Tangy and Spicy....Crystal Hot Sauce
Written: Aug 29 '08 (Updated Aug 29 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: mild heat that goes well with most foods that need a kick
Cons: high sodium
The Bottom Line: Crystal Hot Sauce has a mild heat and a perfect blend of cayenne peppers and vinegar for an incredible taste.
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| hvarmit's Full Review: Crystal Hot Sauce Louisiana's Pure Hot Sauce - 12 ... |
We love our hot sauce in my family. A lot of times, the hotter the better. But, sometimes it's great just to have a sauce that is a tad hot but not overpowering. One that won't burn your taste buds off on contact so you can still taste the food. My personal favorite (and now my daughter's favorite as well!) hot sauce for flavoring has always been Crystal Hot Sauce.
Crystal Hot Sauce is a Louisiana style hot sauce owned and bottled by Baumer Foods for more than 80 years. The company was based in New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina forced a move to Reserve.
Crystal Hot Sauce is not a sauce that packs a big punch, like Tabasco does. It's base is cayenne peppers which go better with a lot of foods, in my opinion, than tabasco does and has a milder heat. It has a reddish orange hue and comes in a glass bottle with a white label and the Crystal logo emblazoned across it.
The reason I prefer this hot sauce over Franks's Red Hot, or any other cayenne sauce is that it has a more prominent vinegar taste. You are getting a hint of sour "twang" along with the heat, and it blends perfectly with a lot of foods I use it on. For instance, I like to use it on fried largemouth bass. The heat is there, but not so much that my 7 year old daughter runs away from it, and the hint of vinegar makes it a perfect add on to a fried bass. I've also used this in chili, not for the heat but to help the jalepenos out and also for that "zing" of the extra flavor of cayenne.
Crystal is also great as an ingredient in a sauce (such as BBQ), or as an ingredient in a marinade (the vinegar and cayenne will slap a lot of flavor on a slab of meat). It's good on greens (turnip, mustard, collards) if you like to put pepper sauce on yours like I do. I practically eat it on everything.
Ingredients: aged red cayenne peppers, distilled vinegar, salt
Nutritional Panel:
Serving Size 1 teaspoon (5ml) Servings per Container 71 Calories 0 Total Fat 0 g Sodium 135 mg Total Carbohydrates 0 g Protein 0 g
It has a lot of sodium and because of that, and because of the fact I use this liberally on foods, I try to eat as little sodium as I can throughout a day so I can have my Crystal and not go overboard on the total sodium intake daily. I also love the ingredients; there aren't any big words I'd have to look up and wonder what adverse effects they might cause me in the future. Peppers I have heard are good for your heart health, but I'm here to tell you, they are terrible if you suffer from heartburn or acid reflux!
I love the "hot meets hint of sour" Crystal provides. They have a long shelf life and can sit for as long as you want. It only gets hotter with age. We always refrigerate ours after opening, and it never lasts more than 2 weeks, so we don't generally let it sit long.
It's easier found in the south I am told and has to be shipped out to states (and countries) that don't sell it in stores, by ordering online. If you are in the southern United States, it is found in Walmarts, Targets, all the major grocery store chains, and I even see it at my local family owned grocery marts. (I even see it in restaurants). It can cost from $1.50 to $3.50 depending on where you purchase it and if there is a sale going on at the store for it or not. I've tried (and like) a lot of hot sauces over the years, and I do have certain brands I like for certain foods. But, for an everyday hot sauce, I have always preferred Crystal. If you like cayenne pepper hot sauce, you'll probably fall in love with it too. I recommend to all.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID: hvarmit
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Member: April
Location: the South
Reviews written: 111
Trusted by: 7 members
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