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Tuesday, January 03, 2023

How the Tabasco Factory Makes 700,000 Bottles of Hot Sauce Per Day

 Daniel Geneen heads to the McIlhenny factory on Avery Island, Louisiana, where the world's supply of Tabasco sauce is made. Follow along as Daniel learns about the 150-year-old family-run business, and the Tabasco-making process, from pepper to barrel to bottle. 

VIDEO HERE  (11:48 minutes)

20 comments:

  1. I keep a large bottle of Tabasco around and have for many years. A bag of pork rinds and a bottle of Tabasco (a drop or so on each one) make a great snack. My daughter bought me a bottle of Scorpion Pepper Tabasco. The taste is great, but about 3 drops in a bowl of chili is all that's needed.

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    1. I bet I've got at least a half dozen bottles of hot sauces in the house at any given time and there's always a bottle of Tabasco among them.
      Try sprinkling Tabasco on popcorn sometime.

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    2. Serious question- If you're a guy that likes spicey, is there anything that chili sauce isn't good on?

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    3. Try sprinkling Cajun's Choice (or similar) instead- no more mushy popcorn.
      You're welcome!

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    4. Sriracha Guy - Tried on ice cream once. Fucked up the flavor of the hot sauce. Not a big fan.

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    5. I put it on popcorn myself some times! Eggs and green pea soup Tabasco is a must every time.

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    6. Ice Cream???

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    7. Yeah, don't try it. The taste is really off and they'll ask you to leave the restaurant.

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    8. Seriously though, my main go-to is habanero sauce. I especially love it on my sausage, egg and chow chow mess every morning. Soups and stews, stuff like that as well.

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    9. Chili sauce is extremely lame. Not a hot sauce.

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    10. Why would there be a tame chili sauce?

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    11. I add Tabasco to egg salad and deviled eggs - the deviled eggs disappear almost the second I bring them out.

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  2. I'm a fan of hot sauce but don't like Tabasco. Tastes...off. Prefer Franks, Dixie Crystal, Texas Pete, etc.

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    1. I like Franks too. I put that S#^t on everything. I also have some of this here "Shit the Bed". Put a drop on my tongue and that was fucking enough. I don't get it. the stuff is too damn hot to have a "flavor" and it would ruin the flavor of anything you put it on. But the Tobasco's and Franks and Texas Pete's have some taste in addition to the hot.

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  3. Built a house for the late Paul McIlhenny up in Cashiers NC. When the house was finished, he was supposed to throw us a big party and give all the workers each a case of Tabasco sauce and some other swag.

    Not to say anything bad about the dead, but when he was alive, he was all talk and no action.

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  4. I have grown to like Tobasco more in my middle age years. Growing up I preferred Louisiana to Tobasco. Always used the tiny Tobasco bottles that came in the MREs. Other notables in no particular order - Cholula, Sriracha, Frank’s, Texas Pete, Valentina, and lots of less well known types like Dave’s Insanity or Shit the Bed. I don’t do the extreme heat any more due to heart burn even though I still like it. Sometimes it’s still worth the agony though.

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  5. The first time I saw 12 oz bottles was in the cafeteria at work. I boosted one on my first day. Then I'd swipe another bottle every time I needed one and always kept a spare to leave in any home that didn't already have one. The Company kept me and my friends supplied for 16 years. Now I have to buy it, but that's cool.

    The only other hot sauce I've consistently used and liked is Melinda's. I'd travel with it in my backpack, and usually end up giving it to the Lufthansa FAs, for whom it seemed to have a cult following, on my way home.

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  6. A longtime fan of Texas Pete but for several years now Cholula Sweet Habanero has become my mainstay. It rounds all my taste needs and slides into home. Not as easy to find as other Cholula blends so I buy 2-3 bottles at a time.
    Growing up nearest thing to hot sauce was a small bottle of vinegar & peppers on the table along with salt 'n pepper. Introduced to hot sauce in the service with McIlhenny's. Too hot for my then novice taste so I stayed in the steak sauce lane.
    "Down South", McIlhenny's, steak sauce and onions disappearing from the mess-hall was a natural part of prepping for an operation.

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  7. Tabasco Chipotle is THE hot sauce. We've used all kinds of hot pepper sauce over the years but now we just use the chipotle Tabasco. Occasionally somebody gives us a bottle of some other brand and we'll use some of it but invariably it gets old and tossed before the bottle is empty. Try the chipotle Tabasco guys. It's got the heat and a wonderful smoky flavor. I've not tried it on I've cream or coffee but I've used it on just about every other food group with excellent results.

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  8. Grew our own Tabasco peppers last year for the first time. They made the sauce seem like water.
    Steve S6

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