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Making Hot Sauce Classes-2016

salsalady

Business Member
Last year, several local folks put on some cooking classes through the local Grange hall.  I did a Making Hot Sauce class.  It was very well received and several people requested that we do it again this year.  4 people were attendees of first class so I changed up the sauces a bit.  After the January class, even more people called me who missed hearing about the class or couldn't make it, so we have another one scheduled in March. 
 
 
I do a quick talk about chiles, scoville, capsaicin, processing, etc...a very abridged version of Making Hot Sauce 101, then everyone divides up into teams and start making sauces.  At the end of the class, the bottles get divided up and everyone goes home with the goods.
 
Here's some pictures of the Twisp class in progress and the sauces. 
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The Sauces-
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World Peas (Whirled Peas/World Peace)- charred tomatillos, anaheim, jalapeno, peas, onion, garlic, apple juice, vinegar, lime juice, tamari, salt, cilantro, cumin
AJ's Pepper Puree- yep, Alabama Jack's original puree recipe
Smoky Love- fire roasted tomatoes, smoked habaneros, onion, garlic, bell pepper, vinegar, pepper (sorry, geeme), cumin, salt 
Sambal Oelek- red chiles, garlic, ginger, vinegar, lemon grass, salt, lime juice and zest
151- in honor of Wilbur Scovilles 151st birthday which was 2 days before the class- fatalli, mango, peach, pineapple juice, vinegar, ginger sugar, moruga powder
Sweet Sunrise-carrot, orange bell pepper, peaches, onion, garlic, fatalii, pineapple and apple juice, vinegar, coriander, agave
Untitled Kitchen Sink Green Sauce- green Thai chiles, onion, garlic, cilantro, tamari, cumin, dunno what else as this was non-recipe.  3 people throwing stuff in the pot trying to get it done before we had to vacate the kitchen for another group. 
 
 
 
Chelan Class- a bottle from last year's class made it's way over the river and through the woods to the right person in Chelan.  We scheduled a class down there using a private catering kitchen for the space.  What they didn't tell me until the last minute was... the class was all guys who all knew each other and were foodies of some sort or in the food service industry, they were cooking up some food and bringing beer!  WOOHOO!   
 
I set out a table of some sauces for everyone to try.  Everything from Lucky Dog MILD to Cappy's Brain Strain and Pure Evil.
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Some random pics of the afternoon's shenanigans~
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Notice the crock of green stuff on the left by the window.  That's the fermenting jalapenos and stuff that will be Green Funk.  I started this about 4 weeks before the class. 
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The host caterer provided a smoked salmon and cheese plate with crackers, pico salsa, and a creamy spicy dip, seafood chowder, brats with sauerkraut, and smoked YardBird, beer keg and wine from various other guys. 
 
Despite all that, the guys did get all the sauces done and labeled!
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We didn't keep accurate track of what went into all the sauces, but it's pretty close to what's listed.
 
South Shore Dynamite- (during the class, DOT crews were blasting just up the road to clear a rock slide) Fresno chiles, bell peppers, onion, garlic, carrot, vinegar, beer
Green Funk- Fermented jalapeno, (not sure what else???I don't remember!) onion, garlic, apple, more roasted garlic- pH 2.6!
May or May Not- pumpkin, cranberry, sage, red fresno chiles, onion, garlic, wine and beer, pepper
J & J's Tropic Thunder- pears, apples, pineapple and mango juice, vinegar, onion, garlic, habanero, ginger
Outback Sunshine- carrot, tomato, fresno, onion, garlic, pepper, vinegar, beer
Crian SOS- mango, peach, juice, fatalii, sugar, t-scorp powder
World Peas- basically the same as above
 
 
Most of the sauces divvied up, plus extra bottles on a side table
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The Guys (plus one more who left before the picture)
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Both of these classes have been an absolute BLAST for me to be a part of.  Huge props go out to all the participants who pushed through the choking toxic fumes that are a part of making hot sauces, and for having fun with everything.
 
And big thank you's to the Grange for facilitating these food classes with various participants and to the anonymous Chelan catering host (:cough:jay:cough) for sharing time and space for this fun to happen. 
 
-CHEERS-
 
Great pics...thanks for sharing them .....looks like everyone had a great time and went home with some fabulous sauce's.
 
thanks, guys.
 
Hey Turbo, are you gonna try and make it to the Chilefest campout/potluck in September?
 
salsalady said:
thanks, guys.
 
Hey Turbo, are you gonna try and make it to the Chilefest campout/potluck in September?
 
I will.  I try each year but that weekend is like the Bermuda Triangle to me.  There is always 4 major things that come up on that weekend for some stupid reason.
 
laynlow said:
Awesome thanks for sharing the pictures and recipes.  
 
Just one question, how come you didn't put any 151 Bacardi rum in the 151 sauce?   :drunk:   LOL
I didn't know they were going to name the sauce 151 or I might of worked that in.  :lol:  The guys that made the sauce chose that name as they'd seen the Google Doodle for Wilbur Scoville's 151st birthday a couple days before.
 
plus...they were responsible for hand-writing labels for all the bottles and they wanted something short to write.  :rofl: 
Turbo- hope you can make it. 
 
email chatter is that everyone had a blast, and What's Next?   I'm stoked that everyone had a great time.  Other things might be in the works, we'll see what works out. 
 
Part of the reason I posted this is to encourage those who have some knowledge or savvy of any things spicy to share it if they can!  I've done classes at the grade school and community classes through the Grange hall.  Just sharing the passion and sharing the love of spicy.
 
After one of the grade school (5th grade, I think) one of the comments the kids sent were-I didn't used to like salsa but now I do!
 
:WIN:
 
Another THP member did a chile pepper grow with kids in their school.  Growing seeds to harvest.  Totally awesome project for the class. 
 
salsalady said:
Another THP member did a chile pepper grow with kids in their school.  Growing seeds to harvest.  Totally awesome project for the class. 
 
Might have been Lunchbox :surprised:
 
Several of those sauces look really good. Plus, the mountains in the background. Damn awesome!!!!
 
Chewi said:
 
Might have been Lunchbox :surprised:
 
Several of those sauces look really good. Plus, the mountains in the background. Damn awesome!!!!
LUNCHBOX!  I think you are correct, Chewi!
 
MikeyV-  let me know if you do and if you want the notes I printed up, I'd be happy to email them to you.  It's basically HS101 but edited up a bit to make a nice handout.  Feel free to edit it for your own class. 
 
 
 
In case anyone else is thinking of this-
I charged $30 or $35 per person (depending on location), some of which went to pay for the Grange hall or kitchen.
 
I supplied all the bottles and ingredients (including habanero, fatalii, 7 Pot and moruga from my own stash of frozen or dried chiles and capsaicin drops) enough for the equivalent of about 200 5oz bottles of sauces, and depending on what equipment was available at the kitchens, I also brought stock pots, food processor, BlendTec blender, weigh scale, assorted measuring cups/spoons, funnels.
 
I had all the recipes printed up on 1 page for people to take home and also had each recipe printed on an individual page for each team to use during the class.  I also made a handout of Making Hot Sauce 101 and the Weights&Measures threads for people to take home.
 
I had an assortment of 5oz and 10oz woozy bottles and 12 oz sauce bottles with a wider mouth. Way more than needed, but there's no way to know how people are gonna mix up their sauce, how thick it's gonna be, and if they don't want to thin it, they they gotta go with the 12 oz bottles....Ya just gotta run with it.... 
 
I wanted to show the difference of fermented to fresh sauces, so for the latest class, I started a 3 gallon green jalapeno ferment about a month before the class.  
 
If you want to to do this to make money, you'll have to charge more than I did.  I started this as a fun community project and as something to do in the middle of the winter.  Definitely doesn't cover costs...(:shhh:  don't tell my husband!  :lol:) But I have fun doing it, so there ya go!  
 
On the way~
Hope you can use the info to share in your community.
 
 
 
Funny side story-
I was working today with someone who heard a spot on the radio about a month ago after the Twisp class and before the Chelan class.  We have a local radio show where people call in for a couple hours in the morning and post things for sale, talk about a community event, pretty much whatever the topicthey want is.  A minute or 2, phone number for the truck for sale, etc.
 
This caller had attended the first couple Twisp classes and knew there was a Chelan class comming up.  I didn't hear the call but the person I was talking to today heard the call.  The caller was talking about the Twisp class, how much fun it was, the sauces and people in the Chelan are should sign up.  OH! and BTW, make sure to ask Ann about the story of what happened to her husband and the mistaken hot sauce.
 
 
.....cliffhanger silence....
 
 
The DJ asked the caller to expand on that story, but the caller wouldn' say anyting more.  :lol:
 
While I was at the Chelan class, someone mentioned...:OH I'm supposed to ask you the story about what happened to your husband!"
 
I wasn't sure exactly how they found out about it, at the time  didn't know about the phone call to the radio show, but the story has been told of having 2 sauces that looked exactly the same, one was medium, one was Incinerator.  Husband got them mixed up and -short story long- he passed out on the kitchen floor, hot sweat burnning his eyes, curled up on the kitchen floor, I thought he was having a heart attack! but still thought he was mistaken about the sauces....So I downed a teaspoon of Incinerator and ended up in the fetal position on the bathroom floor....
 
it was not a pleasant night!
 
 
 
So today---on the jobsite....I was asked about 'the rest of the story' from that call to the radio station a month ago!  The person on the job today is a personal friend, and he told me he seriously considered just calling us up to find out WHAT HAPPENED!!!
 
:rofl:
 
Oh, it was not pleasant!!!!   The weirdest thing was both of us sweating and the sweat running down and burning our eyes.  I mean, aside from John passing out on the kitchen floor...  It was a bad 8 hours.... and that was just a teaspoon or 2!
 
Needless to say, that bottle was banned from the house!  For good reason~~~
 
 
I've sent copies of the hot sauce class info to you.  Hope it helps and if you do a class, please post pics! 
 
Yesterday's Class in Twisp-
 
Every time I think about getting a smaller vehicle, I do something like this-
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The Pantry Table-
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Ready to go~
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The Sample Table (I Spy .... ;) )
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Cookin' up!
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The Results!  Everyone went home with the equvalent of ~30 bottles of sauce, (Tall bottles count as 2 ;) ), and 2 tubs of kimchi.
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Sunshine Pineapple Sauce- pineapple juice, white wine viegar, spices
RedHead Hot- Fresno chiles, 13 fatalii chiles, onion, garlic, vinegar, Pale Ale beer
Spicy Sunshine- pears, fatalii, more pears, onion, garlic, ginger, spices, white wine
Drunk Apple- Fermented fresno, red bell pepper, apples, onions, garlic
Pear-kin- pear juice, pumpkin, cranberry, sage, garlic, fresno, balsamic vinegar, amber beer
Ajo Firebird- carrot, red bell pepper, tomato, garlic, onion, balsamic and cider vinegar, tamari
Pineapple sauce 2- pineapple juice, balsamic vinegar, spices
 
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