Nothing like another season of industry awards to let everyone know what products and companies have risen to the top and finally achieved recognition as the “best of the best” from amongst direct competition from their peers. For some, it is the critical recognition that goes along with, or possibly precedes, the commercial success every company desires.

Or is it?

Of the industry awards currently being given, only Chile Pepper Magazine’s “Fiery Food Challenge” and the Fiery Foods & Barbeque’s “Scovie Awards” are considered by most to be the “gold standard.” Newer awards, such as the Hot Pepper Awards and regional competitions’ one such as Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire “Wofi’s” are relatively new to the industry, yet their significance will ultimately be judged by their longevity in the long-term.

Focusing on the first two mentioned above, they are roughly the same in terms of the formula of how they are done. Each has a number of categories for which products can be entered, judged by a double-blind panel of judges to determine the winners. Each product entered is done so at a cost that benefits the contest’s parent organization, thus raising copious sums of money to both fund the awards themselves and the organization in the process. There are usually some rules, but it seems like the rules are merely guidelines and one can enter pretty much any product which laughably comes close to matching the categorical description desired.

In the end, the contests generate a list of first, second, and third place winners which allows companies to proudly beat their proverbial chests to exclaim how proud they are to sell award-winning products. Look at the most recent list of Golden Chile winners from this past 2012 ZestFest and you will see what I mean. However, if one looks closely, it is easy to notice something a little odd amongst all the winners.

Quite simply, they don’t all make their own stuff.
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Recently, we had a chance to have a party where we were able to give a few wing sauces a try to be able to compare and contrast. Compare and contrast? Sounds like English class. Anyhoo, this fine sauce from Danny Cash was one of the ones we had, and was the first Jolokia wing sauce we had actually used for ourselves rather than just on a tasting spoon at an industry show. We have been long-time fans of the whole line of Danny Cash products, so we had expectations that this product would continue their line of quality hot & spicy products. (Apologies for the use of a stock photo for the bottle…ours did not photograph terribly well.)

Ingredients: Naga Jolokia Ghost Chiles, habanero & cayenne peppers, REAL BUTTER, vinegar, garlic, onion, black pepper & salt

Like the last wing review we did, our buffalo wings were not made the way most are currently done. Rather than deep-frying them up and freshly dropping them in the sauce, ours were already cooked and were slathered on and gently baked to really get the sauce coated on the wings.

I have to admit, opening the bottle reveals a pretty inviting aroma. Sure you can always pick up a vinegary smell, but that goes for nearly every wing sauce. Beneath that, there is a delightful mix of peppers (and what must be butter) that just lets you believe that it is going to be spicy. The sauce is fairly thick and has a look of pureed peppers with a hint of butter. The bottle is a whopping 14 ounces, which is good for a fairly large batch of chicken wings.
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Well, this pains me to say and do, but after being in the journalism business for over ten years and with The Hot Zone Online for over five and a half years, I’m hanging up my press hat. It’s been a long road filled with twists and turns that kept me on my mental feet.

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I was a very lucky recipients a few months back. Way back in 2010, Heartbreakin’ Dawns created one of the most beautiful collectors sauce I’ve set my eyes on. The Albo’gator was a crowning achievement in collectables. It was made in a hand blown glass bottles with a skull inlaid in the cap, wax dipped, and only 100 were produced.

Johnny McLaughlin, owner, only had a very small amount of the sauce in 5 ounce woozies left over for friends to try, and I received his last bottle to review. So, without further delay, I am now honored to review such a rare item.

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I know we are late to the party in getting this news out, but check it:

For those of you whose need a link, check out www.davesgourmet.com for more details on this contest.

One of the best finds from this past Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire was the wing sauces from the fine folks at Bonfatto’s. Hailing from smack dab in the middle of Pennsylvania, Bonfatto’s is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from State College…which was once a possible relocation destination for us. Anyhow, Bonfatto’s made their WoF debut this year and brought along their entire line of yummy wing sauces. After making our way down the line, we selected this one as a favorite that we wanted to use for our very own.
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October 17, 2011 – Houston, TX

SPICY SPECIALIST JAMES WRECK BRINGS WORLD’S HOTTEST PEPPER TO HISTORY CHANNEL
EAT MORE HEAT! Crew to be featured on the new show Hairy Bikers

The hottest chile in the world is the Trinidad Scorpion “Butch T”. On October 21st at 10/9c on the History Channel show ‘Hairy Bikers’ with the help of James Wreck from EatMoreHeat.com; will be the first national program to feature this Guinness record setting pepper. Hairy Bikers hosts Bill Allen and Paul Patranella cruise into Houston where there’s a growing subculture of chileheads who test their taste buds and push the limits of pain by eating some of the hottest peppers in the world. The bikers set out to find and eat the hottest peppers around. Their atomic adventure takes them to a world class chili pepper farm—a local small town butcher and in the end they hook up with a group of heat seeking maniacs to see just how much “heat” they can handle in an Ultra-hot Chili Burger Challenge. In this episode; James is joined by Eat More Heat crew members John Scrovak and David Martin. John once again earns his title as the “stupid human tricks” specialist, and David makes a rare venture out from behind the camera for this cauterizing challenge.

ABOUT JAMES WRECK
James Wreck has been referred to as a spicy specialist, hot sauce guru, culinary masochist, & out of his mind. James has dedicated the last five years of his life to tasting the biggest, baddest, and hottest the spicy world has to offer, and in the last two years it has become a full time job. He’s the only man ever to complete the Four Horsemen Burger (San Antonio, TX) El Diablo Burger (Houston, TX) and Bushido Spicy Tuna Roll (Charleston, SC) eating challenges on video. He’s tasted over two thousand hot and spicy products in his lifetime, and attends every major hot sauce festival in the U.S. annually. The mission behind all his spicy insanity is to share the bold and beautiful culture of chiles and capsaicin with the world.

ABOUT HAIRY BIKERS
Paul Patranella is a four-star, classically trained French chef who loves motorcycles. Bill Allen, a renowned motorcycle mechanic, is passionate about food. These two longtime friends know that food is the ticket to the American experience and that motorcycles are a traveling foodie’s best friend. In Hairy Bikers, Paul and Bill embark on a fun-filled but informative road trip along back roads to immerse themselves in local American history and longstanding traditions.

(This press release was given my Eat More Heat and should be considered part of the public domain.)

I know there may have been fancier, more eclectic sauces at the Weekend of Fire show, but I ordered pizza last night and merely wanted a nice, simple and good tasting hot sauce to complement my dinner. I looked around, opened a few, and found Jerome’s to be the best fit.

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As many of you know, I could not attend last year’s Weekend of Fire at Jungle Jim’s because I had foot surgery. For the very same reason, in addition to two other little reasons, I was not able to attend bigger shows as well. This means I was out of the chilehead community for a while…for almost 2 years. While that does not take away my interest in hot and spicy foods, it sure does take away my interest in writing about it here. On top of that, a couple of other major writers here have some really important stuff going on in their “real” lives that have interrupted their online presence. Add Facebook to the equation and you have quite a lull here at The Hot Zone Online. I am here to tell you, though, that I am back. For the foreseeable future, I will be writing about the products I tried at Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire. Beyond that, we will see. I still have many products on the shelf that I should have already written about, so I am sure that will occupy my time here as well.

Now, I want to point out that part of the disinterest in writing has to do with how formulaic things have been around here. Formulaic turned a bit monotonous. Thus, I may be switching up my reviews a bit and may not include some the things you are used to seeing around here. If that happens, please give me some feedback about it and/or ask a question so I can answer it as soon as possible. Deal? Once I find my camera battery OR peruse my phone pics to see if I have quality enough pics to post here, I will get started with reviews. It should not take long.

No, I am not single-handedly taking over the blog. We still have other writers here who will also be posting. I just think you will see a lot more posts by me in the short term and perhaps the long term.

Enjoying the chilehead life here with a bunch of chilehead compadres. One more day of goodness here at the show. Will have more to say about this later, but for now there is tasting AND shopping left to do.