Making Hot Sauces – Recipes, Techniques, etc.

[Chris Amirault]

I think I may try a bit more chilli powder (or possibly just more habaneros) next time as I could take it a little hotter. I'd be interested to know how hot the original is as I've never had the pleasure of it, what does it compare to?

I dunno! My picante taste memory is not what it used to be, and the variability of the habañeros I grow or can get has prevented me from stabilizing this. And -- sniff -- the last original bottle was drained years ago....

I seem to have maxed out my eG filesize limit so I can't post the pics of the finished product, but it was strangely much browner than Chris and &roid's versions. Maybe because my habaneros were mostly green?

I've had wide variety with color as well, and couldn't tell you why. Once, I added more clove than with another batch, and it seemed wicked brown, but that may be more psychological than anything else: it dominated and annoyed the heck out of me.

[patrickamory]

Habaneros have wildly variable heat content in my experience. Out of this batch I tested a small piece of one raw and it was only mildly spicy; worried, I tried a piece of another and my heart was instantly racing, sweat starting out of my forehead, endorphins flowing!

[Docrjm]

I have started to ferment some hot pepper sauce. Using a mixture of Jalapeños, Habaneros a version of a Thai red chile and a couple of pounds of apple chiles. Bought the apples by mistake, as they have less heat than a sweet red pepper.

I added them to the blended mix, as I figured that they would add some sugar for the ferment.

As my wife is leary of fermentation at home, I helped kickstart the process with a kefir starter.

I have everything in a 3gallon carboy. I added some toasted oak chip teabags to give hopefully some additional flavour.

[pastameshugana]

Photo 3389.jpeg

That is a beautiful picture!

[pastameshugana]

My late husband used to make hot sauce (in my margarita blender, dammit!) out of habanaros, vinegar, garlic, and assorted other peppers and tomatoes. I would leave the house. Could NOT breathe!

I'm not a drinker - but I bet that would make for some 'interesting' margaritas...

[rotuts]

Docrjm

" I helped kickstart the process with a kefir starter "

Im interested in how this works out. Ive just become a student of Kefir and find it very interesting.

its not really hard to add pics, and they are very much appreciated. just go to

"more reply option" R bottom and look that over. it takes several clicks. please give it a try some time.

i wonder how the Kefir would enjoy the spice.

interesting idea

Edited September 13, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[Docrjm]

Thanks Rotuts

Below are some of the peppers, I added about another 20lbs, leaving out the apple peppers in the subsequent market runs.

[Docrjm]

Rotuts

I used the kefir starter as it is not just lactic acid bacilli, but has some yeasts also.

Will keep you posted. I am planning to let it ferment for about 2-3 months. I will then check the acidity and bring the ph down to a shelf stable level.

[rotuts]

Wow

Who Knew? many many thanks for the pics Docrjm

I know nothing about this

but i must say it really looks interesing.

[Docrjm]

Wow

Who Knew? many many thanks for the pics Docrjm

I know nothing about this

but i must say it really looks interesing.

I'm just winging it mainly.

I am under instruction to try it 24-48hrs prior to serving to anyone else, If I am in the ER then it gets tossed

[rotuts]

do you have an reliable ref. for that length of time?

can you sample without damaging the MicoFlora from time to time?

excellent idea about the ER. but they won't have any idea on how to deal with your "distress" if you don't bring a sample of

the "Soup" with you!

[Docrjm]

do you have an reliable ref. for that length of time?

can you sample without damaging the MicoFlora from time to time?

excellent idea about the ER. but they won't have any idea on how to deal with your "distress" if you don't bring a sample of

the "Soup" with you!

Tabasco is fermented for more than a year in oak barrels, I have read around re fermentation.

Original plan was to get a 20L barrel and ferment in that, but was tardy in my ordering.

Have home aged some tequila in a small oak barrel(1L) and it was well aged in a few weeks.

I am not planning to taste as I go, but will keep an eye on the water lock to ensure ongoing fermentation.

I want to bottle it in some amber boston rounds to create a more "medicinal" look, day job is a General Practitioner, but my wife wants a bottle that will highlight the red colour.

[Ttogull]

I have started to ferment some hot pepper sauce. Using a mixture of Jalapeños, Habaneros a version of a Thai red chile and a couple of pounds of apple chiles. Bought the apples by mistake, as they have less heat than a sweet red pepper.

I added them to the blended mix, as I figured that they would add some sugar for the ferment.

As my wife is leary of fermentation at home, I helped kickstart the process with a kefir starter.

I have everything in a 3gallon carboy. I added some toasted oak chip teabags to give hopefully some additional flavour.

Apologies for lack of imagery, I can't figure out how to add the pics

Looks good. I did my first batch this summer, and have now done maybe 15 more. Yellow habs, red habs, chocolate habs, Fatalii, ghost, etc.

You'll get over the hesitation. I had a similar 48 hour rule, but now I sample stuff every night. No, rotuts, it does not disturb the micro flora. I even stir mine up to get the pulp back in the liquid (your pulp is floating, but I don't think that is a big deal). The main issue with tasting is the increased possibility of mold. But I just scoop that out now, if I can. If not, it doesn't matter!

A couple of things I learned. A starter like kefir is unnecessary. More importantly, it can be detrimental to the taste. The bacteria grow in waves of different types, with the following generation feeding on the byproduct of the preceding generation. By introducing culture, the earlier stages are skipped, changing how the nutrients are broken down and what bacteria dominate at certain stages.

I used to inoculate, but no more. I see no real difference. As someone else said, there is no need to pay for culture when every fruit you buy comes free with everything you need.

I have had good batches and bad. Oddly, I made two jars of identical habanero mustard. One is the finest smelling stuff - sweet, hot, mustardy. The other started smelling like stinky feet - that's being generous. Even the color looked odd. Tossed that one without trying it.

I think whether you can go months depends on your environment. Mine have all settled down to listless at about 4 weeks. They tasted good, so I bottled

Also consider other veggies. Okra pickled with habs and garlic are very, very good.

[Docrjm]

Thanks for your words of encouragement. The 48hrs is more to keep my wife happy. I added the oak to hopefully get an aged quality to it. Have you tried that?

[Ttogull]

I did identical batches of cayenne peppers and garlic, one with mesquite chips and one without. Both my wife and I agreed that the mesquite version tasted thinner and less complex than the one without. I'm not sure how much weight I'd put on that though.

My favorite thing to add, after garlic, is fresh tomato. It really seems to add depth and complexity.

[Docrjm]

Ttogull

Thanks for the tips. This is my first chile ferment, as with all things will get tweaked.

[Docrjm]

Spent this afternoon blending the sauce. PH is 3.7

Will be bottling it later this week, final PH check at that time, if stable will not add any additional acid. Certainly packs some heat, dipped a tortilla chip in as a trial, one was more than adequate.

[ChrisTaylor]

My first attempt at making hot sauce. I'm using a blend of Zimbabwean bird's eyes from my own garden and an assortment of varieties I found at the local grocer. Everything they had, really. Six kinds all up. I'm using the Tabasco-style hot sauce (meaning fermented) recipe from John Currence's Pickles, Pigs and Whiskey as it seemed as a good a place to start as any.

I feel like I've got the bug now. I'm tempted to go buy another bagful of chillis and make a sauce using a different method.

[Ttogull]

I made my sauces last Fall, and now I find that they are my go-to sauces. Wonderful taste and complexity.

I made mine differently than the PPW book. I don't like sugar, especially in hot sauces. I think the reason for leaving the chile mash at room temp for two days and then refrigerating for a month is to avoid mold growing on the top. I left mine set room temperature for probably about a month. I got a little mold, but Sandor Katz assures it is harmless. I am still alive, I think. If you keep your sauces in the fridge, the vinegar is more for taste. I used no vinegar. The xanthan gum is also unnecessary unless you object to shaking your sauce well before using.

Garlic and tomato are great ingredients to add, as I mentioned previously. I'd now add to the soy sauce and or fish sauce. Big umami kick.

[ChrisTaylor]

I've made another batch of the Pickles, Pigs and Whisky sauce even though my first one isn't ready yet. I did this because my Fatali plant had a lot of fruit and I didn't want it to go to waste. I combined the Fatalis with, again, the entire range of peppers I could find at the local shops. Mostly cayennes as I figued the Fatalis would make the sauce very hot. Because I had a brisket ticking away in the smoker I exposed about half of the cayennes to some hickory for a while just to see what impact if any, that will have on the finished sauce.

[Ttogull]

The fatalii is my favorite! I made a mango-fatalii ice cream that was awesome. I made a straight-up fatalii fermented hot sauce - just fatalii, salt, and maybe some water. I had it just a few days ago with cochinita pibil. It's a match made in heaven. And very hot!

[lindag]

I just watched the piece on '60 Minutes' last night where they visited the Louisiana island where Tabasco is made.

I don't think it's just me but it's by far my least favorite hot sauce - way to vinegar-y for my tastes.  But they sure sell a lot of it and have clearly made a fortune for the family over five generations.

Their only product that I do like is the Chipotle Tabasco, it is actually quite good and not vinegar-y tasting at all.

[ChrisTaylor]

The first batch is ready. Well, it's been moved into a jar and it's going to 'settle' for a month, but it's ready. Tasted some. Clean, fresh flavour of green cayenne and jalapeno peppers with a fair amount of heat that I guess comes from some of the hotter peppers I used. 

[turtle_hermit]

First post here, gonna resurect an old thread.

I grow several varieties of peppers each year just to stash away as hot sauce.

 

Two years ago, I spent a few weeks in Costa Rica with my friend's family. They would buy these very hot peppers called "Panama peppers" that I later identified as Aji Chombo, a kind of Scotch Bonnet from Panama. On the way back, one or two might have fallen into my luggage and I have been growing them ever since.

 

I make a really good Carribean-style hot sauce using these peppers. It is great on fish and other seafood, popcorn, chips, you name it.

 

12 oz/336 g Aji Chombo (other Scotch Bonnet or Habaneros will work)

4-5 shallots (200-300 grams depending on size)

5 cloves garlic

1 piece of fresh turmeric (thumb size ~25 grams)

juice of 3 limes

1 T mustard powder

0.25-0.5 C (60-120 mL) vinnegar

 

Cut peppers and shallots in half, roast in oven under broiler for 15-20 minutes. Turn every couple minutes to keep from burning. Remove from oven and put roasted peppers and shallots in a small saucepan with the garlic and enough water just to cover. Simmer for 10 minutes and strain solids but save the water. Add all ingredients (except reserved water) to a blender and blend until smooth. Use reserved water to thin out sauce to your liking.

 

Pile of Aji Chombo from last summer.

 

On the right is a bottle from late last year. To the left is from a few weeks ago and was half Aji Chombo/half Fatalii.

Tomato is just for color reference.

 

Cheers.

 

/K

[turtle_hermit]

Got another half pound yield since the last harvest a couple of weeks ago.

 

Made a rendition of Inner Beauty that I found on the site.

Never heard of this sauce or had a mustard-based hot sauce, very different.