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hot-sauce Making Hot Sauce: 2 Questions

chuk hell

chuk hell

I consider myself damn near an expert at making FRESH salsas but hot sauce, the kind that comes in a little 5 ounce bottle, I have less experience.

So, I have two questions:

1. To cook or not to cook?

I'm seeing recipes that are made fresh without heat ( which is what I generally call FRESH SALSA) and others that heat things up, cooking the stuff for a while. Is there a best way? Does it just depend on the taste you are going for? I'll store it in the fridge anyway so I'm mainly wondering if cooking will have a good....maybe melding...effect on the flavor.


2. Seeds: Yes or no?

When making salsa I always de-seed the chilies. Usually I'm making the stuff for a party or at least a few other people so I want mostly flavor first, heat second...so the seeds have to go. BUT, tomorrow ( hopefully) I'm gonna make some sauce just for my own dememted palate so....seeds yay or nay? ( primary chili used will be orange habaneros)
 
Hi Chuk,
Well, it depends solely on the person making the stuff. As a hot sauce person, not salsa, I'd say leave the seeds in. As hot sauces go, I prefer a totally smooth (no texture) sauce. We use dried Habaneros, and throw them into a food processor for a few minutes until they are basically powderized. Our sauce comes out as more of a glaze.

As for cooking it, since we hot bottle everything, it's cooked. But during the experimentation stage of the stuff, we found that by cooking it to at least 190 degrees (to kill all the little bacterial stormtroopers) the sauce actually blended a little better, and very little if any separation occured. It's mostly trial and error, but it sounds like you have a pretty good handle on the peppers.
 
chuk hell said:
I consider myself damn near an expert at making FRESH salsas but hot sauce, the kind that comes in a little 5 ounce bottle, I have less experience.

So, I have two questions:

1. To cook or not to cook?

I'm seeing recipes that are made fresh without heat ( which is what I generally call FRESH SALSA) and others that heat things up, cooking the stuff for a while. Is there a best way? Does it just depend on the taste you are going for? I'll store it in the fridge anyway so I'm mainly wondering if cooking will have a good....maybe melding...effect on the flavor.

2. Seeds: Yes or no?

When making salsa I always de-seed the chilies. Usually I'm making the stuff for a party or at least a few other people so I want mostly flavor first, heat second...so the seeds have to go. BUT, tomorrow ( hopefully) I'm gonna make some sauce just for my own dememted palate so....seeds yay or nay? ( primary chili used will be orange habaneros)
Click to expand...

Seeds, yes, unless you're making a coulis.

Cooking will change the flavour for sure. If you want the fresh sweet flavour of the pepper, don't cook, if you want the pulp broken down and the flavours to meld with something else, cook.

Word of warning working and cooking with fresh habaneros, wear gloves, a mask and eye protection.

We do.

T
 
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