Smokin’ Ed’s / Puckerbutt Sauce Company – Melt Your Pot Chili Seasoning
When it comes to making chili I’m normally not a pre-made seasoning guy. I have a pretty nice selection of various powdered, flaked, and whole dried chiles that I like to mix and match when I’m making a pot, and I also find it’s a great way to use up the final bits of bottles of hot sauce that I have sitting in my refrigerator so that I can make space for some new ones. However on a recent order from Puckerbutt I had to get my total just a bit higher to qualify for the free shipping and since I hadn’t given any of Smokin’ Eds seasonings a go yet I tossed this into the cart to give it a go.
With a dark reddish brown color and an aroma that reminds me of your typical McCormick or similar chili powder. My father would always use the 2 Alarm Chili Kit that you can find on any grocery store shelf when he made chili so the scent of this was a bit nostalgic. While in typical Puckerbutt fashion they don’t disclose all of the peppers involved this does contain a tiny bit of Pepper X plus some of the other typical chili powder ingredients such as onion and garlic powders plus paprika.
Putting a bit into my palm for a taste of it straight this has a smoky flavor with a nice chile presence. The onions and garlic are present and while there’s a tiny bit of heat this is far from being hot enough to “melt your pot” in my opinion. A hotter version of this with Pepper X as the main ingredient would make for a much more compelling product and make this into something unique that you wouldn’t be able to get an equivalent of at your local grocery store.
Given that this is marketed as a chili seasoning I decided to make a pot of chili with it. In order to test the flavor of just this seasoning I refrained from adding any additional dry spices or sauces and just went very basic with ground beef and some sauteed onions and garlic along with a can of crushed tomatoes with this seasoning and a bit of salt being the only additional seasoning. The good news is that this is very effective an providing that chili flavor, though even adding half of the bottle to a pot it was still quite lacking in heat compared to what I usually come up with. Going outside of the box I also tried sprinkling this into a bowl of instant ramen as well as using it as a dry rub for some pork chops I through on the grill. In the ramen it created a nice fusion flavor that I found compelling, and as a dry rub it did give the pork chops a nice chili essence.
This is a flavorful seasoning and if you’re looking for a one bottle chili powder option you could do a lot worse than this. I do wish that this had considerably more heat however, as overall it’s quite mild. A true Pepper X dominant version of this would be something I’d love to try.
Ingredients: Spices (Including Chili Pepper), Salt, Dehydrated Garlic, Dehydrated Onion, Extractives of Paprika, and not more than 1% Cottonseed Oil Added as a Processing Aid, Pepper X
Heat Level: 2/10. There’s some warmth from this seasoning but no real heat.
