Review: Big Dawg Fire Department – Chipotle Dip Mix
Big Dawg Fire Department
Chipotle Dip MixFirst impression: This is actually the first time that I’m trying one of the 6 new Big Dawg dry dip mixes. I tried a couple of their salsa products in New Mexico this past year and they were pretty decent. But if I recall the dry dip mixes weren’t available then. Does anyone know if I’m correct on that? I read the back of the package where it’s suggested to mix the entire contents of the package in with 2 cups of sour cream. But since I’m not a huge sour cream fan, I decided that I’d try my hand at flavoring some cream cheese to go along with a yummy sun dried tomato bagel that I happened to have from the local bagel shop.
Ingredients: chipotle flakes, garlic powder, paprika, sea salt, MSG (Monosodium Glutamate), and other spices.
Appearance/Smell/Taste: Okay, since chipotle flakes were the first ingredient on the list. I was expecting a good deal of them to be mixed into this dry mixture. And yes, there were bountiful flakes of chipotle. It gives the overall smell a nice dry smoky aroma. There is almost a hint of sweetness in the odor, but after looking over the ingredients again I can’t seem to figure out what is giving me the impression of sweetness. The heat is on the lower end of the HSB heat scale, perhaps a 2 or 3 at most. Moving on down the list I noticed my least favorite ingredient MSG! OUCH! Big Dawg what’s up with the use of MSG! Well it’s there, so I must provide some links for those that would like to know more about this ever so present food additive. Now there is the Wikipedia version”¦
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate
Then there is the version from the people who benefit the most by using MSG in food production”¦
http://www.msgfacts.com/facts/msgfacts.html
What cracks me up about the previous link is that they actually say, ‘new studies show that MSG may play a role in the overall health and nutrition of people who need it most.’ Without providing a SINGLE link or any factual information regarding these supposed ‘new studies’! Am I just supposed to take this at face value?!? Of course you should not. That is what is great about the internet! The next and final link on MSG is from msgtruth.org.
I suffer from headaches when I eat foods that contain processed MSG as an additive. This is partly why I’m sticking with just adding the Big Dawg Chipotle Dip Mix to cream cheese. So without further ado I touch my tongue to the spoonful of dip mix to see what it tastes like straight up out of the package. YES! SWEET and smoky! It tastes exactly like what I was expecting after smelling the mix quite a few times. The garlic comes through really strong too. It’s that ‘dry’ garlic flavor that only garlic powder gives you. There is also a good deal of salt in there too, but I won’t come off and say it’s too salty until I mix it up and try it out in the cream cheese. Now I could have used this as a rub for a steak or perhaps mixed some into ground beef and made a few burgers. Instead it was time that I made some breakfast to review a hot product.
Prepared meal: Sun Dried Tomato Bagel w/Chipotle Cream Cheese
A dip mix is ultra easy to use. They are almost like ‘pre-measured’ spice combinations that could be used straight up to flavor almost anything. Soups, stews, meats, tacos, the list is almost endless and Big Dawg helps you out with a handy little hint on the back of the package. But like I said earlier I wasn’t a huge sour cream fan, so I opted for cream cheese instead. After allowing 8 oz. of cream cheese to soften to room temperature I mixed in roughly ½ of the Big Dawg Chipotle Dip Mix. Looking at the cream cheese it gave it a reddish hue with the large chunks of dried chipotle throughout my seasoned cream cheese mixture. I then covered the bowl with plastic wrap and returned it to the fridge to let it set for a full 24 hours. Coming back the next morning I spread my bagel with the flavored cream cheese. Smelling the chipotle flavored cream cheese actually made my mouth water. Let’s see what it tastes like on the bagel”¦
Complement to meal: Okay, after sitting in the fridge for 24 hours the flavors have totally permeated the cream cheese. I’m finding that the garlic powder is too overpowering! This is coming from a man who will eat an entire bulb of garlic with a meal or something that I’ll cook. I LOVE the taste of fresh garlic, but garlic powder has that ‘dry’ garlic flavor that just isn’t very appetizing to me. The heat has dropped from a 2-3 on the HSB heat scale to a measly 1, almost no heat at all in the cream cheese. But this mix is also too salty for my palette. I’m having a hard time eating the bagel. There is still a nice smoky flavor from the chipotle but the overt saltiness and high powered dry garlic flavor is killing the experience for me. Although to those that don’t mind huge amounts of salty garlic goodness, this just might be the dip mix for you! Try it with some sour cream instead of the cream cheese monster I ended up creating! -Lars-
Initial impression: 8/10
Ingredient quality/content: 4/10 (using MSG killed this score)
Flavor/textue/smell: 6/10
Heat: 2/10
Overall: 5/10
Big Dawg Fire Department
http://www.bigdawgsalsa.com/
P.O. Box 821623
North Richland Hills, TX 76182
bigdawg@bigdawgsalsa.com
If it’s intended for Sour Cream, how should you be allowed to review it with Cream Cheese? Is that not like reviewing a Taco Sauce in a Bloody Mary.
The mix could be used with a cream cheese but the mixture is pre-measured for 16 oz of sour cream….8 oz’s is a lot of mix for the packet. I will have to experiment with it to find a great combo for cream cheese. Yogurt is another way you can mix it up….
pros and cons on MSG have been going on for years… do I drink my soda with caffeine? yes!…. can you drink it without, maybe but is as good?
When making the Chipotle Dip Mix we wanted the Chipotle to “Pop” in flavor and thats what MSG is, a flavor enhancer. Plus its our biggest seller…..addicting? maybe 🙂
could we leave it out..nah
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Thakswet, I’d bet that I could make a rip roaring Bloody Mary for you using that Taco Bell sauce they have in those little packets! lol You wouldn’t even know unless I told you! 🙂
The dip mix is intended for many uses actually, which is why I defended the product in my final sentence of calling what I made nothing short of a monster. lol
Candy, I wish I were a fan of sour cream, I would have definitely mixed it as per package directions. But like I have said here and in a few other places, sour cream is just not my cup of tea. And yes, the MSG debate rages on. Personally I prefer to do without it as I suffer from headaches when I eat foods with added MSG. Now caffeine is a drug that I DO enjoy! Just not the soda part, I kind of gave up drinking soda too.
Candy and Big Dawg, that looks so yummy! I love all types of dips! I mean look who I hang with! 😉 Boy, I am going to have to pack an extra bag just for all the things I buy in NM, that is for sure!
I’ve made this dip using 1/2 sour cream and 1/2 cream cheese. Candy and Big D have a true winner here. Keep up the great work.
On MSG I see no issue with. I like it 😉 In moderation it’s fine, Just like water you consume to much it can kill you also. Thats it no more water for me.
there has alwayw been a fine line issue on MSG…..nice job LARS
I read this review when it was posted and I remained quiet until I had a chance to clear out my refrigerator of another dip I had in there before trying this one. I bought all 6 of Big Dawg’s dip mixes, so I had this one readily available to sample.
I was going to refrigerate the dip like the instructions asks, but since I was curious to try it, I just wiped the mixing spoon on a chip to try it out. Several chips later, I found it was hard to put down. It is mild in nature and I might add some heat to it with some hot sauce or extract to boost the sweat factor but this is a very tasty dip.
I like Lars reviews a lot, he has a very good eye for using a hot sauce the right way and presenting it in a very mouth-watering way, but this review I didn’t like. I know what the intentions were, but not to try the dip as it was initially created for makes me believe that this review should never have been posted here.
I am doing a multiple person review on another website on a dip I bought and sent to 7 other people. I asked for volunteers because I wanted people that wanted to try it. If they don’t do it as the instructions say, then they might not enjoy it as it was intended for. That was important to me, that way I knew the reviewers would be on the same page. Dips and sour cream are linked, and you should never have done the review if you didn’t like the sour cream. I know you were doing your job, but I rather not have read a review here because it impacts the readers here.
I would’ve liked to come on here on bash Big Dawg because I lost a football bet to his Cowgirls and now have to bark at ladies for a day at the FF’s in Albuddahqueque. Yet despite all that I had to say something because the review bothered me when I intially read it. With that said I hope Dallas loses the rest of their football games for the remainder of the season. 😛
My post is a little too late so most people won’t see it, but I really liked this dip.
WOOW BUDDAH…..that looks like an ouch….lol…….I hate DALLAS also I’m a PAT”S FAN….see what happens with the BIlLL’S tonight…. one thing I really like about you Buddah is you speak your mind