You may have noticed a list of dates to remember in the left hand side column (under the calendar). If not, take a moment and see what I’m talking about.

Okay, so what did I miss? With only two entries, there has to be some upcoming events that I’ve neglected. If you can think of anything, please let me know. Or likewise, if you know of an upcoming event that you would like to share with the HSB readers, send us an email with all the necessary information and we’ll add it to the list.

Stephanie Holbrook over at the Hearth, Patio, & Barbecue Association has written to share with the HSB some interesting statistics from their new study on recent changes in the BBQ industry. For those that aren’t quite sure what the HPBA is, she was kind enough to explain:

“Basically, the HPBA is trade association that represents and promotes the interests of the barbecue industry in North America. The Association includes manufacturers, retailers, distributors, manufacturers’ representatives, service and installation firms, and other companies and individuals - all having business interests in and related to the hearth, patio, and barbecue products industry. In regards to this specific initiative, HPBA is working to promote year-round grilling.”

Recent Survey Results

• Based on a representative sample of more than 8,000, the report revealed that over 60 percent of Americans are grilling year-round and nearly half grill during winter months.
• Grill ownership increased 10 percent from 2003, with eight out of ten households now owning an outdoor barbecue grill or smoker.
• More than 35 percent of women are now taking the tongs for gas grilling, up six percent from 2003. And 42 percent of women are using electric grills, inching closer to men at 55 percent. However, men and women are on equal footing in the decision of when to grill, at 47 percent each.

Stephanie was also kind enough to share a recipe from the not yet released upcoming cookbook by the BBQ Queens. If I had a outdoor grill, I would definately try this one this weekend, of course I would add a bit more spice. I think working a few habaneros into the burgers prior to grilling would do just the trick.

SUPER BOWL BURGER:
Wood-Grilled Brie Burgers with Grilled Onions and Tomato-Avocado Relish
Serves 4

Adapted from Weeknight Grilling with the BBQ Queens (Harvard Commonpress, April 2006) (not yet released)

Adding wood chips or pellets to the fire gives you more of a wood smoky taste. Don’t be afraid to grill a whole baby brie; it’s a lot easier than you think. You just have to pay attention and turn it the minute you see the cheese starting to ooze out of the rind. Once it has started to “ooze” on both sides, take it off the grill. The relish is your vegetable and salad all rolled into one.

Tomato-Avocado Relish
Makes about 4 cups
1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 ripe avocado, pitted and diced
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup finely minced Italian parsley
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Fine kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Burgers
1/3 cup wood chips or wood pellets
1 pound ground chuck, formed into four 1-inch thick patties
1 large red onion, peeled and cut into ½-inch thick slices
1 small wheel of baby brie
Olive oil for brushing
Fine kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Seeded hamburger buns, Kaiser rolls, or ciabattini, optional

1. To make the relish, combine all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. (The avocado will darken over time, so make this right before you wish to serve it.)

2. Prepare a hot fire in your grill. Oil a perforated grill rack and place on the grill. If using a charcoal grill. Enclose the wood chips or pellets in a foil packet with holes poked in the top; place the packet on the grill grate over the heat source and make sure the chips or pellets are smoldering before you begin to grill the burgers.

3. Place the patties on a plate on a baking sheet. Brush the red onion slices and the brie with olive oil on both sides. Place on the baking sheet.
Season everything to taste.

4. Grill the onions on the prepared perforated grill rack, turning once, for 8 minutes. Grill the burgers, turning once, for 7 minutes for medium.
Grill the brie on the prepared perforated grill rack, turning once, for 7 to
8 minutes, or until both sides get good grill marks and the cheese is just beginning to ooze out of the rind.

5. To serve, top each burger with the grilled onions. Cut the brie into 4 wedges and place a wedge on top of each burger. Place on a bun, if you wish.

Serve with the relish on the side.

WHOAH! First non-hot sauce review for me.

Bottle Description: None

Ingredients: tomato concentrate made from red ripe tomatoes, apple vinegar, corn syrup, soybean oil, vegetable oil, salt, pepper, spice, water, brown sugar, molasses, mustard flour, xanthan, natural flavoring.

Container: Tall thick bottle. Design very akin to the feel of a BBQ setting. I look at the label and I think….”Damn I need some ribs.”

Appearance: It has a lighter brown color than most BBQ sauces (not dark brown). You can see the pepper specks.

Smell: Good stuff. This sauce has a thick sweetness like molasses but is complimented by the smell of black pepper. Aromatic and spicy.

Consistency: Get some reading material, after all its BBQ sauce of course it’s going to pour slowly.

Taste: The first taste is under whelming. You can’t really taste much. It’s sweet and that’s all you can really taste. Mosey on down to Field Test if you really want to know how it tastes.

Heat: 0/0 (Not applicable) Awwww it’s ok I know you’re disappointed but hey its BBQ sauce. And it’s an original sweet recipe so buck up soldier.

Field Test: Cold BBQ sauce from the jar straight from the fridge is never good. The real “essence, soul, life….uh CHI!” of BBQ sauce is its association with other foods. Smoke Master’s Original Sweet Recipe delivers when you bring it to the table. I cooked up some pork chops that were in the fridge. I only added salt so I could get a good control of what the BBQ sauce tastes like. It is mostly sweet but each bite yields the gustatory satisfaction of a smoky sensation and just enough black pepper to give this sauce some spice.

Final Word: It’s such a solid sauce that if you’re so inclined, pick yourself a bottle. It’ll probably be your all around BBQ sauce. Give your stomach and mouth a day reprieve from that Blair’s you’ve got there.

Overall: 7.2/10 Nice and solid.

Smoke Master Barbeque
12311 Confederate Dr. West
Glen St. Mary, FL 32040

Previous SmokeMaster Reviews:
- Smoke Master BBQ Sauce - Roasted Onion & Pepper

Would you like to have your product reviewed on the HSB? More information can be found on our Product Submission Page.

Even thought it doesn’t look at all comfortable or usable, I still want one. How better to declare your chilehead/computer geekiness then with a Chilli Mouse? If anyone can figure out how to buy one of these, let me know.

Ingredients: Habanero-Red Savina, Habanero-Neon Yellow, Habanero-Lemon Yellow, Habanero-Chocolate, Onion, Ketchup, Dijon Mustard, Garlic, Honey, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Red Hot Sauce, Black Pepper, Lime Juice, Kosher Salt, Rice Vinegar, Carrot Juice.

Label: Warning: You must exercise extreme caution when using this sauce. If you have sauce on your hands, be particularly careful not to touch your eyes, face, or other sensitive parts of your body. If you do get sauce on your hands, we recommend that you wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. Ignore this warning and you will pay!

Appearance: A very good-looking sauce, with bits of black pepper, onion, and garlic standing out nicely.

Smell: The first smell that hits you as you open the bottle is a kind of spicy ketchup-y smell, not at all unpleasant. It’s a very light-smelling sauce, sweet and spicy, with a hint of garlic and onion. Nice!

Taste: What a great sauce! Because the first four ingredients were habanero, I felt the need to enter into this well-prepared! My first taste of Spittin Fire was on a saltine, to get the full flavor. The The sweet-spicy smell carried right over into the flavor of the sauce: the first taste was very light and flavorful. The habs don’t hit hard on entry, but build pretty quickly into a nice, controlled smolder. For Christmas dinner, my dad made his world-famous Cajun dirty rice (if it’s not world-famous already, it darn well should be!) I added this liberally to the dirty rice, and the onion and garlic of this sauce melded wonderfully with the onion and garlic in the dirty rice, adding a nice amount of heat. What a great match!

Conclusion: Very nice! We ended up passing the bottle around the table, and everyone seemed to really enjoy it, my grandmother especially, though the heat didn’t seem to faze her. In her own words: “That hot sauce isn’t hot at all to an ole Coonass lady!” This sauce would go seamlessly with almost anything savory. A great, well-rounded sauce!

4.6 out of 5!

Sizzlin Sauces LLC
PO Box 1753
Conway, NH 03818

Would you like to have your product reviewed on the HSB? More information can be found on our Product Submission Page.

Here you go folks, a hot sauce made just for the chilehead bloggers in the world!

With the help of Danny Cash Hot Sauces and Moxie Designs, the HSB brings you the first hot sauce for bloggers. And here’s the best part: all proceeds from the sale of Hot Blog Sauce are going to be donated to the American Cancer Society.

Over $5 from the purchase of each bottle will go to help the American Cancer Society to make a difference in the lives of people touched by cancer. Donations help fund programs of research, education, advocacy, and service, which are leading toward the ultimate goal—the elimination of cancer. Every donation counts, so why not get yourself a bottle of hot sauce as well?

Inside Hot Blog Sauce you will find: Habanero & Serrano Peppers, Garlic, Vinegar, Limes & Salt - so it’s not your regular run of the mill private label hot sauce. It’s a sauce your going to enjoy eating!

And yes, each bottle has been signed and numbered (only 144 in this first batch).

Hot Blog Sauce - Made exclusively for HotSauceBlog.com

Hot Blog Sauce - $7.95
Available only from Sweat ‘N Spice Hot Sauces

News:
- Spicing Up a Good Cause: Hot Blog Sauce

Do you have a hot sauce collection (or single item) that you’d like to show off? Send it in! Hot sauce collection submissions can be sent to nick ‘@’ hotsauceblog.com - you can also check out the previous submissions in our Hot Sauce Collectors Corner.

A big thank you to all the collector’s that have sent in images of their collections so far, keep them coming!

Vic & Wendy recently sent in thier impressive collection, they own over 1,100 bottles of sauce! I showed the wife the pictures of their collection and she agreed to never give me a hard time about mine again - good work guys!

Above the Desk

Back Wall

Corner Wall

Hot Sauce Corner Shelf

Blair’s Shelf

Left Side Wall

Circus Tent of Hot Sauce

Front Wall

Hallway View

Right Side Wall

Side Wall - Tall Shot

A view from the couch

Tabasco Shelf

I’ve become an avid reader of your blog and find myself coming back day after day to find new things, my hats off to you- I really enjoy your site and it’s content. I read your posting encouraging collectors to send in pictures of their collections to “share with the world”, it’s a great idea. I’m not sure if everyone feels the same but to have a chance to compare and contrast what you’ve accomplished is a rush, you almost have that bonding feeling like beng amoung fellow freaks.
My wife Wendy and I have been collecting for about 9 years now, we started on a Christmas with Santa putting a few under the tree and it’s grown to just over 1100 bottles now. And it just hasn’t been us searching for new sauces, our friends and family get into as well, I can’t tell you how many “do you have…?” phone calls we receive.
It’s addicting; we scour the internet, search high and low everywhere we go, have catalogs sent to the house, and always seem to have our eyes peeled not matter where we are. We have just gotten into the Blair’s craze and started collecting his Reserves, also we like to go after promo’s and event sauces that are rarer and a little harder to get. Also we live in Orlando and like to focus on Florida sauces and locals, whether being restaurants, benefits, or chili cook offs we try our best to add it if they have it! So thanks for the opportunity and keep up the good work.

Vic & Wendy Clinco

Big thanks to eman for sending in images of his recent accquisition, the elusive Caldera Prototype - a bottle that many a collector would love to have.

**drool**

I have had this bottle of CaJohn’s Krakatoa sitting in the fridge for quite some time. I am trying to figure out why it has taken me so long to open it up. Oh ya, it’s the ingredients. Red Savina Habanero Chiles, Vinegar. That’s it. Nothing more. Now whenever I am about to open up a bottle I know is going to be crazy hot there is a moment of trepidation. My Brain, Tongue, and stomach vehemently protesting and at the same time my brain, tongue and stomach urging me on. In the end we know who wins. So here we go.

This bottle of hot sauce looks great. It is still a 5oz bottle but there is a little bit more flair to the bottle. The graphics are nice and represent what is inside. As understated as this sauce makes itself look, not much can prepare you for the heat packed inside. And I guess the name kind of rolls off the tongue as well (too bad the heat doesn’t).

The test for this was simple was going to be simple. Just some fried chicken. My mouth started to water just as I was opening up the seal. I am sure that is more from vinegar anticipation than anything else, but I was wrong. The vinegar was noticeable, albeit barely. What was very apparent was the smell of habaneros. I poured a bit out and was amazed at the colour and consistency. It was a deep red and just a little runny. The salivation had moved from vinegar to habanero goodness. Fortunately for me I know how hot the red savina can be. So I attacked it vociferously yet with restrained caution.

So as I said the test was going to be some chicken, but alas this never happened. So you get a review direct from my finger. I dipped my finger right in the bottle and scooped some out. Lucky for me I didn’t scoop too much. This sauce is hot. And I mean really HOT!!! I thought I could feel everyone of those 580,000 scoville units on my tongue. Now I don’t know what the exact scoville unit is for this sauce but I can safely compare the heat level to Blair’s Mega Death as well as having the red savina scoville rating as a reference. Taste is totally different though. It is pure Habanero’s and I am thinking about what I can add it too right now as I type this. (It has been about 20 minutes and the heat is still quite noticeable).

Its not often I find a sauce this simple and this good. My biggest regret is not opening it sooner. If you want a great habanero sauce that delivers extreme heat and taste without the worry of extract taste. A sauce that looks great, tastes great and is versatile, look no further. This is an extreme sauce that is essential for your collection or fridge. For the seasoned chili head who wants something new, to the newbie chili-head to experience the power of peppers and all things hot. Don’t make the mistake I did and let this one slip by you. Great Stuff!!!

I officially give CaJohns Krakatoa Hot Sauce my Hot Sauce Hottie Award.

Packaging 9/10
Aroma 9/10
Appearance 9/10
Taste 10/10
Heat 10/10

Overall 9.5/10

CaJohns Fiery Foods
2040 Oakland Park Avenue
PO Box 24010
Columbus, Ohio 43224
1-888-703-FIRE

Would you like to have your product reviewed on the HSB? More information can be found on our Product Submission Page.

If you’ve been following the comments on the Defcon 1 & 2 review, then you already know that Defcon Day (Defcon Sauces were featured at an NJ bar on Jan 22nd.) was a success. The Creator was kind enough to send the HSB some images of the event so that we could all see the fun that was had by all.

Defcon Wings

The Creator

The Creator & Mad JR.

Mad_Reilly, Mad JR and The Creator

When is the Next Defcon Day?

When: February, 11 2006, 2-6pm

Where:
The Alley Bar & Grill
428 Springfield Avenue
Berkeley Heights, NJ
Phone : 908-464-2499

As usual, free wings for the duration, made with the 1st place Defense Condition #2 sauce. We will have the #3 and #1 (and perhaps a little surprise) or tasting or usage. Also, there will be drink specials, and the Coors Light girls for a few hours. Come one come all and bring friends…Hell, free award-winning wings and beer specials, who could ask for more?