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My first hot sauce
- Thread starter Murciano
- Start date
I like to start off by cooking the peppers in a 50/50 mix of apple cider vinegar and water, then after they cook down at a slow boil for 30 minutes or so then puree them.
Next I make a base stock, I saute Onion,garlic,basil,oregano,salt cider vinegar, brown sugar,honey different types of seasonings your choice,
I ad water and cider 50/50 till the flavor is just right diluting to much makes it bland, cool thing is you can just cook it down if you mess up.
After that you can mix your heat with your base till you have your perfect mix saving the rest in the fridge or freeze it, mine never makes it to the freezer. don't forget to sterilize your storage containers, and the higher the working temp during production the better chance of not letting bad critters(bacteria) in.
Next I make a base stock, I saute Onion,garlic,basil,oregano,salt cider vinegar, brown sugar,honey different types of seasonings your choice,
Starting any new hot sauce you have to decide what flavor profile your after. Do you want a sweet hot sauce, a savory one, fruity? These are 3 basic ones but you could add to that easily, smokey, etc... Once you have that in mind then you can begin putting together ingredients. The most common ingredients you find in sauces are onion, carrots and garlic. For fruit you’ll find mango and pineapple and some lime, lemon juice or vinegar to get the ph down. A very good, simple sauce can be made from just these. That said there really is no right or wrong ingredient if it gets you to the flavor you want. I would be careful of oils though as they typically can cause your sauces to go rancid before they should.
To make your sauce simple chop up your ingredients removing the seeds from the peppers if desired and the placenta if you want less heat. Put everything into a pot big enough to hold it and boil it for 20 to 30 minutes. Now you need to blend it to get it to the consistency you want. I do this in batches till its all blended being careful not to start on high or you could wind up wearing boiling hot sauce. When your done with that, if your making a larger batch you’ll want to check the ph to be sure it’s below 4 so that it doesn’t go bad on the shelf. If it’s going into the fridge and will be consumed quickly then ph really isn’t a problem. Now you want to simmer the sauce for about 45 minutes or till you have the thickness you want. I like a medium thick sauce so I simmer mine for longer. When it’s where you want it bring the temp up to 195 for 15 minutes and bottle it. If the temp falls below 185 reheat the sauce back to 195. Place the reducers on if you’re using them and the caps and invert the bottles letting the hot sauce touch the caps for another 15 minutes and you’re done.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
RM
To make your sauce simple chop up your ingredients removing the seeds from the peppers if desired and the placenta if you want less heat. Put everything into a pot big enough to hold it and boil it for 20 to 30 minutes. Now you need to blend it to get it to the consistency you want. I do this in batches till its all blended being careful not to start on high or you could wind up wearing boiling hot sauce. When your done with that, if your making a larger batch you’ll want to check the ph to be sure it’s below 4 so that it doesn’t go bad on the shelf. If it’s going into the fridge and will be consumed quickly then ph really isn’t a problem. Now you want to simmer the sauce for about 45 minutes or till you have the thickness you want. I like a medium thick sauce so I simmer mine for longer. When it’s where you want it bring the temp up to 195 for 15 minutes and bottle it. If the temp falls below 185 reheat the sauce back to 195. Place the reducers on if you’re using them and the caps and invert the bottles letting the hot sauce touch the caps for another 15 minutes and you’re done.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
RM
De Arbol lend themselves to savory sauces in my opinion. I would do a simple sauce using shallots, garlic, and use half a bell pepper to add some volume without changing the flavor as much as carrots or yams. De Arbol also goes well with tomato if you want to throw some tomatoes or tomato paste in there. Personally I think it is best to start without any herbs, they are much more difficult to tune correctly and you will definitely come out with a good sauce without them. Whereas you can totally ruin it with too much or the wrong combination of herbs or spices. If you do use them add them in very small amounts and taste as you go. Probably best to keep it simple and get a feel for the flavors of the first few staple ingredients in your hot sauce arsenal (garlic and shallots/onions). Use shallots if you want a more subtle onion flavor, I like them much better than other onions. Boiling onions are also good.
Do not be afraid to try any vinegar that you like, rice and white vinegar are great. I also like cider a lot. Red wine vinegar can go very well in the right sauce, too.
Do not be afraid to try any vinegar that you like, rice and white vinegar are great. I also like cider a lot. Red wine vinegar can go very well in the right sauce, too.