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hot-sauce Hot Sauce Maker's Picks

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce

Hopefully this is the right board for this, but I thought it would be fun to see recommendations from sauce makers. Personally I have way too many favorites to list, so I was thinking something like "Name 3-5 hot sauce companies folks may not have heard of, with one product from each that you recommend and why".

Not full scale reviews - just a quick sentence or 2 about each company/product. You may not list yourselves, or anyone you make sauce for or with, as that would be "promotion". Also not limited to hot sauce companies - anyone who's posted recipes or about sauces they've made on the Hot Sauce Making forum is also welcome to give their 3-5 recommendations, but please limit it to commercially available products.

Oh, and not asking for a "top 5" - just (up to) 5 commercial sauces that you personally enjoy the heck out of. Please include company links to make it easy for us to find 'em!

I'll go first, in no particular order:
  • Howling Dog Hot Sauce Chipotle - Joe Belcher is a cool dude who I've had the pleasure of getting to know over the last year. He breeds the most adorable black German Shepherd puppies and grows peppers/makes sauces. He's always got an interesting variety of sauces, including a Peter Pepper sauce, but the one I like the most is his chipotle. It's a very subtle smoke and really adds a great note to the sauce. MIld-to-Medium heat depending on tolerance, if you're like me and burned out on chipotle sauces for being overpoweringly smokey, give this one a try.
  • Redhawk Premium Peppers - Grounds for Divorce XXX. Our very own RedtailForrester makes really delicious sauces - I became a huge fan of his Grounds For Divorce, and just a couple months later he upped the heat to what I consider my perfect level. My tastes are for a naturally hot sauce so the heat creeps without overpowering food, with a bit of a sweet start followed by the tanginess and pepper flavors. In my opinion GFDXXX hits it out of the park. I killed my last bottle in less than a week.
  • Bigfat's 6 of 8 - this is a great sauce I got turned onto this year and was psyched to have found it. Another company that values flavor above all else (the running theme on this list) and I am a fan. I've got 3 of their sauces and can't wait to order more.
  • Texas Creek Products - Texas Creek Garlic and Smoked Habanero Hot Sauce is another of my go-to sauces. Another THP-er and all around great person who spends more time helping people eat right than Sally Struthers, SalsaLady makes some damn good products. I dusted this huge bottle in about 2 weeks after getting it - the sweetness of the pears really fools you into thinking it's not spicy. Then after 5-6 bites a mini Armageddon kicks off in your mouth. :woohoo: It's a very pleasant burn and the flavor is fantastic on chicken, fish and (as recommended by Ann on her site) mac & cheese. YUM!
  • Dave's Foodz Sweet Spicy Girl - really mild, and really tasty. I dig this sauce and killed my bottle in like 3 days. Another great table sauce that's highly versatile but especially excellent on pizza. I've not met Dave, but judging from his sauces I like the guy already.
  • Special mention to Knepper's Peppers for opening my tastes to fruit sauces. They're still not my "go-to" for hot sauce, but Brian's got some great sauces going on and I'm coming around to the fruitier side of hot sauce. Yeah, I know that's 6 - it's Christmas, so deal with it. heh :cheers:
I realize some of these products will be known by other THP-ers, but I know there are a ton of folks who browse these forums for reviews/recommendations who don't know the members here or their companies. So what'dya say saucemakers?

Got a relatively unknown product to recommend or just a list of personal favorite "go-to" sauce besides your own to recommend? Let's hear 'em! :cheers:
 
A few that I have tasted are-

DavezFoodz Sweet Spicy Girl- a family favorite
RedHawk Peppers- Grounds for Divorce
Lucky Dog- all 3


High River Sauces- Tears of the Sun, a spicy sauce, but probably one of the least spicy of the 3 High River Sauces I've tried. They also have a couple other spiciery sauces that taste good but are more for the hard core chilehead.

Crazy Good Sauces- Jimmy's Red and Nikki's Sweet are excellent medium heat red and green sauces. They also have an orange colored one (Shabam, I think) coming out which is also a realy good medium heat sauce.

I don't have the info or the sauces in front of me or I'd give a better description of these sauces. But these are the one's I've tasted recently that I can remember made an impression, or that are classic favorites.
 
Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
  • Bigfat's 6 of 8 - this is a great sauce I got turned onto this year and was psyched to have found it. Another company that values flavor above all else (the running theme on this list) and I am a fan. I've got 3 of their sauces and can't wait to order more.
  • Texas Creek Products - Texas Creek Garlic and Smoked Habanero Hot Sauce is another of my go-to sauces. Another THP-er and all around great person who spends more time helping people eat right than Sally Struthers, SalsaLady makes some damn good products. I dusted this huge bottle in about 2 weeks after getting it - the sweetness of the pears really fools you into thinking it's not spicy. Then after 5-6 bites a mini Armageddon kicks off in your mouth. :woohoo: It's a very pleasant burn and the flavor is fantastic on chicken, fish and (as recommended by Ann on her site) mac & cheese. YUM!
  • Dave's Foodz Sweet Spicy Girl - really mild, and really tasty. I dig this sauce and killed my bottle in like 3 days. Another great table sauce that's highly versatile but especially excellent on pizza. I've not met Dave, but judging from his sauces I like the guy already.
  • Special mention to Knepper's Peppers for opening my tastes to fruit sauces. They're still not my "go-to" for hot sauce, but Brian's got some great sauces going on and I'm coming around to the fruitier side of hot sauce. Yeah, I know that's 6 - it's Christmas, so deal with it. heh :cheers:
Click to expand...

The four I quoted (except it was the 8o8) have won awards in this year's THPA, just announced HERE...

salsalady said:
A few that I have tasted are-
Lucky Dog- all 3
Click to expand...

...and Lucky Dog Hot Sauce also won.

Now go check out the list and support your fellow saucemakers. Keep posting your favorites here, just wanted to post that the suggestions above are new award winners.
 
That's awesome - I saw BigFats on the THPA but didn't realize it was the same flavor!

I have 3 of theirs - all great but the 6of8 was my favorite. :cheers:

Oh - 8o8!

D'oh - I don't read so good. :(

lol

I have to get that one now! :woohoo:
 
Oh man, this is a tough one. There are SOOOOO many sauces that I really enjoy for many different reasons. There are so many I'm going to miss but just to name a few:

Tmudder's - "Roasted Ghost" and "The Blaze"

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce - "Red Label" and "Black Label"

Knepper's Peppers - "Jimmy Scorpion"

Midwestchilehead's - "Fatalii Sunshine"

Born to Hula's - "Ghost of Ancho"

BigFat's - "808 Hot Fudge" and "508" (I think)

Wicked Cactus - "Wrath of the Tiger"

Blackwoods Wing Sauce - "Garlic Parmesan"
 
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