Official Hot Sauce Making Thread

[rshortt]

Hi all, thanks for the awesome thread. I found it while googling for hot sauce recipes and it prompted me to join the forum.

I have recently dried some green jalapenos in a dehydrator and tonight I will be grinding them into a powder. Does anyone have a recipe for using powdered peppers for a hot sauce?

Also, has anyone here used xanthan gum to help suspend the pepper bits or powder in the sauce solution?

Thanks!
-Rob

 

[jgln]

Hi all, thanks for the awesome thread. I found it while googling for hot sauce recipes and it prompted me to join the forum.

I have recently dried some green jalapenos in a dehydrator and tonight I will be grinding them into a powder. Does anyone have a recipe for using powdered peppers for a hot sauce?

Also, has anyone here used xanthan gum to help suspend the pepper bits or powder in the sauce solution?

Thanks!
-Rob

No, I always make my sauce from fresh cooked peppers and much of the liquid to make the sauce comes from them, that and some vinegar. Is there a reason why you want to make a sauce using powder? What would you use for the liquid?

 

[rshortt]

No, I always make my sauce from fresh cooked peppers and much of the liquid to make the sauce comes from them, that and some vinegar. Is there a reason why you want to make a sauce using powder? What would you use for the liquid?

I had thought of some other uses for the powder - popcorn seasoning, jalapeno butter. I wanted to experiment with it also and thought I read before of a hot sauce recipe with it, only now I can't find any such thing.

I would use vinegar, water, and something like xanthan gum to keep the particles from settling.

I have several pepper plants on the grow but am experimenting with store bought peppers until I grow my own. Hopefully I'll have this down good by that time!

I did make a sauce from fresh green jalapenos, lime, cilantro, vinegar, water, and salt. It came out pretty good but I want to try some other methods, including aging / fermenting them.

 

[jgln]

Nothing wrong with experimenting, it is fun.

 

[Sean]

Hi all, thanks for the awesome thread. I found it while googling for hot sauce recipes and it prompted me to join the forum.

I have recently dried some green jalapenos in a dehydrator and tonight I will be grinding them into a powder. Does anyone have a recipe for using powdered peppers for a hot sauce?

Also, has anyone here used xanthan gum to help suspend the pepper bits or powder in the sauce solution?

Thanks!
-Rob

If you got good color, you could just slowly heat the powder with canola oil, and infuse the oil. Don't let it burn. Chile oil is nice to pour a bit over soup, a plate garnish, or used to make vinaigrette. Fun to play with.

 

[imaguitargod]

Hi all, thanks for the awesome thread. I found it while googling for hot sauce recipes and it prompted me to join the forum.

I have recently dried some green jalapenos in a dehydrator and tonight I will be grinding them into a powder. Does anyone have a recipe for using powdered peppers for a hot sauce?

Also, has anyone here used xanthan gum to help suspend the pepper bits or powder in the sauce solution?

Thanks!
-Rob

First off, be careful with Xanthan gum. Use a VERY small amount of it, if you don't you'll end up with a ball of snot instead of a hot sauce. It's best to use fresh, whole pods instead of powder (while powder will rehydrate, it doesn't do it very well, besides, you can find fresh unripened Jalapenos everywhere). I say put the powder in a salt shaker (minus the salt) and use it to flavor foods.

I have a blend of 13-20 dried peppers (each recipy is diferent) that I always carry with me and use on everything.

 

[imaguitargod]

On the 5 oz Woozies, do you boil them in water too or just add boiling sauce into them and seal shut?

I usually put them in a warm sanatizer solution for about a minute, let them drip decently dry and then put the sauce in them (this way they don't shatter when the warm sauce goes in them). ThenI put them in the water bath.

 

[user 22118]

Do you have a place you buy them locally or online?

 

[imaguitargod]

Do you have a place you buy them locally or online?

What, peppers?

Heather's Heat and Flavor has some excellent dried peppers and powders.

 

[user 22118]

no no no, woozies. I found them online but want to know if there are stores that sell them ever.

 

[imaguitargod]

no no no, woozies. I found them online but want to know if there are stores that sell them ever.

Oh, sorry. In CA, none that I know of. But some of the homebrew stores online sell them (Leeners does I know for sure).

 

[pnj]

I made two sauces tonight. I first grilled (on my stove top) a bunch of jalapenos and a few habaneros. I used about 10 habs and 20 jalapenos total.

I cut up half a sweet onion and five cloves of garlic and two large carrots.

I threw all of this into a pot along w/ 32 ounces of vinegar. I boiled this for 30 minutes, then split the mixture into two pots. I added a good tablespoon of All Spice and 3 large grated carrots to one pot, I added the juice of two limes at the end of the boil as well.

to the other I added 4 or 5 chipolte peppers (canned, it's all I could find) and a few large chunks of pineapple.

I then cooled them down and blended. I will let these sit for a week or so in the fridge, then strain them and bottle for consumption.

 

[user 22118]

What is the reason you split them up and then blended them? I just bought ten habs for making some sauce and almost did it up last night, but instead will do tomorrow on my day off. I have canned Chipotle peppers in Adobo and also am going to get some woozies today after work.

 

[pnj]

I split them because I made two different sauces.. one is more carribian style, with the all spice and carrots. the other has the chipolte and pineapple.

I don't usually write down my recipes, I just make a bunch of sauce with ingrediants that I like....

in this case, I started with a bunch of peppers, onion and garlic and vinegar, the split that so I could flavor each sauce a little differently, but still have the same basic underlying sauce flavor.

 

[user 22118]

Well, I went out and bought some Jalepenos and the Habs from above post. I will make two different sauces using vinegar, garlic, salt and maybe something else. I like the idea of carrot to give it that little sweetness and possibly even some color. I just canned up some dilled pickled zuchini two nights ago with SWMBO and they are f**king awesome! Taste just like a cucumber pickle, just are zuchini. Where if you have ever planted a zuchini then you know that one plant is enough for a family of 22, let alone the 8 plants I have going right now. Going to sound like Bubba in Forrest Gump, pickled zuchini, zuchini stew, zuchini grits, zuchini gumbo, fried zuchini...

 

[jgln]

Well, I went out and bought some Jalepenos and the Habs from above post. I will make two different sauces using vinegar, garlic, salt and maybe something else. I like the idea of carrot to give it that little sweetness and possibly even some color. I just canned up some dilled pickled zuchini two nights ago with SWMBO and they are f**king awesome! Taste just like a cucumber pickle, just are zuchini. Where if you have ever planted a zuchini then you know that one plant is enough for a family of 22, let alone the 8 plants I have going right now. Going to sound like Bubba in Forrest Gump, pickled zuchini, zuchini stew, zuchini grits, zuchini gumbo, fried zuchini...

I made zucchini lasagna, it was pretty good but watery. Probably best to cook some of the juice out of them before making the layers. I guess once made you can freeze it for fall when a lasagna would be nice.

 

[user 22118]

Don't cook them, salt them. When I make a zuchini rissoto or lasagna I like to shred the zuchini. Then salt it in a colander and let it sit for half an hour. Place into a dish towel and then squeeze the crap out of it and watch the water come out of it. It sounds like a lot of work, but think about making eggplant parmesan without salting it. The eggplant just tastes like crap and isn't finished expelling its juices. = watery.

So I just made the sauce. Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

I took a look at like 10 recipes and made my own out of it. Hab, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, water, carrot, pepper, salt and a roasted ancho. Then after tasting it I added an extra half of a small tomato to add just a little something. Delicious.

Then I also made up a Jalepeno sauce and it too is spectacular. Way hot, though it doesn't linger like the Hab one. Made mostly the same way, but with a couple of differences. No ginger and no tomato. That was all.

Also made pickles with cucumbers (ie pickles) and they were made three different ways. One with ginger and dried thai peppers, one with dried peppers and one without. I can't wait for them to come out...so to speak.

 

[imaguitargod]

Well, I went out and bought some Jalepenos and the Habs from above post. I will make two different sauces using vinegar, garlic, salt and maybe something else. I like the idea of carrot to give it that little sweetness and possibly even some color.

If I might give some advice. Add the salt at the last 5 minutes of the boil, that way it won't suck any flavors out...and add just a pinch, you don't want alot (trust me, after tasting 2,000+ hot sauces I can tell you, a fraction of too much salt can kill a sauce).

Also, keep in mind that carrots really don't lend much flavor to a sauce. They are mainly used as a filler by the industry. To really make carrots noticable you have to use a decent amount. If you are going for a Carribean style recipy (which you need carrots for), wash but don't skin some of them, this helps to strengthen that "carroty" flavor without needing to use a ton off carrots.

 

[user 22118]

I don't like to peel my carrots. I like the flavor and the "rustic" aspect. I understand what you mean about having to add a lot of carrots to affect the flavor. I think that I might do that the next time because I love that carrot flavor.

I also tossed the garlic, unpeeled, into a dry sautee pan and toasted it a touch. Then I did the same with the Habaneros and just gave it a little toasiness. Really delicious. Not a roasted sauce, but with a little bit of roasted flavor.

We had tacos last night with the Jalepeno sauce, it was amazing and freaking hot.

Thanks for the ideas...

 

[jgln]

I had a thought; with all the zucchini we have growing now I want to try a hot sauce with zucchini. Anyone ever try this or hear or this?

 

[imaguitargod]

I had a thought; with all the zucchini we have growing now I want to try a hot sauce with zucchini. Anyone ever try this or hear or this?

Zuccs don't have much flavor and will be completely burried under the pepper flavor.

 

[baybrew]

i tried to grow a habanero plant last year -- it only produced one pepper last year, but it's already getting fluffy and leafy for this year, so fingers crossed.

I put Miracle Grow Bloom Booster on my habaneros. They produced a ton of peppers.

I just made some sauce out of them a couple of days ago:

double handful of ripe orange habaneros
one ripe cayenne
distilled vinegar
juice of one lime
1/2-3/4 tsp of sugar

Blend and bottle

Delicious and super hot!

 

[user 22118]

I found out that you want to go light on the citrus juice. It can overpower the peppers, surprising really.

 

[imaguitargod]

I put Miracle Grow Bloom Booster on my habaneros. They produced a ton of peppers.

Miracle Grow is crap (not to mention nasty stuff). Go organic and you'll have much better results. Spray a solution of Epsim Salt with water on the underside of the leaves once a month when it starts flowering and this should double your flower production and help prevent flower drop. Or you can use the FoxFarm Nutrients for a MASSIVE yeild of both growth and flowers.

 

[RayInUT]

Miracle Grow is crap (not to mention nasty stuff). Go organic and you'll have much better results. Spray a solution of Epsim Salt with water on the underside of the leaves once a month when it starts flowering and this should double your flower production and help prevent flower drop. Or you can use the FoxFarm Nutrients for a MASSIVE yeild of both growth and flowers.

FoxFarm is the shiznit for growing everything.:fro:

 

[Irie5447]

Have you ever actually put a hop in your mouth? It will make your tongue numb.

So will a habanero pepper!:cross:

 

[imaguitargod]

So will a habanero pepper!:cross:

The chili-head here has to interject, Habanero's do not have a numbing effect. Jolokias on the other hand, do. :cross:

 

[Irie5447]

The chili-head here has to interject, Habanero's do not have a numbing effect. Jolokias on the other hand, do. :cross:

I am also a chili head and do realize that Jolokias have been known to have almost double the Scoville unit rating than habaneros. I do not care what type of tolerance you have to hot peppers, a habanero will make any living human beings mouth numb. I highly doubt you have ever taken a fresh whole habanero and chewed it up and swallowed it without any type of numbness in your mouth.

 

[Rick500]

I grew a bunch of habaneros a few years ago alongside my tomatoes and somehow came up with the bright idea that I'd make hot sauce.

So I gathered 28 (yes, twenty-eight) habaneros, a large tomato, and a pint of white vinegar and tossed them in the food processor.

Let me just say it was not a good scene when I opened the lid, put my nose in there and took a whiff. My eyes watered for a good three or four hours and my nose didn't stop running for longer than that.

 

[user 22118]

silly boy, tsk tsk

 

[dataz722]

anybody in the mood for some fried spam, maybe covered in hot sauce?

 

[dataz722]

wow, whoever cleared that out was quick as hell. I reported it and it couldn't have been more than 2 minutes later it was gone. I gotta give you credit for that!

 

[kjung]

I've got to share this one with everyone. I took a recipe that I found on another site, and changed it around to make it my own. It's a time-consuming recipe, but it's well worth the effort !

I call it Taco Cart Sauce

- A large handfull of an assortment of dried chilis
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 tblsp chipotle salsa(available in cans--not to be confused with Adobo sauce that chipotles are packed in)


Remove the stems and a few of the seeds from dried chilis.
In a cast iron pan, toast the chilis over medium heat for about 4 minutes.
Put the chilis in a medium sized bowl, and soak them in the warm water for 40 minutes.
Using a spoon or paring knife, scrape the pulp from the skins (as much as possible)and discard the skins.
Place the pulp in a food processor, along with the water that they soaked in.
Puree in the processor until it's all well combined.
Add the remaining ingredients and puree until smooth.

 

[user 22118]

Though not hot "sauce". SWMBO and I just made up some salsa using fresh ingredients from the garden.

1- 3gal bucket of tomatoes
15 fresh thai peppers
5 jalepenos
3 seranos
5 dried thai peppers
2 ancho peppers
1 head garlic
salt
pepper

We cooked it all in a pot till the tomatoes just started to lose their juices and then blended everything. Then back into the pot to simmer for 15-20 minutes. This allowed us to can up about 8 pint jars worth of awesome salsa. We could have gone hotter, but the night we did it up we thought it was enough. The next couple of days as we ate it, we realized that we needed more heat if using it as a sauce, though with chips it was right on the edge. Awesome no matter what.

PS...don't use onions as once you chop an onion and put it into the fridge for a week, then open the container you will find that it smells like ass. So if you make a salsa and eat it fresh, the onion tastes good. Longer, no bueno.

 

[pnj]

32 ounces of Apple Cider Vinegar
12 large Habaneros
2 large Anehiem Peppers
1 Medium Sweet Onion
3 large cloves Garlic
1 large Carrot
1 tablespoonish All Spice
Few Dashes of Salt
Few Dashes of Cumin
1/2 capfull of Liquid Smoke
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar

Rough chop the veggies and cook on medium high until the onions are soft. I kept the lid on. Dump in the vinegar and boil for 20 or more minutes. Blend and boil for another minute or so. I strained the solids out, then pour back into a bottle.

 

[jgln]

32 ounces of Apple Cider Vinegar
12 large Habaneros
2 large Anehiem Peppers
1 Medium Sweet Onion
3 large cloves Garlic
1 large Carrot
1 tablespoonish All Spice
Few Dashes of Salt
Few Dashes of Cumin
1/2 capfull of Liquid Smoke
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar

Rough chop the veggies and cook on medium high until the onions are soft. I kept the lid on. Dump in the vinegar and boil for 20 or more minutes. Blend and boil for another minute or so. I strained the solids out, then pour back into a bottle.

Looks like what it will coming out!

 

[jgln]

I am full throttle making hot sauces right now and when I am done I have enough for all next year and then some, still have sauces in canning jars from last year and the year before.

This year I made a suace from Trinidad Perfume (taste and smell like habaneros but no heat) and a few Fatali peppers (very hot, similar flavor) for some heat. Both peppers were yellow so the sauce is too. Very nice color.

So basically it is like a habanero wing sauce without so much heat you cannot use as a wing sauce.

 

[imaguitargod]

Just made a green sauce last night, primarly consisted of unripened Jolokia and Trinidad Scorpins. Homebrew, Vinegar, Tiquila, garlic, rosemary, basil, a dash of salt (right at the end), ginger, saffron, tomatillo, parsley....

Here we go. Here's all the peppers used:

Here it is boiling away:

Bottle with all the various beers we drank:

Now all I have to do is wait two weeks for it to mellow and settle, open it up and try it.

 

[pnj]

Do you blend and strain it before bottling?

 

[jgln]

Do you blend and strain it before bottling?

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.