Started my first hot sauce

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eatmorefrogs

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I started my first hot sauce tonight. I took about a dozen cayenne peppers, made them rethink their sins in the food processor, put them in a mason jar and boiled for 20 minutes. It's sitting in a mason jar for the next 1-6 months.

A dozen wasn't enough to come anywhere near filling the 16 oz mason jar (my grocery store estimation was way off). I'll use more next time.

Long story short, I'm interested in making a few more pepper mashes since I have 11 more mason jars to burn through. Anyone want to toss me a recipe or pepper ratio to play with? If not, it's play time.
 
EMF, I'm doing the same thing now. I've got a few cow-horn and cherry peppers from my garden that I don't want to use right now and don't want to go to waste. I'm looking around to find a good basic hot sauce recipe. Pretty funny about the peppers, "re-thinking their sins." Pete
 
It's my first time so take any of my advice with a grain of salt. I'm learnin' with ya.

The first basic step is making a pepper mash. After that, you'll have as long as you want before you need to pick out a recipe (since it needs to age.)

This is the mash information that I followed:
http://www.hotsaucemadness.com/pepper-mash.html

I'll bump this thread when it gets turned into hot sauce, she's 5 months old this week.

Cheers! Let me know how it goes!
 
There are two hot sauces that I will go out of my way to find and stock.

The first is Marie Sharp's. When you go into any house or restaurant in Belize, the Marie Sharp's is on the table, usually two bottles because the two best ones are the "green" and the "red".

Here's my clone of Marie Sharp's:
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup carrot, chopped
Water to cover
10 habanero peppers, seeded and fine chopped (more or less based on the heat level you desire.)
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt

Cook onion, garlic, and carrot in enough water to cover. Blend with immersion blender. Add habaneros. Blend with immersion blender. Add lime juice, vinegar, and salt to taste. Blend again, and store in fridge.

This is HOT. I'm not kidding. I know many people don't think things are hot when told they are hot, but I am a hot sauce person. And this is HOT.

For 1/2 of the batch I did last week, I added a little canned pineapple chunks and blended that. It's excellent, and you could use papaya or mango, and it would be excellent as well. But the authentic Marie Sharp's uses prickly pear (green) or carrots (red) and not the fruits.

The other hot sauce worth noting is Matouk's from Trinadad. I haven't cloned it yet, but I think it'd be fun to do. It's definitely got a fruit-forward flavor but still very hot.

A distant third is Pirate's Revenge from Eleuthera, Bahamas. A guy named Pete and his wife (her name is Rebecca) make it and it has papaya in it. It's excellent, too, but the Marie Sharp's is beyond that. I don't know if Pirate's Revenge is available anywhere except in the Bahamas, but if you see it it's a great tasty hot sauce, especially on conch fritters. A side note is that if you stop by their store, Pete is buddies with Mick Jagger and Lenny Kravitz who have houses nearby, and there are pictures of Pete's kids watching SpongeBob SquarePants with Mick Jagger if you ask.
 
I've been making hot sauce for over a decade. I no longer follow recipes, I just go by what sounds good. I keep my old hot sauce bottles and bottle my own. Kinda like when I used to bottle my beer. :) I've even used beer bottles for hot sauce but not having a resealable lid and not being able to see the sauce kinda sucks.

Like Yooper, I LOVE really hot stuff. I think a key to making good HOT sauce is using something sweet as well. carrots, peaches, pineapple, etc. In my opinion, it's really hard to make a bad sauce. I don't age mine, but I do make about six bottles at a time so by the time I get to the last bottle, it has aged, I guess.

I just made some 'taco' sauce last week using the dried peppers from the store.
dried peppers
onion
salt/pepper
garlic
cummin

blend.

Photo%20Aug%2025%2C%208%2045%2009%20PM.jpg
 
Yooper I think I love you. Marie Sharpes is the best hot Sauce I have had and it is hard to find any up here. I am doing your recipe within the next week or so.
 
Just a question pnj because I've never done a hot sauce and only have read about it: I notice most recipes add vinegar to increase the acidity. Does your recipe have an ingredient that will keep the acidity/ph low in order to age without spoiling?
 
That taco sauce in the picture does not have any vinegar. I often put some form of vinegar in my sauce but the taco sauce never lasts long enough to matter. :)
 
Just the other day I found jalapenos at the grocery store that were on sale, $0.99 for a pound. Since I am trying to keep busy anyway, I sweated down the peppers with onions and garlic and then added water and boiled down. Then I pureed the hell out of it and let it cool before adding vinegar. The issue now, is I have loads of hot sauce I am trying to pawn off on friends.
 
What's this talk of jalapenos? They are not even hot!!

Here you go... As per Marinades, Rubs, Brines, Cures and Glazes By Jim Tarantino

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I've made this recipe many times, and it never lasts long. people at work insist i bring it in every week or 2

1 small Onion
Crushed Red Pepper
1 heaping tsp Crushed Garlic
Salt as needed
4 large tomatoes
1/2 Cucumber
Splash of Lemon Juice
Jalapenos

I add a couple habaneros to add heat when i make it just for me. i know: "cucumber in salsa"? yep. excellent salsa for chips (doesn't taste great on food because of the cukes, though; only with chips)
 
OK I have made this recipe with lots of different peppers and they all come out great. This is large end of season recipe but everyone that has tried it loved it. Heck I even had requests and was paid to make it with jalapenos. The heat pends on the peppers you use. I grow Thai peppers which are like the 6-7th hottest peppers in the world and use them in this sauce. Now don't freak out how easy this is.

1 lbs peppers
3-6 cloves peeled garlic (all pends on size and how much you like garlic)
2 cups cider vinegar
1-2 tsp salt pending taste

yup that is it.

You smoke the peppers once split in half and garlic for 1/2 hour to 2 hours pending heat of the smoker.

Take peppers, garlic and salt add to a pot with the vinegar (recommend doing this outside) and light boil 10-15 minutes.

Take boiled stuff and blend in a blender until smooth.

Strain through a fine mesh (screen door like) sieve and serve.

The hot stuff I make takes a tooth pick full to add pepper flavor/heat and the jalapeno ones I use for lots of stuff even sandwich spread to kick up a sandwich.:rockin::fro::D
 
Here is the best sauce I have made to date... I used fatalii peppers which I grow myself... they are somewhere between habaneros and ghost peppers on the scoville scale (probably closer to ghost peppers in my opinion).

Substitute habaneros, scotch bonnets, trinidad scorpions, or ghost peppers and add a few sweet peppers to round things out.

Femme Fatalii
Approx. 200 grams Fataliis and other peppers (I added a few scotch bonnets and sweet peppers)
300 ml Water
200 ml red vinegar
100 ml white vinegar
.5 Tbsp sea salt
5 tsp brown sugar
1 shot Havana Club white rum (or other white rum if you lack access to the finest rum produced by human hands)

p1010067.jpg


Chop the peppers and saute in a skillet for five minutes. I suggest wearing a mask of some sort or doing this outside.

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Add the brown sugar, salt, vinegar and water and simmer another five minutes or so.

p1010071.jpg


Pour mixture into blender (allow to cool first if desired, else use a towel over the top of the blender to allow steam to escape). Add rum and puree until smooth.

Store in the fridge and use in small doses. Age for at least a week.
 
I just made hot sauce today! I had a lot of Cayenne peppers left over so I put them to work! I used a simple recipe because I didnt want to overdo anything.
25 Cayenne peppers
1 1/4 cups vinegar
1.25 tsp salt
.25 tsp garlic powder

All thrown in the blender and then strained the pulp out. It taste good but I guess I should let it sit. Does this have a short shelf life? Im thinking with all this vinegar it should be ok but I also sanitized the jar its in.
 
khugs21 said:
I just made hot sauce today! I had a lot of Cayenne peppers left over so I put them to work! I used a simple recipe because I didnt want to overdo anything.
25 Cayenne peppers
1 1/4 cups vinegar
1.25 tsp salt
.25 tsp garlic powder

All thrown in the blender and then strained the pulp out. It taste good but I guess I should let it sit. Does this have a short shelf life? Im thinking with all this vinegar it should be ok but I also sanitized the jar its in.

I made one like this but I left the pulp in and I used lemon drop peppers. It was fantastic. I used it all before it had time to age. I wouldn't worry about it going bad, just keep it refrigerated.
 
VegasJ said:
holy hell I have about 30+ cayenne peppers out in the garden I need to pick.

hmmmm... & I love hot sauce.

Damn, where do you live that you still have some on the plant? Mine are usually about finished by August.
 
home made hot sauce has such better flavor I will never buy it; you get pepper plus hot not just vinegar and hot.:rockin: again.:ban::tank:
 
Just finished up my Holiday Hot Sauce.

Lots of winter flavours, and a few Ghost peppers.

Gets cooked down, and am in the process of Oak aging it.

It tends to disappear really fast.


alexP
 
alrighty...

I finally pulled the last Cayenne & Jalapenos off the garden...

I have about 1/2 a grocery (plastic) bag full.

What are the measurements for vinegar, garlic, salt, lemon onion vs around 2 or so lbs of peppers? Should I just do a cayenne only or a jalapeno/cayenne mix?

1st try at this, so be gentle!
 
alrighty...

I finally pulled the last Cayenne & Jalapenos off the garden...

I have about 1/2 a grocery (plastic) bag full.

What are the measurements for vinegar, garlic, salt, lemon onion vs around 2 or so lbs of peppers? Should I just do a cayenne only or a jalapeno/cayenne mix?

1st try at this, so be gentle!

one pound peppers to 2 cups vinegar is the ratio that workd for me.:ban::tank:
 
thx

I went ahead and did about 1.5-2 cups to the 1/2 grocery bag... it was about 2lbs or a little more.

I have the sauce done... and I have this awesome smelling seed & skin pulp left over...

what do ya'll do with that? I'm thinking of using a spoon of it for some Chili today

ideas?
 
Yooper,

Gonna make half a batch of that Marie Sharp hot sauce today. Sounds awesome!

EDIT: Hot sauce completed. I have this strange problem with hot sauce colors other than red (mine being carrot orange in color)... So I added in 2 rehydrated guajillo peppers to the food processor and made the Marie Sharp hot sauce red. Strained, and so far so great!
 
For those who are fans of Sriracha-style hot sauce, I made the below with a random harvest from my garden and it is very similar in flavor and consistency to rooster sauce. Of course if you are buying peppers you may as well get thai peppers and do it proper but my proprietary blend got the heat about right.

Fermentation is a must with this type of sauce - if you don't want to ferment it you can try adding a good fish sauce to simulate the twang of fermentation.... but this is a homebrew forum dammit, so just stop mucking around and ferment it.

First, make a pepper mash in the blender:

1 ghost pepper, 10 scotch bonnets, about a pound of cayenne and hot cow horn peppers, a handful of jalapenos, and three paprikas
6 baby carrots
6-7 garlic bulbs
1 small onion
1-2 tablespoons cane sugar

Blend until smooth.

Add a lacto starter (skim the liquid from a cup of yogurt or add a couple unmilled grains) and store in a dark place for a month or so - under an airlock if possible, if not be prepared to mix daily or skim mold from time to time

After fermentation and aging is complete, return to blender and add a 3-4 tablespoons of honey. Mix one cup vinegar with one cup water and add to the mash in small amounts until you get the consistency and flavor you desire. Blend until very smooth and bottle. Store in fridge.
 
I love Sriracha.... I had just finished a bottle of it and used the bottle for my batch! My buddy saw that Sunday when they came over for chili...

"this isn't... Sriracha."

"nope, my own blend"

was damn good on the chili
 
I'm now on year 4 of hot sauce making. I make a 1 gallon batch every year now with the bountiful "year end" harvest from the garden. I typically grow a wide array of peppers and I have found that this give a better balance of flavor and heat in hot sauce form.

Here is also a link to a thread on fermented hot sauce...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f56/lacto-fermented-hot-sauce-294711/


As for my process, I usually start by collecting ripe jalapeno, serrano, habenaro, Thai, Tabasco, hot and sweet Hungarian/banana, cayenne, Anaheims, and anything else I have grown that is ripe... I usually collect and refrigerate (or freeze) them for several weeks until it is time to process them. De-stemmed (I don't bother removing seeds and such as you will see why, later). With each batch of peppers added from the food processor (takes 3-4 rounds) I add a hefty dose of kosher salt. Per gallon batch, I also add 2-3 large shredded carrots, 1/2 of a large onion, 8-10 decent sized cloves of garlic, and one can of drained diced fire roasted tomatoes. The tomatoes and carrots add some color and fermentables. Once finished, I add white vinegar to top off (still leaving a decent amount of head space), and stir the whole thing together. Once stirred, I inoculate the mash with lacto from a batch of sauerkraut that I will make a few weeks before making hot sauce, and again stir the mash.

A very active fermentation lasts 5-6 weeks in general, though I will typically leave in the jug for several months, kept in a relatively cool place like a basement. I have to return and stir/tap down the mash every few days during active fermentation to remove large air pockets. This is more of an issue if you don't leave enough head space. You will have a blow-out, even if you aren't using an airlock, if you don't leave ample head space, so you've been warned. Once the fermentation is no longer obviously active, I will top off the mash with vinegar to within a couple inches of the top of the jug. This again helps lower the pH and further reduce risks for spoilage creating a sort of blanket over the mash.

Once I get around to processing/bottling the hot sauce, I will decant the vinegar from the top of the mash (DO NOT throw this away, it makes a great pepper vinegar for Carolina style pulled pork) and press the mash through a fine sieve to remove seeds and any other larger particles/skin from the final product. Once finished, I have a large bowl of the pressed sauce and I will taste, adding back any vinegar I previously removed in order to get the balance I am looking for. Once bottled, it is shelf-stable and gift-ready, if it lasts that long. :D

Again, I have found that using a variety of peppers will give the best balance and flavor profile. Roasting some of the peppers may also be an option and will add a bit more depth to the flavor profile, although it won't be as "bright" as a fresh-pepper-only sauce. I also adjust the proportion of VERY hot peppers based on the number of sweeter peppers I may be incorporating. I will substitute more habenaros in place of jalapenos/serranos if I have a lot of hungarian peppers, for example.

Good luck and happy hot sauce making!
 
If I take my pound of frozen jalapenos and put them in an oven with a little salt and olive oil, roast and then buzz in the cuisinart before mixing with some white vinegar... think I will have a product with nice pepper flavor and a little kick or think it would be a bust?

I cant stop buying these bags of produce manager special jalapenos for $0.99 a shot...
 
If I take my pound of frozen jalapenos and put them in an oven with a little salt and olive oil, roast and then buzz in the cuisinart before mixing with some white vinegar... think I will have a product with nice pepper flavor and a little kick or think it would be a bust?


Sounds tasty to me. Give it a shot and let us know!

@Randar

What does fermenting do to the flavor profile? Does it give it a sour (like sauerkraut type of sour) twist?
 
thx

I went ahead and did about 1.5-2 cups to the 1/2 grocery bag... it was about 2lbs or a little more.

I have the sauce done... and I have this awesome smelling seed & skin pulp left over...

what do ya'll do with that? I'm thinking of using a spoon of it for some Chili today

ideas?

I would add enough vinegar to eliminate air bubbles and freeze it.

some of that on chicken enchiladas with cilantro would be magical!

If I take my pound of frozen jalapenos and put them in an oven with a little salt and olive oil, roast and then buzz in the cuisinart before mixing with some white vinegar... think I will have a product with nice pepper flavor and a little kick or think it would be a bust?

I cant stop buying these bags of produce manager special jalapenos for $0.99 a shot...

Olive oil in hot sauce might be a no no if you plan to keep it long.
 
@Randar

What does fermenting do to the flavor profile? Does it give it a sour (like sauerkraut type of sour) twist?

Not much discernible impact. Any vinegar you add will be more powerful than the lactic acid produced (which is generally pretty subtle). More than anything, it is for the preservative effect. The lactobacillus not only eats some of the easily fermentable sugars, but it will lower the pH far enough to prevent spoilage and give it storage stability you otherwise would not have without risking mold growth and spoilage
 
Made a VERY simple sauce last night. Roasted the peppers in a clay casserole with lid and an onion and 4 cloves of garlic in tin foil. When they were adequately roasted I trimmed and threw all into the processor with salt, pepper, and white vinegar and blended until smooth.

DEFINITELY a jalapeno sauce. Really nice pepper flavor, and only a wee bit of kick.
 
Megabump.

I'm about 6 weeks out from hitting the two year mark on my mash from this thread and I think I'm going to commit to making the sauce.

Any other mashes from this thread still going? :ban:
 
Here's my clone of Marie Sharp's:
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup carrot, chopped
Water to cover
10 habanero peppers, seeded and fine chopped (more or less based on the heat level you desire.)
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt

Cook onion, garlic, and carrot in enough water to cover. Blend with immersion blender. Add habaneros. Blend with immersion blender. Add lime juice, vinegar, and salt to taste. Blend again, and store in fridge.

Yooper - New to hot sauce and a little confused. For the recipe above is there no pepper mash? Follow the directions and it is ready to go?
 
emf, thanks for the bump. Kinda funny you bumped when you did. I just cracked my peppers (more of a dip than a sauce) open about ten days ago. Pretty good for a first effort I think. I may have some a little later today (still at work right now...).
 
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