Fresh Tabasco Peppers?

Hope this is the appropriate place for this, new to the forum and excited to start making some hot sauce. I was hoping to make a tabasco style sauce for starters, ferment and then age in a mini oak barrel. Unfortunately, finding fresh tabascos is proving difficult and I thought that some wise soul here may know a source that I can order from online. With the short growing season here I'm too late to buy seeds to grow from scratch (although next year I will try) So thanks in advance for any and all help!
 
some of the home depots have the plants by a company called "Bonnie'
i just saw them at mine the other day, although i don't know if the home depots in Canada are the same as the ones in the USA but im sure there similar at best
 
so your best bet would be to grow them, i really doubt but its not imposable but i don't think your going to find them fresh unless you grow them yourself
 
there are a few other peppers that you can substitute also for them most Thai types work well and after the ferment process you really cant tell the difference
 
thanks your friend Joe
 
Wish I could help, but my only tabasco plant is just now starting to make its first little flowers.... plant's maybe a foot tall. Good luck!
 
ComradeQ said:
Hope this is the appropriate place for this, new to the forum and excited to start making some hot sauce. I was hoping to make a tabasco style sauce for starters, ferment and then age in a mini oak barrel. Unfortunately, finding fresh tabascos is proving difficult and I thought that some wise soul here may know a source that I can order from online. With the short growing season here I'm too late to buy seeds to grow from scratch (although next year I will try) So thanks in advance for any and all help!
 
Wish I could help as well, but in the same boat as Buzz.  I'd be more than happy to send you some seeds later in the year though.  Any chance you could share your recipe/process you were going to use to make the sauce though?  I am hoping to do the same and been looking around for a good recipe.
 
schrade82 said:
Wish I could help as well, but in the same boat as Buzz.  I'd be more than happy to send you some seeds later in the year though.  Any chance you could share your recipe/process you were going to use to make the sauce though?  I am hoping to do the same and been looking around for a good recipe.
Absolutely! Once I get it worked out I will post the recipe/process here.

ajijoe said:
some of the home depots have the plants by a company called "Bonnie'
i just saw them at mine the other day, although i don't know if the home depots in Canada are the same as the ones in the USA but im sure there similar at best
 
so your best bet would be to grow them, i really doubt but its not imposable but i don't think your going to find them fresh unless you grow them yourself
 
there are a few other peppers that you can substitute also for them most Thai types work well and after the ferment process you really cant tell the difference
 
thanks your friend Joe
I can find fresh thai and cayenne peppers, guess I can use them. Still not giving up on tabasco peppers if I can get fresh pods but those are a close backup I suppose. Thanks for the suggestion! ;)
 
ComradeQ said:
Absolutely! Once I get it worked out I will post the recipe/process here.


I can find fresh thai and cayenne peppers, guess I can use them. Still not giving up on tabasco peppers if I can get fresh pods but those are a close backup I suppose. Thanks for the suggestion! ;)
your welcome
 
I have 6 plant this year but they are already in the garden, if you are planing a trip to Montreal this fall P.M. me
 
I've looked in a bunch of nurseries east of the city with no luck. Plants were easy to find last season, for me at least and same with several Thai types, but this season they are missing. Really disappointing because I was planning to buy some and had plans for a sauce, too!
 
 
If you happen by some plants let us know! ...Have not looked in bigbox garden centers yet...perhaps I'll make a few calls.
 
AaronRiot said:
I've looked in a bunch of nurseries east of the city with no luck. Plants were easy to find last season, for me at least and same with several Thai types, but this season they are missing. Really disappointing because I was planning to buy some and had plans for a sauce, too!
 
 
If you happen by some plants let us know! ...Have not looked in bigbox garden centers yet...perhaps I'll make a few calls.
Same, can find cayenne and thai and several other hot peppers but no tabasco peppers. If you find plants let me know and likewise I will do the same. Still also asking for fresh pods here too. Unfortunately I had a bad injury to my arm at work and am not allowed to drive so hard to get around to search.
 
Tobascos get soft when they ripen and pretty much have to be used right away! That being said,tobascos have an amazing flavor! A flavor that doesn't come through at all in the watered down vinegar Chile juice they sell. Whether you ferment or not,(the unfermented is spectacular also) they make great sauce, I've never aged in oak only fermented in mason jars, but my home made tobasco sauce is one of my favs every year. Don't underestimate the heat of these peppers either, store bought tobasco sauce is like 1200-1500 scoville, the tobasco pepper is 35,000ish, not that's really hot by any means but if you are expecting sauce heat it will really surprise you!
 
canada is very limited as to what hot peppers you can get whether it be plant, seed or pods. try your local farmers market, or if you have a fortinos near you try there.  i have found habanero, thai chili, thai hot, and cyanne. or try those specialty herbal store's and store's like it. 
 
chile_freak said:
Tobascos get soft when they ripen and pretty much have to be used right away! That being said,tobascos have an amazing flavor! A flavor that doesn't come through at all in the watered down vinegar Chile juice they sell. Whether you ferment or not,(the unfermented is spectacular also) they make great sauce, I've never aged in oak only fermented in mason jars, but my home made tobasco sauce is one of my favs every year. Don't underestimate the heat of these peppers either, store bought tobasco sauce is like 1200-1500 scoville, the tobasco pepper is 35,000ish, not that's really hot by any means but if you are expecting sauce heat it will really surprise you!
 
I thought tobasco sauce uses ripe jalapenos, no? Maybe it was the hoy fong I read that about here..
 
magicpepper said:
canada is very limited as to what hot peppers you can get whether it be plant, seed or pods. try your local farmers market, or if you have a fortinos near you try there.  i have found habanero, thai chili, thai hot, and cyanne. or try those specialty herbal store's and store's like it. 
 
I disagree here, there is a company around Ontario selling large superhot (and a few hab type) starts to nurseries, and many nurseries are selling a fair selection ranging from common milds all the way up to dorsets and bhuts. Not too shabby if you ask me. As for seed, we can order from most suppliers, Canadian or otherwise. Pods too, I've seen members here posting superhots bought from the grocery store. Another found Rocotos and Aji Amarillos downtown Montreal. I say it's always worth a look. The popularity of hot food is growing here.

swellcat said:
I have some Tabasco seeds, however, trans-border postage seems to have gone insane based on the $30 it took to ship a small fly reel to Brampton, ON last year. 
 
 
In a plain small bubble envelope with a few seeds in a bag it costs no more than a standard letter to Canada. Here, to send down to the US the postage is $1.20  for an envelope (standard size and under 30g). I sent many SASBEs last season, it was never more than a $1.20. 
 
i was under the impression that the op was looking for fresh pods, yes you can find the plants in some nurseries, and they are getting a better selection of hots and super hots, but as for buying fresh pods in your local market is a different story, you can order them from the states and other people online in canada as well. but you cant buy 90% of super hots in a local grocery store. the hottest i have seen in a grocery store is dried scotch bonnets, i have found fresh orange habanero's, jalapeno's, thai chili's, walmart has a few hot peppers they call long hots, finger long hots, and they have thai chili and jalapeno. but i have not yet seen anything hotter then scotch bonnet or orange habanero in a grocery store in my area (kingston ont). 
 
Tobasco green is made from jalapeños, then there is tobasco, tobasco( where the name came from) and now they make a habanero sauce. Huy Fong uses red Serranos for their Sriracha sauce.
 
magicpepper said:
i was under the impression that the op was looking for fresh pods, yes you can find the plants in some nurseries, and they are getting a better selection of hots and super hots, but as for buying fresh pods in your local market is a different story, you can order them from the states and other people online in canada as well. but you cant buy 90% of super hots in a local grocery store. the hottest i have seen in a grocery store is dried scotch bonnets, i have found fresh orange habanero's, jalapeno's, thai chili's, walmart has a few hot peppers they call long hots, finger long hots, and they have thai chili and jalapeno. but i have not yet seen anything hotter then scotch bonnet or orange habanero in a grocery store in my area (kingston ont).
Yeah, you are right, I was looking for fresh pods. Since I couldn't find anything earlier to grow I missed my opportunity. Unfortunately the growing season here is very tight and at this point - unless I find a decent size plant - I wouldn't be able to grow. Do you know of any sources online? I have a small 3L oak barrel and want to put it to use properly.
 
ComradeQ said:
Yeah, you are right, I was looking for fresh pods. Since I couldn't find anything earlier to grow I missed my opportunity. Unfortunately the growing season here is very tight and at this point - unless I find a decent size plant - I wouldn't be able to grow. Do you know of any sources online? I have a small 3L oak barrel and want to put it to use properly.
im only 2 hrs away from you and yes our season is short, way to short!
 
any vendor on this site will sell you a great batch of fresh pods! dont get it from bakerspeppers though! best option is to go to the vendor area here and see the comments on each vendor, then pick the one you want. pepperlover has great product, awesome customer service and always always get as much free as what you ordered ie you order 4 types of seeds you get 4 types free and no shipping costs either, as for fresh pods if its not on her site, message her here and she WILL answer you,and probably have what you want. there are others on here that are great as well. like i said just check the vendor area to see the best option.
 
edit: also as i stated before, if you want to try to find the peppers locally got to little china or italy, and check out the markets there, check out some specialty stores and farmers markets, you just might find what you are looking for
 
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