Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/12/16/how-700000-bottles-of-tabasco.html
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As an equally jaded pepperaholic (“5 stars native Thai, please, with the sliced peppers in fish sauce on the side”), I agree Tabasco could pack more heat, but of the numerous LA-style hot sauces in the grocery store it is far and away the best. Sorry, Frank and Pete!
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Tabasco’s great for dishes needing a peppery, vinegary heat – like the Cajun and New Orleans food it was created for originally. And I like their chipotle version, it’s got a great smokiness. But sorry, McIlhenny family, buffalo-style sauces/wings are made with Frank’s Red Hot. Them’s the rules!
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my family uses my orange-ghost pepper glaze–
1 pint of orange juice, fresh squeezed from mineola tangelos is best but orange juice nonetheless.
6 juniper berries
1 clove of garlic
4 dried ghost peppers broken up
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 bay leaf
mix all ingredients in a saucepan. cook on medium-high heat until reduced to one cup.
strain through a sieve. then cook on medium heat until reduced to two-thirds to one-half cup of glaze.
toss cooked wings in glaze until coated. i recommend eating with plastic gloves to avoid injury.
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Going by the recipe, I think the best way to avoid injury is to stay well away from that glaze. Maybe sandblast the wings clean before eating them? 
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The video doesn’t mention that Avery Island is also known for its very nice botanical garden and bird sanctuary, covering a large area on the island (which is actually the tip of a salt dome). Evidently McIlhenny was something of a collector. I grew up in Baton Rouge and have been to the gardens a number of times, but never to the Tabasco factory.
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Tabasco was definitely the gateway for me long time ago. But that hose at 1:08 and 3:07 makes this tasteless, at least to me. I’m not under any illusions that other hot sauces are produced any differently, but I’ve moved on to just the eating the pepper, for most of the time. Something tells me there is an Adam Ruins Everything episode on this waiting to happen.
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SIX juniper berries?!?!?!?
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Crystal extra hot is the best LA hot sauce. (neither Frank or Pete are from LA)
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True. It’s tradition. But I adore Tabasco. I have at least three right now (chipotle, green and regular). Some people think it has too much vinegar, but then, some people are dirt stupid. You can’t have enough variety of hot sauces. Fortunately, I am within walking distance of Tears of Joy here in Austin.
The real treat at the tabasco factory is their tabasco flavored ice cream. It only has a very minor amount of heat but it really does have the original recipe tabasco flavor. Not for all circumstances but for those of us adding tabasco to foods for it’s flavor and not just for the heat, it’s quite enjoyable.
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My mouth is watering RIGHT NOW!
You’re missing the Habanero Tabasco flavor…
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Ran out of that one, Need to get another. It is surprisingly somewhat milder than the original.
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Habanero is about the hottest I can stand (aside from some ghost pepper potato chips and tortilla chips I’ve enjoyed). The El Yucateco sauces have been my go-to for habanero.
The key, of course, is to use it sparingly. I can’t just drench something with habanero the way I can with classic Tabasco, Frank’s, Cholula, etc.
One of the most interesting sauces I have is their new Black Label Reserve habanero sauce. The sauce itself is jet black and not quite as spicy as their usual habanero, but with a smoky richness.
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Now you’re talking. Habanero somehow straddles the line between adding a lot of heat and being delicious at the same time. I love spicy food but I don’t get the obsession with mega-hot peppers when all you get is burn and blow out your palette in the process making it so you can’t taste anything.
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the only injury to which i referred was the possible eye dab.
otherwise these are by no means the hottest wings i’ve ever had but the flavors are so good we prefer this recipe in my family.
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Tabasco is just too vinegar-y for me. But I’d love to taste the fermented pepper mash pre-vinegar. I love fermented food, and pepper with a miso-like flavor sounds really good.
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