New Here - Help Please!

freightrain12 said:

I am making my first sauce this weekend and would like to fill 3 woozy bottles. I will be making a vinegar/boil hot sauce. How much "stuff" do I need, cups of veggies/peppers, cups of vinegar? Boil time?
 
I will not have a pH tester on me for this round, what is a safe recipe to follow/manipulate? (I will be sterilizing the woozy and doing an inverted hot fill).
 
What are some basics to a hot sauce that you can sort of plug and play? 
 
Any other tips for the first sauce?
 
Thank you all!!

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Welcome to THP freightrain12! 
 
You're not looking to make much sauce so here is a very basic recipe that will yield about 2-3 cups finished sauce.  Note that depending on what peppers you use this will end up tasting very much like a "Louisiana style" hot sauce ~ similar to Franks, etc.
 
1 pound red chiles - ripe jalas, fresnos, finger hots or a combination of any peppers you like.
1 oz onion
2 cloves garlic
2 cups vinegar
1-2 tsp salt
 
Put everything in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer.  cover with a lid and turn heat down, simmer for 20 mins or so.
 
Let cool, then put the batch through a blender or food processor (or use an immersion blender) then strain through a food mill with fine screen or a fine mesh strainer.
 
Bring the resulting sauce back up to a simmer.  Taste the sauce to see if it needs a bit more salt or maybe a bit of sweet to balance the heat/tang.  Once you're happy make sure the sauce is hot (like 180) and then fill your bottles for hot fill/hold.
 
Set one of the bottles aside in the fridge for a few weeks or more once they cool - you'll be amazed how the sauce tastes better with a bit of time to mellow.  The other bottles will be immediately great on pizza, wings, eggs, etc.
 
Note: If you use superhot peppers instead of the mild/medium peppers listed above in a recipe like this you're going to get straight fire at the finish.  For some that's the point, for me it's flavor first, heat second.  
 
Good luck and post back with some pics of how you did. 

freightrain12 said:

Howdy folks! New to the hot sauce making crowd and excited to take a crack at it. I have read the 101's that are pinned but still have some questions. Please see below and thank you in advance for your helpful hints/tips!
 
I am making my first sauce this weekend and would like to fill 3 woozy bottles. I will be making a vinegar/boil hot sauce. How much "stuff" do I need, cups of veggies/peppers, cups of vinegar? Boil time?
 
I will not have a pH tester on me for this round, what is a safe recipe to follow/manipulate? (I will be sterilizing the woozy and doing an inverted hot fill).
 
What are some basics to a hot sauce that you can sort of plug and play? 
 
Any other tips for the first sauce?
 
Thank you all!!
 
 

Click to expand...

 

I like this one. Easy and tastes damn good. Made it a few weeks ago!
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/61223-mango-fatalli-7pot-sauce/

DISCLAIMER! This site has been around since the Mid-90's and has not been maintained since around 2010 I believe. Use is at your own risk!

Back in da dayz this was the premier recipe site for ChileHeads.> THE PEPPER FOOL'S RECIPE PAGES! To find a recipe from that link click on your interest in the left hand column then pick your main interest, ENJOY!

NECM

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Thank you all for the tips! I have come up with a temporary recipe, please let me know what you would change. I am looking to make a 4/10 hot sauce (heat), something you can put on a lot of things but will still give a good medium burn.
 
8 Habaneros 
1 Orange Bell Pepper
2 Mangos (or some fruit that is sweet)
1 Cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 Onion
1 Garlic clove
1 Tsp Salt
1 Orange
1 Tsp Honey
 
Let me know your thoughts or any changes you would make!

Looks good, freight train!

My $0.02:
-cut the onion back to 1/3 of an onion
-up the garlic to 3-4 cloves
-lose the orange, maybe just add some orange zest instead (?)- obviously, totally up to you
-try to use mangoes that are juuuuuuuuuuust underripe, vs. very ripe ones
-cut the salt back to maybe 1/2 teaspoon (if that). A full teaspoon is a lot for a batch that small

Blend it, boil it, and set it in the fridge for a week or two, then revisit it to taste again. The flavors will really meld together during that resting period. Tweak as necessary

Have fun and take pics!

MikeUSMC said:

Looks good, freight train!

My $0.02:
-cut the onion back to 1/3 of an onion
-up the garlic to 3-4 cloves
-lose the orange, maybe just add some orange zest instead (?)- obviously, totally up to you
-try to use mangoes that are juuuuuuuuuuust underripe, vs. very ripe ones
-cut the salt back to maybe 1/2 teaspoon (if that). A full teaspoon is a lot for a batch that small

Blend it, boil it, and set it in the fridge for a week or two, then revisit it to taste again. The flavors will really meld together during that resting period. Tweak as necessary

Have fun and take pics!

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Thank you! How much do you think this will yield, looking to make 3 5oz Woozys.

freightrain12 said:

Thank you! How much do you think this will yield, looking to make 3 5oz Woozys.

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More than 3 five ounce woozys.  

Hi all - I just made the below recipe and need major help! This was my first attempt at any sauce: 
 
9 Habaneros 
1 Orange Bell Pepper
2 Mangos (or some fruit that is sweet)
1 Cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 Onion
2 Garlic clove
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Honey
 

I blended the recipe and set it on the stove in a medium pot (probably 1 inch deep sauce in the pot). Brought it up to a boil on medium/medium high and I could never reach 180 degrees (thermometer said around 160). I then put it through a food mill and added some more water (boiling water) since the consistency was very thick. At the end I only ended up with one bottle (5 oz woozy) and barley reached 175-180 degrees… I am feeling discouraged, what did I do wrong? I thought this would yield at least 3 bottles!

How did you only end up with 5oz of sauce with all those ingredients?!

1 cup of ACV is 8oz on its own

MikeUSMC said:

How did you only end up with 5oz of sauce with all those ingredients?!

1 cup of ACV is 8oz on its own

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Now thinking through the steps, I believe I got it to boil (sauce was popping and moving a lot), but never brought it down to a simmer, was tough to figure out if I was hitting 180 or not. So - I cooked it on medium/medium high for a good while, 30 mins probably...Bummed!

freightrain12 said:

.....was tough to figure out if I was hitting 180 or not.

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You stick the thermometer in....then look at it

I'm sorry, man
Don't get discouraged! Chalk it up to a learning experience

freightrain12 said:

 
Hi all - I just made the below recipe and need major help! This was my first attempt at any sauce: 
 
9 Habaneros 
1 Orange Bell Pepper
2 Mangos (or some fruit that is sweet)
1 Cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 Onion
2 Garlic clove
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Honey
 
 
I blended the recipe and set it on the stove in a medium pot (probably 1 inch deep sauce in the pot). Brought it up to a boil on medium/medium high and I could never reach 180 degrees (thermometer said around 160). I then put it through a food mill and added some more water (boiling water) since the consistency was very thick. At the end I only ended up with one bottle (5 oz woozy) and barley reached 175-180 degrees… I am feeling discouraged, what did I do wrong? I thought this would yield at least 3 bottles!
 

Click to expand...

 
So you got the sauce to boil, but your thermometer only read 180.  Liquids boil at 212, so your thermometer must have been off because you definitely hit boiling.  I'm thinking right off the bat that you boiled/reduced too long, which is why you didn't net much finished sauce.
 
Extrapolating from that I'd guess the pot was too big maybe?  A small sauce pan (like what you'd normally make a box of mac & cheese) should have been fine for that amount of ingredients.  During your initial cookdown did you cover the pot?  If not then that's likely where you lost much of the volume to evaporation.
 
Sounds like you must have come out with something close to a pudding like texture after the food mill step.  I'd keep the bottle you have in the fridge and then try again making sure you're using a smaller pot that's covered during the initial cook phase.  You're looking to only cook/marry flavors/soften everything in that first cooking step - thus the lid to prevent water loss.  You'll cook uncovered in the third phase after the food mill to get down to the thickness/texture you desire.
 
Hope that helps ft.