bad, not superb, just "eh."
It's really tangy, and there seems to be a celery-like aftertaste to it, like they made sure to add a good dose of celery salt.
It would probably be good in vegetarian recipes, like a batch of baked beans.

Not exactly hot, but maybe a good medium.
It's shameful that they call it "XXX hot".
..................................................

Next, it's time to try the Sticky Fingers.
(I love how dirty that sounds).

(*dip* *chomp* *chewchew*)

Ah, yes, now this has a better flavor, and it's slightly hotter. Pretty good. My nose is running. Not bad! This is somewhere between a high medium and a wussy "hot".
This would be good on ribs. And cheeseburgers. Or, if you're a vegetarian, it might be fun to bake some crispy potato wedges and dip them in it.
..................................................

And, finally, let's try Uncle Dougie's "Bang Zoom".

(*dip* *slurp* *munch munch*)

Hmmmm.
Kind of vinegary, with an opening taste of habanero and chipotle. (Which makes sense, since those are the first two ingredients). Needs more garlic, I think. And I'd like it to be a little sweeter.
This would be decent mixed in with some chili, or perhaps some taco meat. I can also imagine it in a bean burrito.
It's not that great as a dip for chicken.

I tried mixing it in with the BBQ sauces, and the result was better.
..................................................

Thank you all for humoring me yet again as I continue my quest for the perfect "HOT" experience.
Hopefully you all took notes, because there may be a test later.
.

11 comments:

Desert Songbird said...

I love going to Famous Dave's, but I agree - his "Devil's Spit" isn't all that.

Steven said...

I can't wait for you to find the one that just blows your socks off...It it's hot to you, it would kill the average human.

Marilyn said...

Well, I always like to hear about your culinary exploits.

They have these flavored salsas at Wal Mart that I like but they only come in mild. I hate that.

Gwenhwyfar said...

Well if you ever come here I'll have to take you to one of my favourite sushi places. Mostly because they have this hot sauce they make themselves that I absolutely love. It's not insanely hot or anything, it does add a lovely heat to everything but more importantly, it's just damned good. (I'd also have to take you over to Tony's store and get you some deliciously spicy chutney.... mmmmmm... chutney.)
My biggest complaint with most hot sauces it that too many of them just try to up the heat without paying attention to flavour. I'd rather have a less hot sauce that tastes really good than a wicked hot sauce that tastes like ass.

Janna said...

DesertSongbird: Famous Dave has a restaurant?

Steve: The one I tried last year called Mad Dog 357, that one was definitely "hot enough". Possibly even TOO hot.

EvilGenius: Sounds good, doesn't it?

DaOldMan: Frank's Red Hot is good on fish sticks. No, really.

Xup: Totally inclusive! Trying to present viable alternatives for my friends who are vegetarians. Plus, all the suggestions I included were ones that sounded yummy to me. :)

Marilyn: Me too. Mild salsa is such a disappointment.

Gwen: Ooooh, I've never had chutney!

whall said...

I can't do hot stuff. I think I still have 96% of my taste buds and sometimes they have meetings to discuss what they'd do to me if I ever doused them with spicy pain.

Janna said...

Whall: But it's a GOOD pain. Tell your taste buds it's a WONDERFUL pain. We'll discuss later on what you'll need to tell your rectum.

Gwenhwyfar said...

Seriously? No chutney? You poor, sad, deprived girl. Go find yourself a good purveyor of east indian food stuffs and ask them to point you in the direction of the chutney. Tell them you like hot stuff. REALLY hot stuff. Try a variety. (try it with some samosa.... numnumnum)

Janna said...

Gwen: Hee hee. Here in "The-Middle-Of-Nowhere", Michigan, we have nothing resembling a purveyor of East Indian foodstuffs. We're lucky to know the meaning of words like "taco" and "lasagna". It's sad, really.

Gwenhwyfar said...

Oh good grief... you're gonna have to give me your address so I can mail you some.

Janna said...

Gwen: Yay! :)