For those who love spicy food, there is no shortage of options in the Kansas City area. And here are a few hot items to use as stocking stuffers or to put under a tree this year.
Your search for spice should begin with Original Juan (111 Southwest Boulevard, Kansas City, Kansas). The specialty foods purveyor sells a huge variety of hot sauces, and with brands like Pain Is Good and Da' Bomb, these are the kinds of hot sauces that nuke your mouth. Da' Bomb's The Final Answer rates at 1.5 million Scoville units -- the measure of heat in a pepper -- while The Source is 7.1 million Scoville units.
The Scoville scale is capped at 350,000 units, which means these are literally off the charts in terms of spiciness. For comparison, a poblano pepper is about 1,000 Scoville units and a jalapeno is around 2,500.
When it comes to sauces, the Three Little Pigs Huff and Puff Spicy Chipotle BBQ Sauce will open up your nostrils in a hurry. It has a rich, smoky flavor.
And for those who are looking for flavor but maybe can't stand the heat, Plowboys BBQ Bovine Bold Rub is one of the rare rubs that works with chicken, pork and beef. It also has the enviable quality of making whatever you cook taste better. If it has a kick, it's the old-fashioned kind of salt and pepper -- meaning you won't need to run for milk or vegetable oil to cool your mouth down after a plate of barbecue.
If you're looking to introduce something from outside Kansas City to a local smoker, take a trip to the Kansas City BBQ Store in Olathe. You'll find shelves of sauce and rub from around the country. And when you get hungry, and you will get hungry, you can stop into Oklahoma Joe's -- it's right next door.
[Image via Flickr: wstryder]
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