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What defines a "sauce"? (Garlic ghost pepper oil)

austin87

austin87



I got some dried ghost peppers from India. They are really cheap but shipping gets you (http://www.amazon.com/Dried-Whole-Ghost-Chile-Jolokia/dp/B004HCBKJ2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00) - $0.19 per package plus $5 shipping. Got 3 packs! Ate a whole dried pod with a coworker. I had nothing to drink until it subsided but I was smoking and drooling a bit. My (lactose intolerant) coworker started pounding the coffee milk to kill the burn to no avail. Man he looked like hell an hour later! So I know they are hot.

I cut up 6-7 dried bhuts, added 10 smashed garlic cloves and a tablespoon full of peppercorns in 2 cups of vegetable oil. Put it on low to hang out for a while. The oil took on a roasted (rather than fresh) garlic flavor. I pulled the garlic out before turning up the heat a little to try to get more heat from the pods into the oil.



After cooling and straining I have 2 eight ounce condiment bottles. It's hot-ish but not nearly as much as I'd hoped. Good flavor. Added an additional dried ghost to marinate and add some extra heat over time.

Next batch should be with my own fresh pods at end of summer. If anyone has tips for getting more heat out of the (dried) pods please let me know!
 
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I make hot oil a few times a year. Here is my process. I heat oil to 190f on stovetop then just add to a sterilized swingtop bottle that has dried pods in it. I have found that the heat gets ramped up two ways. Obviously the type and amount of dried peppers that you use and time. The longer it sits, the hotter it gets. I keep it in a cabinet and for the first month or two, I just flip it upside down when I remember. You can also use different oils to introduce different flavors.
 
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Crush up your pods and let it sit longer. It takes a while for the capsicum to infuse the oils. Heating it will only help a little. Several months will do you good.
 
Now I wouldn't necessarily call it a sauce. It's a spiced oil.
 
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Careful with that garlic. It can be dangerous if not brought down to proper pH or done correctly. My research on garlic is somewhat limited but just be careful.

Salsa Lady can bring a deeper level of knowledge with this subject.
 
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Thanks sirex. I know botulism can grow in garlic in an oxygen free environment (like submerged in oil) so that's why I pulled it out and strained it. So I would assume it's safe if there is no garlic actually in the oil.

But would love a definitive answer if someone has it before I give myself the runs or worse.
 
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Sounds like you have some good-n-hot "chile infused oil".  I'm not a food scientist or process authority, but it sounds like you did a good process by removing the garlic, then heating the oil a bit longer.  As others have posted, the oil should get spicier as it sits as it looks like there are chiles in the bottles.  Refrigeration is also an option if you have any worries.  It will still get spicier over time, but maybe at a slower rate than at room temp.  I'd definitely reefer the bottle you are not using and then use common sense about reefering the other one.  It doesn't take long to bring one of those condiment bottles up to room temp when you want to use it, just plop it into a pot/bowl of hot tap water.     
 
Using dried ingredients when making infused oils is safer than using fresh ingredients.  Less margin for error and all that.  Dried garlic could be used, dried roasted garlic is available online if you want that roasted flavor.    
 
PS- love the la comedie la tragedie ~
 
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