Official Hot Sauce Making Thread

imaguitargod said:

I LOVE pepper products. I'm an official hot sauce reviewer and have been for about 4 years now and I can say, being a vetern of over 2,000 sauces sampled, there are so many different styles and combos out there that it's almost limitless as to what you can create.

As a pepper grower (biggest crop was 213 plants out of 27 different varieties) I found it best to dehydrate the peppers for later use or freeze them whole for use in sauces (currently have about 10 pounds worth in the basement fridge). Here's a rough estimate of a green sauce I just did:

Blend finely:
1 bottle's worth of plain vinegar
3 cloves of garlic
3 tomatillos
3 ripe cherry tomatoes
a splash of homebrewed APA
a splash of good tequila
10 unripened Fataliis
15 unripened Asain Birdseyes
10 unripened Serranos
5 unripened Bhut Jolokias
1 Ripened Bhut Jolokia
5 unripened Scotch Bonnets
1 ripened Scotch Bonnet

Boil until pH is 4 (for shelf stability), then throw in 3 strands of Kashmir Saffron and a light sprinkling of Jurrasic Sea Salt and boil for another 5 minutes. Cool and bottle. Let sit for 3 weeks for flavors to meld together, consume.

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Sounds awesome. I'd like to see that garden. Wish I had access to some jolokias. Always wanted to make a salsa with them.

Acoma said:

Sounds awesome. I'd like to see that garden. Wish I had access to some jolokias. Always wanted to make a salsa with them.

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There's tons of places online (www.heatandflavor.com for example) that sell dried pods and powders. They are quite tasty (having eaten many fresh pods in my time). Kinda smokey and earthy flavor.

Thanks. I think I may order some seeds and grow them. I have a garden with some herbs and chiles and I'd like to add them.

I think you can order them from the New Mexico State University. At least that's what a co-worker said he did. Be careful who you order from, he got burned a couple times before he found a reputable supplier (he was sent non-jolokia seeds for $20 each). The money rip-off was bad enough. However, then he had to waste a growing season to find out he didn't have what he thought he did.

He gave me a couple plants that I have growing on my patio right now. They just started putting on buds and I'm expecting about 10-15 flowers per plant this round.

The first couple peppers will be seed stock but the rest will be made into sauce and powder.

check out www.pepperjoe.com. They have a huge variety including a few bhuts. They actually have free shipping right now.

Many sites have the bhut jolokia seed, but the Chili Pepper Institue at New Mexico State University has high quality seeds. There are actually several different varieties that are in the same heat range as jolokias, and I'm growing seven different varieties this season.

One thing to note if you want to grow the super hots, they take four to five months to get good fruit off of them. So, if you're planning to grow this season, and you live in a place that has winter, you better get them started pronto.

usfmikeb said:

One thing to note if you want to grow the super hots, they take four to five months to get good fruit off of them. So, if you're planning to grow this season, and you live in a place that has winter, you better get them started pronto.

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No kidding on the long growing season. We actually started our plants indoors under grow lights last October. They never took off until Spring hit a few weeks ago. No matter how much you baby them, they take a while to produce.

Yep, I start mine indoors under lights in early February, they don't go outdoors until early May, and I start getting decent fruit in July. I get a small amount of fruiting before that, but it isn't until late July or early August that they really take off.

COmpletely agree with everyone's comments about be careful who you buy them from. I usually start my Jolokias in January or February and sometimes they can take up to a full month to hatch.

Okay, call me stupid.

I de-seeded and diced 10 habeneros and 15 jalapeños this morning to make hot sauce. The good news is the sauce rocks, though the color is a little more yellow than than red in color. The bad news is that I didn't wear gloves, my hands are still burning even after multiple applications of rubbing alcohol and skin lotion and hours of RDWHAHB.

Any secret remedies out there?

Rinse your hands in milk or yogurt. The fat in dairy supposedly breaks the bonds that hold the capsacin to you.

Once it's in your skin, you can't get it out. I'm talking from experience here. I make a hot sauce mash from jolokias, and buy them by the tomato box from a local farmer. After cutting up a box of jolokias, it can get through the latex gloves I used to wear. Then, when cleaing the pots and utensils, it would get in my skin as well. I would usually feel some heat in my hands for a couple days from that.

Thanks,
I've got brewing down but this is my first foray into hot sauce.

I wound up using rubbing alcohol to dissolve the capsacin followed by hand lotion to repair my already damaged skin. It worked pretty well but I can still detect capsacin in my fingers when they get too close to my lips.

This was a trial run for when my jolokias are ready (I have two plants growing). I will definitely wear good gloves when I de-seed them. I'm thinking about goggles and a mask as well. Any recommendations?

If you're only doing two plants worth, you can use latex gloves. My wife bought me a pro grade gas style filter mask for making my sauce, but I've never used it. I have gotten capsaicin in my eyes when making sauce, but that's from my hands. Keep a bottle of eye drops handy, just in case.

The best hot sauce I have ever made is from peppers (cherry,jalapeno,cayanne) that have been left on the plants in October (before frost) until they begin the wrinkle and get soft. At this point they are deep red, reduced water and very hot but very rich in flavor, much better than fresh ripe peppers. I made pure Jolokia bhut sauce too but not this year, I have enough to last a long time, great on tacos. Have about a pound of dried too that is good on pizza.......every once in a while. Our dog and cats were hacking when I made the sauce.

Ravenshead said:

Thanks,
I've got brewing down but this is my first foray into hot sauce.

I wound up using rubbing alcohol to dissolve the capsacin followed by hand lotion to repair my already damaged skin. It worked pretty well but I can still detect capsacin in my fingers when they get too close to my lips.

This was a trial run for when my jolokias are ready (I have two plants growing). I will definitely wear good gloves when I de-seed them. I'm thinking about goggles and a mask as well. Any recommendations?

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If you don't have gloves handy, I read somewhere that you can rub cooking oil on your hands before slicing peppers. It works pretty well just wash your hands with soap and water when you are done. I like cold water because it helps keep your pores closed.

I'll have gloves next time. I learned my lesson.:cross:

More importantly, I found the last sauce a little too vinegary for my taste. Can I do a water-based sauce with a smaller amount of vinegar and still get the pH below 4?

Add some lime juice...

Put my plants in the ground this weekend, counted 130 hot pepper plants. This year I decided to go mild though, cherry pepper, cayanne and jalapeno.

jgln said:

Put my plants in the ground this weekend, counted 130 hot pepper plants. This year I decided to go mild though, cherry pepper, cayanne and jalapeno.

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Nice. I have a whole slew of hot/flavorful stuff this year. Tabasco, anaheim, poblano, serrano, habanero, lots of jalapeno and hungarian hot and banana peppers. Should have lots of fun concocting a hot sauce this fall.

Unfortunately, my plants aren't doing to well this year...

Randar said:

Nice. I have a whole slew of hot/flavorful stuff this year. Tabasco, anaheim, poblano, serrano, habanero, lots of jalapeno and hungarian hot and banana peppers. Should have lots of fun concocting a hot sauce this fall.

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Have you tried letting them really ripen on the plant to where they get deep red and soft especially in the fall? Adds another dimension to the flavor. I stumbled across that when I was to busy to pick and do something with them and when I did they were on the plant for a while. They were beginning to wrinkle and dry out but still soft and not rotting to my surprise. Best tasting sauce I made so far. Try it. Of course I will pick them throughout the summer but once I got some sauce in stock I let the rest sit since any new flowers won't have time to mature that late in the year anyway.

usfmikeb said:

Unfortunately, my plants aren't doing to well this year...

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Do you know why that is? This year I waited a bit longer because in the spring we get these cold strong winds that beat the hell out of the plants and we live in open farm land with no wind block. One year the winds beat off (ha,ha) just about all the leaves and really set them back, they never really recovered.

I made this one to clean out the garden last fall. The peppers were a random mix of jalapeno, serrano and Georgia Flame, all ripened to bright red.

4 to 5 oz of small fresh hot red peppers
½ c dry sherry
½ c brandy
A wedge of salt-preserved lemon, skin and all. (It was supposed to be ½ c lime or lemon juice, but I didn't have any of that).
(½ tsp salt - I left this out due to the salt-preserved lemon)


Wash & dry the peppers. Cut off the stems, but don’t take out the seeds or cores. Puree them in a blender or food processor with the brandy, sherry, citrus component and salt.

Put the puree in a large canning jar and cover tightly with cheesecloth or other fabric to exclude dust and critters, but let air circulate. Keep in a warm spot for at least 2 weeks, occasionally swirling it around to mix it up.

Taste it to judge the level of heat, and add cayenne to taste if needed. Blend it again (blender or food processor) to make it as smooth as possible. Push every last bit of puree possible through a fine sieve, leaving just the seeds and tough bits behind.

Funnel the sauce into a jar or bottle for table use and store, covered, in the refrigerator. Keeps indefinitely.

This made almost a pint, pretty hot with a strong lemon tang. I was surprised by the heat of the Georgia Flame peppers. They were the size of banana peppers, so I expected about that level of heat;also, the label promised only moderate heat, so I had planted these to be my mild variety. I don't think they cross-pollinated and we didn't have unusually hot weather, but they were easily as hot as the other two.

It was fun, and I'll do it again this year. Probably with slightly different results, as the garden cleanings are bound to be a bit different.

Here's the one I made last weekend:

6-8 Jalokia Bhuts
15 Habeneros
8 Dutch Cayennes
1.5 c white vinegar
16 oz Can of tomato sauce
2 bottles of Guinness minus a couple samples
enough olive oil to emulsify

I cooked the whole mixture down until the vegetables were soft and blended with a hand held Cuisinart adding the olive oil as I mixed.

I'm really surprised both at how good it tastes and how not-so-hot it is. I had expected more out of the Jalokias. The next batch will be the same recipe minus the Dutch peppers and with twice the Jalokias.

anyone know a good forum specificially for hot sauce making?

This is mine, I make it at work in 10 pound (of chilis) batches at a time, i haven't made the same batch twice yet though the results are surprisingly consistent.

any ammount of your favorite blend (or not a blend) of chili peppers
oil
salt, sugar and lemon juice to taste

- de-stem (but leave the seeds in) the chilis and pulse em in the food processor until they look minced
- place in a saucepan and add just enough vegetable oil to cover
- bring it up to high heat, kill it when the pot comes to a good "boil" and give it a good stir, letting the residual heat to a little bit more cooking.
- Cool, then season to taste with salt, sugar and lemon juice.

The oil helps it keep longer in the fridge, and you kind of get 2 products: the oil and the chunky goodness.

I am glad I found this...funny how similar us homebrewers are eh?

I have made many hot sauces using papayas and mangoes, but recently found a chili sauce that I really liked, and though I would make more of a salsa type sauce that I can slather on chicken and eggs in large quantities, that is full of flavour and only medium heat. Quantities of ingredients will be improvised and jotted down during cooking, so these are just ballpark estimates.

1 dozen unripened hungarian peppers
5 ripened hungarian peppers
2 ripe habanero
3 onions
3 large sweet potatoes
5 roma tomatoes
5 random heirloom tomatoes from the garden
3 heads of garlic
dark ale
olive oil
salt

I am planning on smoking half of the peppers, and half of the tomatoes over applewood, half of the onions will be carmelized in olive oil, and the sweet potatoes will be roasted with olive oil. The garlic will be roasted as well. Once this is all done I will throw it all in a pot and add my dark ale to adjust sweetness and consistency. This will cook down, cool, and food process. I thought the roasted garlic and roasted sweet potato and smoked pepper and tomato flavours would be nice and round and robust and would complement the heat and sharpness of the peppers.

what do you think?

I've grown peppers for the last several years. Mostly bells and Italian frying peppers Two to four plants per year. Occasionally a jalapeno. My garden is only about 48 sq. '. This year I grew chiles and jalapenos and (I'm guessing) because I've been adding my spent grains to the garden all winter, it's taken off. I've got 12 - 18 jalapenos and about 20 chiles. I don't want to waste them rotting on the vine (cukes too, btw). Any suggestions (freezing, drying, etc.)?

I just made about 2 gallons worth first picking, already got enough for second batch. I just do salt, vinegar and remove seeds and skins after cooking and blending then jar. Will last us through winter and to next summer by the time I am done in the fall. basically our wing sauce supply.

About 90% of what I grow are datils. Hands down my favorite chili - very unique flavor. It's heat level is just a bit below a habenaro and that's fine with me. You guys keep your bhuts and naga vipers - you're better men than me. I love Carribean style hot sauces. Here's a clone for Lottie's Bajan hot sauce as I found it on the net:

12 md Habaneros, stemmed, seeded
2 lg Cayenne peppers, stemmed, seeded
1 15 oz can sliced Mango, drained
1 c Cheap Yellow mustard
1/4 c Brown sugar, packed
5 tb White vinegar
1 tb Curry powder
2 ts Cumin
1 tb Chili powder
1 ts Salt, or to taste
1 ts Fresh ground black pepper

I use fresh mangoes instead of canned and use datils in place of the other peppers.

madbaldman said:

About 90% of what I grow are datils. Hands down my favorite chili - very unique flavor. It's heat level is just a bit below a habenaro and that's fine with me. You guys keep your bhuts and naga vipers - you're better men than me. I love Carribean style hot sauces. Here's a clone for Lottie's Bajan hot sauce as I found it on the net:

12 md Habaneros, stemmed, seeded
2 lg Cayenne peppers, stemmed, seeded
1 15 oz can sliced Mango, drained
1 c Cheap Yellow mustard
1/4 c Brown sugar, packed
5 tb White vinegar
1 tb Curry powder
2 ts Cumin
1 tb Chili powder
1 ts Salt, or to taste
1 ts Fresh ground black pepper

I use fresh mangoes instead of canned and use datils in place of the other peppers.

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I see you add yellow mustard..well I took these yellow cayenne peppers and add made sauce then added it to yellow mustard for a super spicy yellow mustard, very good, especially on a hot sausage on a good hard roll.

I have added other stuff to my sauce in the past, but now I like it pretty basic, just peppers, vinegar and salt.

jgln said:

Have you tried letting them really ripen on the plant to where they get deep red and soft especially in the fall? Adds another dimension to the flavor. I stumbled across that when I was to busy to pick and do something with them and when I did they were on the plant for a while. They were beginning to wrinkle and dry out but still soft and not rotting to my surprise. Best tasting sauce I made so far. Try it. Of course I will pick them throughout the summer but once I got some sauce in stock I let the rest sit since any new flowers won't have time to mature that late in the year anyway.

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That's what I did last year. I basically used everything I had "left" at the end of the season (some were wrinkly as you noted) and made the sauce from that. It was mostly jalapeno, serrano, partially ripe habanero, and some hot cherry peppers (maybe some others I don't recall off the top of my heat).

The sauce is deeply flavored and is well balanced with a deep sweet flavor offsetting a mildly hot pepper background. Tons of flavor but not overly spicy. Very good general purpose sauce. I don't have much to compare it against. I think this may be similar to ice wine. The sugars and flavors are very concentrated and provide a deeper range of flavor. Be curious if some more experienced folks tried it and came to a similar conclusion.

jgln said:

If you are asking me I do, I don't want seeds and skins in my sauce, that is about all that gets strained out the rest winds up in the sauce. I am not saying I never did leave it unstrained or never will I just prefer to get the seeds and skins out most of the time. Blending? Of course, what goes in the jar or bottle is the finished product less aging.

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I left the seeds and skins in the sauce during aging (in vinegar) and then strain it before bottling. Works well and results should be similar.

I am going to try fermenting at least one batch this year with a culture from homemade sauerkraut.

jgln said:

I see you add yellow mustard..well I took these yellow cayenne peppers and add made sauce then added it to yellow mustard for a super spicy yellow mustard, very good, especially on a hot sausage on a good hard roll.

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I did something like that myself. I added datils and some dill to plain yellow mustard. Dynamite on sausage. I need to make some more.

I make a jerk mustard sauce with jolokias, awesome on burgers, fries, chicken tenders, etc.

Randar said:

That's what I did last year. I basically used everything I had "left" at the end of the season (some were wrinkly as you noted) and made the sauce from that. It was mostly jalapeno, serrano, partially ripe habanero, and some hot cherry peppers (maybe some others I don't recall off the top of my heat).

The sauce is deeply flavored and is well balanced with a deep sweet flavor offsetting a mildly hot pepper background. Tons of flavor but not overly spicy. Very good general purpose sauce. I don't have much to compare it against. I think this may be similar to ice wine. The sugars and flavors are very concentrated and provide a deeper range of flavor. Be curious if some more experienced folks tried it and came to a similar conclusion.

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Yeah, a hint of sweetness and I think the sugar makes the sauce very rich in "texture", kind of like a barbeque sauce but not as sweet. It is a different sweetness too, not cane sugar sweet.

I also found out by my procrastination that peppers in a bag not completely ripe will ripen, in this case while in with other completely ripe peppers. Kind of like how tomatoes will with an apple in the bag. I also found the fully ripened ones got even riper much like the ones left late on the plant. They got deep red and soft. Cool, I don't have to wait so long to intensify the flavor.

This time of year I work, come home and make tomato or peppers sauce, go to bed and repeat. I call it my second job at the processing plant.

Randar said:

That's what I did last year. I basically used everything I had "left" at the end of the season (some were wrinkly as you noted) and made the sauce from that. It was mostly jalapeno, serrano, partially ripe habanero, and some hot cherry peppers (maybe some others I don't recall off the top of my heat).

The sauce is deeply flavored and is well balanced with a deep sweet flavor offsetting a mildly hot pepper background. Tons of flavor but not overly spicy. Very good general purpose sauce. I don't have much to compare it against. I think this may be similar to ice wine. The sugars and flavors are very concentrated and provide a deeper range of flavor. Be curious if some more experienced folks tried it and came to a similar conclusion.

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Did you do that on purpose or was it because you had heat in your head/heat