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How many pods or lbs of pepper to make a mini batch of sauce?

So I'm about to make some mini batches of different hot sauce recipes. That way I don't have to waste my harvest experimenting.

What would be some ratio's to fill a 5oz woozy?

Also let's say I like the sample, and would like to fill another 100 oz. Would I just multiply all the ingredients by 20?

I know such a NEWB question but all my teachers growing up said there's no such thing as a stupid question. Haha

Mucho gracias!
 
It's really a nebulous question. How hot do you want it? What kind of peppers? How strong is the vinegar? Are you using other things like fruits / veggies? A million other questions come to mind.

The whole point of doing a mini batch is to figure out the balance you're looking for. And the only way to do that is trial & error. There are loads of recipes here but no one knows your taste or tolerance better than you.

I'd suggest though that 1 x 5 oz woozie is a bit "too mini". How are you going to bring just 5-6 oz of sauce to 190+ degrees? And with reduction you'll end up with what, 2-3 oz? And with such a small amt of liquid it'll likely sear, which is bad - ruins flavor & adds bitterness.

I'd suggest doing at least a mason jar per batch.

The scaling question is also tricky but I think I can help more there. When you do your small batches, weigh everything in grams. Solids, liquids - everything. From there, you multiply by whatever factor you want. However not all ingredients scale equally.

So for example salt - when you scale out the salt, scale it evenly with everything else. But when you go to make the larger batch, start with say, 60% of the salt. Put a little in a cup & chill it - then taste it. If it needs more you can add it. Almost guaranteed you won't scale the salt more than 65-80%. Maybe less.

Vinegar also scales a little off - especially sharp vinegar like a white. Not as extreme as salt, but you may want to up a sweet component (sugar/fruit/carrot/etc) to balance the snappiness of the vinegar. Or you can use a mellower vinegar like cider, or you can dilute with water to take a slight edge off.

Be sure to check the ph of your batches.

Hope this helps - you should be able to get some starting ideas from the recipe topics. The ratio will be up to you though.

:cheers:

Scott
 
Thank you that's exactly what I needed to understand better. The scaling. I've seen lots of recipes on here that I'd love to try but they never say how much the recipe will yield so it's hard for me to figure out how much to divide everything by to scale down to a mini batch. Ok so I will experiment to make a mason jar. I guess if the normal recipe calls for 20 pods I'll use 3-5 pods. If it calls for 1 and 1/2 cups of white vinegar I'll try using half a cup instead. Etc. if the recipe said this will make 9 pints then I understand how to use a calculator to scale it down. Since I don't know how much a recipe actually yields not sure how to scale it down to make a mason jar.... I'll just start experimenting and learn through my own mistakes.

It's a tragedy that I don't have a lot of peppers to experiment since this was my first year growing seriously and I made mistakes. Next year hopefully I'll have many more pods. Also here in Michigan all I ever find at store is jalapeños, Hungarian wax, Serrano, and hananero's. I may need to buy more exotic pods off the internet throughout the winter and spring to keep experimenting with, so by next summer I'll know what to do with my harvest.

Thanks again I appreciate it!!!

( I want to experiment with mango habanero, watermelon habanero, fatalii and lime. Have many more species of peppers that I have no idea what to do with).
It's really a nebulous question. How hot do you want it? What kind of peppers? How strong is the vinegar? Are you using other things like fruits / veggies? A million other questions come to mind.

The whole point of doing a mini batch is to figure out the balance you're looking for. And the only way to do that is trial & error. There are loads of recipes here but no one knows your taste or tolerance better than you.

I'd suggest though that 1 x 5 oz woozie is a bit "too mini". How are you going to bring just 5-6 oz of sauce to 190+ degrees? And with reduction you'll end up with what, 2-3 oz? And with such a small amt of liquid it'll likely sear, which is bad - ruins flavor & adds bitterness.

I'd suggest doing at least a mason jar per batch.

The scaling question is also tricky but I think I can help more there. When you do your small batches, weigh everything in grams. Solids, liquids - everything. From there, you multiply by whatever factor you want. However not all ingredients scale equally.

So for example salt - when you scale out the salt, scale it evenly with everything else. But when you go to make the larger batch, start with say, 60% of the salt. Put a little in a cup & chill it - then taste it. If it needs more you can add it. Almost guaranteed you won't scale the salt more than 65-80%. Maybe less.

Vinegar also scales a little off - especially sharp vinegar like a white. Not as extreme as salt, but you may want to up a sweet component (sugar/fruit/carrot/etc) to balance the snappiness of the vinegar. Or you can use a mellower vinegar like cider, or you can dilute with water to take a slight edge off.

Be sure to check the ph of your batches.

Hope this helps - you should be able to get some starting ideas from the recipe topics. The ratio will be up to you though.

:cheers:

Scott
 
1 gallon of sauce = 24 5oz bottles
1 quart = 6 bottles, just about the smallest reasonable sized batch to work with

The only thing I would add to LDHS, is that for this small of a batch, I would not weigh out the salt or other spices. Their weight is too small to register on most normal scales that folks have in their homes. Keep the dry ingredients in teaspoons.

Have Fun~
 
My "Fitty" worked pretty well for a standard 16 oz. "La Victoria" salsa bottle.
Would have filled a 24 oz, but I ate a bunch.
1/2 SFRB hot peppers, 1/2 bell pepper, 1/2 onion.
1 can diced tomatoes, 1 small can tomato sauce, salt and garlic to taste.
Damned basic and freaking hot.
Really thick, so I can spoon out some and add other things to see how it comes out.

Interesting with some cider vinegar, tequila next try, maybe beer. Wine?
Hmmmmmm.
Me thinkin........
 
"I don't have to waste my harvest experimenting."

please do not hesitate to make sauces with store bought peppers

the availability of these items make them perfect for prototyping with

you do not need to grow your own onions and black pepper

it is absolutely a thrifty idea to use the cheap fast and available stuff for all experiments

so you do not need to "wait" for your 'precious' harvest

learn and do trials with the cheap stuff first
 
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