Chocolate scorpion... IMHO, one of the best peppers out there, brain strains (red is the only one ive tried so far) are very tasty too. You also can't go wrong with the classic red ghost.

I also made some very delicious things with yellow fatalli.... hmm I may need to reconsider my decision to not grow them this year now that I think about it.

I use Habanero chilies because I have them in my yard all year. I grill them over Mesquite with some milder chilies and red bell pepper to stretch the sauce and give it added flavor. I used to make pepper sauce with raw ripe chilies, but now I always grill them first. The raw ones I used were Jalapeno and Serrano. I do make pickled cucumbers with raw Habanero chilies, however.

Lars

Great input, guys. I'm thrilled that the ones mentioned so far are all ones that I will be growing.

Lars, I love the idea of grilling your peppers first. Grilled peppers and onions taste great when the sugars start to caramelize.

Don't ignore jalapeno because it's too common or not hot enough. I make jalapeno sauces every year in multiple ways and enjoy them all. Cayenne is also good.

Chocolate habaneros are my favorite (so far...), this year I'm growing Jamaican Hot Chocolate and Black Stinger.

Red habs along with yellow Fatali.
Give the Numex Suave Orange habanero a try. No heat. Use your super-hots to add heat and for a flavor addition.
You can slice up onions, garlic, carrots, habs and Ghosts, toss'em with a little EVOO and kosher salt and roast'em in the oven for 25 minutes and then process them in the blender to give you a roasted sauce. They need to get a little black on'em. Use bitter orange or lime juice instead of vinegar...

The best sauces and jams I've made included a blend of peppers. I like to use red bell, sirrano, fresno habanero, and poblano... all that I consider staples.

I just bottled my first two 90 day ferments using the above mix in varying heat degrees and they're definitely the best I've made so far. I have a few more ferments in the pipeline including a couple with mostly yellow bhuts so this could get really interesting in the next couple weeks.

I'm looking forward to making a sauce with lemon drop peppers this year.

My hottest peppers being Habanero, Lemon Drop and Chinese 5C, I made some sauce with those. For filler I used red, yellow and orange bell peppers from store. I used about 50% hot and 50% sweet peppers (by weight). Turned out pretty good.

Seysonn

I think BLENDS are WAY better than any single pepper used in a sauce powder/rub type thing.

I usually use a a lot of Cascabel,Chilaca,New Mex,Ca. chile,De Arbol,and A LOT OF PASILLA peppers dry in my rubs and sauces.
I use them as a base and add other peppers for taste and or heat.
Everything compliments each other to get the taste I want.

Yes,I like heat BUT it must be something I use to make whatever I'm cooking taste GREAT.
Only Heat or sweet isn't going to work.

Make whatever taste the best it can.
I seldom eat anything without adding Chile's.
Each dish needs whatever,Sweet,Warm,a combination of whatever I like in taste and heat.

I have no favorite,by itself,but blends do the best job.
To me most people who can EVEN post a specific pepper in a post like this have limited the field by only considering 1 pepper as a favorite.
Mix those suckers up and fine tune them to make the best thing for whatever you are cooking,broiling,smoking salsa or whatever.

I don't get this "this is the best _______________(fill in the blank) pepper.
No one pepper does the job by itself,in my opinion.
A ton of them taste GREAT by themselves,whenever.

Most is caused by the crap some vendors and food sites post as fact.
A lot just repeat stuff they have no clue about.
Too much crap is posted on the net that people tend to take as fact.

This post was edited by smokemaster_2007 on Fri, Jan 9, 15 at 1:41

smokemaster -- Actually, that makes a lot of sense. When I make blackberry jam, I try to get as many different types of blackberries as possible, because the jam always turns out so much more flavorful. It should have dawned on me that hot sauce might be the same. Maybe I can do a combo of everyone's favorites!

I do love the ideas and info everyone has shared. Even though I do a lot of cooking and canning, I have never had to opportunity to make hot sauce, which I love. I'm super excited for this coming summer.

I live in smokemaster's world also. I have found that a "mix" of varieties, from sweet to nuclear, tends to be my better dishes, sauces, etc.

I do agree with roasting peppers brings a different "player" to dishes like salsa and chili, and a multitude of other dishes and even for a quick hot sauce. But for standard hot sauces that one would find in a bottle, I tend to stay on the road of fermenting a mix of fresh.

Still trying to figure out how they make a Tapatio type sauce which, if my hunch is right, is done with common Mexican DRIED chiles like De Arboles and Pequins, nullifying the fermenting thing.

Kevin

I like different peppers for different tastes.
Depending on what I'm using the pepper with I try and combine whatever I have to compliment my dish.
Sometimes Sweets are great,hots might be cool or supers might rock.
To me It's all about taste and heat.
There are so many peppers out there that can be used in combination with others to make the perfect taste and heat that you like.
Use the internet/foodie/pepper sites or whatever stuff on the net as only a suggestion of something to check out.
Not what you are told via any garden or pepper site as you have to have to use some variety or whatever.

This post was edited by smokemaster_2007 on Fri, Jan 9, 15 at 1:58

Figured I'd compile a list of all the peppers that people have used and consider "favorites" for their sauces. This will make an easy reference for me and whoever else might be interested:
Chocolate scorpion
red brain strains
red ghost
yellow fatalli
Habanero
Chocolate Habanero
Red Habanero
Jalapeno
Serrano
Cayenne
Numex Suave Orange habanero
Cascabel
Chilaca
New Mex
Ca. chile
De Arbol
PASILLA