Author: Scott Roberts

I’m currently in the midst of a well-deserved vacation in Branson, Missouri. This current jaunt is my first real personal or family break in three years, the occasional weekend getaway or hot sauce show notwithstanding. What’s there to do in

Johnny McLaughlin and Nicole Ramsperger of Heartbreaking Dawns shipped me their three hot sauces this past Winter and I was pleased overall with their offerings. While I wasn’t blown away by their efforts, I found something positive about each sauce and considered Heartbreaking Dawns to be an up-and-comer in the fiery foods industry to keep an eye on.

Some time after I had met Johnny and Nicole at the Fiery Foods Show in March, they had sent me another trio of products, this time out it was some dry spice blends. I am extremely pleased to report that while I thought their sauces were good, these dry rubs are even better. I truly believe they are hitting their stride with these seasonings.

Just reading the names of these products – Dr. Bird Jerk Blend, Memphis Belle BBQ Blend and Storyville Cajun Blend – will tip you off to their flavor and utility. Seeking to test these all out once, a uniform base of grilled chicken breasts seemed like a good candidate for a meat that would bring out the flavor of these. More on that in a bit….

Remember that photo I posted a while back of the BBQ grill shaped like a Smith & Wesson Magnum 500 revolver? It appears that the people responsible for that beyond-cool barbecue have been discovered thanks to ScottRobertsWeb.com blog reader Mike (MJE1979).

This smokin’ gun grill was architected and constructed by five welding students from Sandpoint High School in Idaho for a local firearms dealer.

If you click on the above link, you can see the five young welders standing with the nearly-completed 15-foot long grill before it was painted (I’ve also posted a thumbnail image to the right). You can read more about the project and more of what the students do at http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/articles/2010/02/17/news/doc4b7b9c7cca614755102078.txt.

As an aside, I think that these gentlemen should consider beginning a career designing and building these types of grill and smokers. Could you imagine how rabid the marketplace would be for these?

Photo by RALPH BARTHOLDT

Here’s another instance of fiery foods invading the mainstream. After noticing the Ghost Chili appearing in FarmVille, my wife also caught another spicy entry in another Facebook game. In Cafe World, one of the available gifts is a bowl of

Here comes Crazy Steve’s Pickles and Salsa, a young New Jersey company hatched at 11:49 am on July 17, 2009 (as each and every label clearly states!) after an extraordinarily fruitful harvest from a cucumber garden. Steve Zielinski borrowed treasured pickling recipes from his grandmother, branched off into making salsas, and only 10 months later has an extensive live of side-items and condiments.

Steve was gracious enough to send me four different products of his for me to test drive. I have to mention that while all of the salsas I reviewed are marked “insane”, a fourth heat level above mild, medium and hot, I though none of these contained extraordinary heat (I explain more below). I don’t know if this was a label mix-up or if the “insane” salsas are legitimately that mild, but if the later were true then even non-spice fans could handle these salsas with very little difficulty.

Lastly, I’d like to add that earlier today one of my co-horts in heat, Buddah of ILoveItSpicy.com, posted a multi-person video review of two Crazy Steve’s products done at the recent Peppers at the Beach in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. This is mere coincidence. Even though Buddah and I talk with each other several times a week, neither of knew of the other’s plans to post a Crazy Steve-related review. So I guess today is Steve’s lucky day! Seriously, here is my take on Cajun Cukes, Black Bean & Corn Salsa, Raspberry Mango Salsa, and Smokey Mesquite Salsa…

This snack has been heavily lauded by chilehead bloggers, mostly since the 2010 Fiery Foods Show transpired a few months ago, as one of the best new spicy snacks they’ve had the pleasure of chomping down on. I also sampled it at the FFS, made my opinion known that I liked it, and purchased a few bags from Ranch Camp Chip Company owner Doehne Duckworth for home consumption. I had already given his Deano’s Jalapeno Chips a notch in the positive column, but do I think it lives up to the immense hype bestowed upon it by my pepperhead brethren?

I would have to give an incontestable “yes”. Believe the hype, folks. Deano’s Jalapeno’s are insanely delicious and are sure to rapidly become a favorite among those who crave heat and cheddar cheese flavor in their snacks. I’m also predicting that in another five years, Deano’s will become a giant in the specialty food world or the concept and recipe will have been sold to a larger chip manufacturer to make its creator make mucho deniro off of this stuff. It’s that good…

With the hot sauce and barbecue markets cluttered with hawkers of crappy extracts and “me-too” products not worthy of a second purchase, it’s refreshing to see those in the industry who believe in the rock-solid principles of quality and integrity. Steve Burnham of Blue’s BBQ is one such person. He is an ex-pilot, BBQ caterer, musician and is now in the sauce business full time.

Steve believes in creating quality sauces that don’t fit neatly within one sub-genre of condiments or food-toppers; and in fact, they transcend multiple categories by being all-purpose table sauces (a topic we’ll get into later in the interview). His Blue’s BBQ offerings like Blue’s Carolina Pepper Sauce and Blue’s Habanero Reserve work with just about anything that’s currently in your refrigerator, freezer or kitchen cupboards.

Just released a few months ago, Blue’s Chipotle Mustard Pepper Sauce is an outstanding blend that delicately balances sensations of sweet, smoky, tangy and lightly spicy unlike most other sauces I’ve come across in the past few years. I absolutely love it and consider it to be an early candidate for my sauce of the year for 2010.

Anyway, Steve conversed with me a few weeks ago about his sauces, distribution of his products and his general thoughts on the fiery foods industry.

Scott: What did you do before you started making sauces?