Recently published in Chile Pepper Magazine as Rhode Island’s representative to the “From Sea to Shining Sea” coast-to-coast tour of hot sauces, we are proud to bring you some of the inside scoop on the brewing of hot sauce in the lair of Devil’s Own Sauces. We were introduced to Steve Kitchen & crew by picking up a bottle of their Devil’s Own Jerk Seasoning while at this past ZestFest. Suffice to say, it was a pretty amazing jerk sauce…and certainly one of the best ones we’ve tried that was NOT manufactured somewhere in the Caribbean. Our early impression of Devil’s Own led us to find out more about them & their products, which led us to Steve Kitchen…one of the gurus behind these creations. We asked Steve a few questions and then greedily began the task of tasting his yummy hot sauces. Here’s what Steve had to say….
Tell us a little about your background and how you got started making hot sauces.
We actually started this adventure 13 years ago now. Just fooling around with peppers and ingredients to come up with a sauce that we thought was a good all around pepper sauce. (Devils Own Original)
Who designed your label graphics (devil with cauldron) and where did that idea come from?
The label was done by a friend of ours who does not really use hot sauce that much and before we even thought about putting it on the market he gave me a quick drawing of the devil and the cauldron and then put some color to it.
You have received quite a bit of recognition for your Jerk sauce. Tell us a little about how that came together!
We have wanted to do this for a while. Both Charles and I have used other jerk seasonings and decided that it was time to add it to the list. We have to say that our co-packer (Matt at Hot Wauchula’s) helped up out quite a bit with this one. Good food deserves good seasoning and with this winning 1st in the Golden Chile awards and 2nd in the Scovies I think the people have decided that this is one of the best.
As you have made more sauces, what is your inspiration for new recipes and new ideas?
Well we try to do things that are different. As always we try to keep the flavor along with the heat. We should have quite a few new exciting things coming this year from dry rubs to something that is on the sweeter side of the heat (but we will not forget to make sure it packs a punch!
Which one of your products is your favorite and the one you personally use the most, and why? I think for both Charles and I it has to be the Jerk. As Charles says it is like taking a vacation.
Which has meant more to you so far…critical success or financial success?
We have made more headlines then anything else so far, we think it is great that people truly enjoy out product and the rest will fall into place in time.
Is there anyone in the industry now that you’d like to emulate, or possibly not emulate?
Well I think everyone wants to be on top in this industry, there are a few that we strive for, Terry from Wingtime Sauces, Cajohn just to name a couple.
What’s in store that’s new on the drawing board at Devil’s Own Sauces?
I think it is time to push the heat levels, we haven’t quite done that yet but we will.
Ingredients List and Our Reviews
Normally, we try and report on most products separately in regards to our opinions. This time, we just put our heads together and did a bunch of tasting together with a variety of foods. Our results are as follows:
Devil’s Own Original
The description from the Devil’s Own website says about this sauce:
Hot sauce that’s made by two fat guys that have a love for food and a passion for heat. We’ve been to hell and back to come up with a sauce that’s unrivaled in heat and flavored. The result is the best sauce this side of hell! Enjoy!
Ingredients: vinegar, habaneros, tomato puree, onion, cayenne pepper, garlic
Our combined review: Proof that simplicity can be great. The ingredients list won’t leave you with a sense of awe, but the taste right from the bottle will. Fantastic habanero taste with just enough cayenne in it to notice it with the aftertaste, and not too heavy on the vinegar. As for heat, it’s very manageable and we’d call it a 7.5/10. Consistency-wise, this sauce nearly rates as perfect with us. Liquid enough to pour easily from the bottle, it is also just thick enough to cling to food without having to mop it up with every bite. So tasty you may want to even eat it straight from the bottle.
Despite her chipotle tendencies, this was a sauce that even Linda could get into. The amazing thing about this sauce is its utility and versatility. From egg scrambles to sandwich spreads to dinner enhancement, this sauce did it all in tasty habanero fashion. In fact, breakfast cereal might be the only dish that this sauce doesn’t help. With its little bit of cayenne, this sauce was fantastic on house faves such as Cajun dishes (gumbo, jambalaya) and Mexican dishes (enchiladas, fajitas) as well. We could go on and on about what foods this sauce tasted good drizzled upon, but the list would be too long. Excellent flavor and heat balance.
This is the first sauce we tasted, and the one we were least inclined to put away when we were done with it. Joe took this to work for three solid weeks, and nearly didn’t save any for Linda to try! Suffice to say, we give this sauce high praise. A great everyday habanero sauce which should be a staple for you if you like habanero sauces.
Devil’s Own Damn Hot!
The description from the Devil’s Own website says about this sauce:
We went deeper into the Bowles of hell this time looking for a sauce that would raise the dead, so the devil dipped his pitchfork into his molten kettle and gave us a sauce worth dying for. So take heed to this warning, ITS DAMN HOT!
Our combined review: Despite having the same list of ingredients as the Original, one taste will let you know that it’s definitely not that same sauce. It is certainly a more liquid-y sauce with many a habanero seed floating within the mix. The aroma may be mostly vinegar and habanero, but the taste is all habanero! We didn’t appreciate the cayenne flavor in the sauce, mostly because we were sucking wind due to the heat. Easily a 9/10 for heat, this one will not disappoint those chileheads with a yen for capsaicin heat.
Joe was the main one of us to try out this sauce due to the high heat profile, so the recommendations are mostly his. This sauce was fantastic in soups and stews (particularly chili), as the liquidity of the sauce works well with the nature of the food. That said, Joe still poured this on a wide variety of foods…and tortured the heat-sensors on his tastebuds with each and every one. This sauce works well on most foods that you would normally pour your hab sauce upon, you just need to adjust the amount to taste & heat tolerance. For Joe, that was quite a bit. Poured over pizza was Joe’s fave with this sauce. Yum!
Tart and very spicy, this one has a little more heat than flavor. Fortunately, there is a lot of flavor to spare. We (esp. Joe) liked it, but your mileage with it may vary. Definitely “Damn Hot,” but also damn good. Enjoy!
Ingredients: vinegar, habaneros, tomato puree, onion, cayenne pepper, garlic
Devil’s Own Kiwi Mango (official name TBA)
Ingredients: mango puree, kiwi puree, water, honey, onions, cider vinegar, habaneros, salt, sugar, garlic, and spices
Our combined review: This one is so different, both in looks and in taste. This is the sauce that Joe took to work for a while, just to “test” it on his fellow residents. The aroma is what one described as “pickle-like,” owing to the strong cider vinegar base. Going strictly by the ingredients, you wouldn’t think this would be all that spicy…and wow, would you be wrong. The straight taste was tangy, hot, and a little fruity. The appearance is kiwi (with its black seeds and all), but the taste is very mango, but not in an oppressive, sweet way. The consistency is pretty nice, almost like applesauce, and it pours easily from the bottle. It’s a well-balanced sauce, and you can’t miss the all-too-familiar habanero taste. For heat, we called it about 7.5/10. Fairly hot, but not overwhelming.
Opinions were split on this end for best uses for this sauce. Linda loved it as an addition to tuna salad and for fish, and thought that brought the flavors of the sauce out quite nicely. Joe loved it with some of the darker meats (like a spicy steak sauce or glaze) and as a straight-up condiment. We didn’t like it as much mixed into the more complicated foods or soups/stews, as the subtleties of the sauce’s taste got a little lost. Don’t get us wrong, though, as there were many more uses that went well as opposed to not.
If you like a little fruitiness in your hot sauce, you will need to pick up a bottle of this one. Great taste, surprising utility, and medium-high heat make for a sauce well worth trying on dinner in your house.
We put some on a plate so you can get an idea of how all three look in comparison with each other. The bottom one is the Damn Hot!, the upper left is the Original, and the upper right is the Kiwi Mango.
Don’t just take our word for it! Here are some online reviews of these products:
HSB reviews the Devil’s Own Original Hot Sauce
Popularity: 52% [?]
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you guys do such a good job with these reviews. this was awesome.
thank you
Comment fired by Steve K — February 28, 2007- 8:59 am