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Barebones basic sauce question.

Skydiver

Skydiver

I currently have around three pounds of orange habaneros, around a pound of cayenne peppers, and a big handful of tabasco peppers.
I also have huge amounts of tomatoes.
All from my garden, all hugely tasty.
Now, I've seen a lot of recipes that call for carrots, onions, mangoes, stuff like that, but what I'm looking to make is just a pure pepper sauce, a little apple cider vinegar and maybe water. Salt would be ok, too.

What I'm thinking of doing is putting all the peppers in a big pot, add just enough vinegar/water to soften things up, and blend the heck out of it after it cooks down, then put it back in the pot and add enough vinegar to get it to the consistency I want, but I'm thinking maybe of running a tomato or two through my food mill and using that juice instead to cut down on overwhelming vinegar taste, and boiling for a few minutes.

This will then be canned for preservation.


Thoughts?

Basically, what I'm going for is a hot sauce that is just the essence of the peppers. I don't want other flavors. I want heat, and I want taste, a pourable habanero, if you will.

Has anyone done this and can impart some wisdom? The stuff I made last year is good, but I think I added too much vinegar, and white vinegar, at that.


I've been making and canning salsa for years and years, so I'm very well versed in preserving stuff, I just want to bounce this idea off of this august community and perhaps glean some wisdom.
 
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Just use peppers, white vinegar and salt only. A very basic recipe is:

500 grams of peppers
500 ml of vinegar
2 tsp salt

Bring the and the chilis to boil, add the salt, cook for five mins, blend, done. It takes a week or two to be really tasty. This can also be used as a base for other sauces.
 
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This will sound wierd, but I use beer instead if vinegar.

Beer is surprisingly resistant to spoilage, and benign in flavor.(if you use miller lite for example)

I keep my sauce refridgerated.
PICT0120.jpg


This a nice yellow Golden Bullet hab and yellow naga sauce.

1/4 tsp garlic
1 tbsp salt
tons of peppers.

Blend with 1 can miller lite

Strain into bottle

top up with white vinegar.

It is supposed to be more like a tabasco dripping sauce, but less beer and leave the pulp in and you have a thicker sauce.
 
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Cheezy, that's precisely the kind of thing I'm looking for, and I salute you.

I like the Miller lite idea, not a beer I'd choose to drink, but as an ingredient it sounds very tempting due to the lack of character (sorry, Miller Lite fans. I learned how to taste beers starting with this and Bud, not knocking them, just not beer-y enough for me anymore).

Spoilage isn't an issue, I'm going to be canning whatever I make so I can shelve it for a while and let things meld together and mellow.

You have my thanks, Cheezy. I like this idea a lot. When I make it, I'll post my impressions of the finished product here.
 
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I would not use beer.

If you want a "pure chile" flavored sauce use salt and vinegar ( but not too much to ruin the taste... try apple cider vinegar) and some water if it's too thick.

Making a small test batch to get the flavor you want is a good idea.
 
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Best bet for paste is
3 parts chilli I part vinegar. it will be thick and true to the pod flavour. Don't cook it too hard. it only has to be brought to the boil and held there about 10 minutes to be safe. Boiling for hours will afect the subtle flavours of the pod.
if the consistancy is too thick add a dash of vinegar or water until your happy.
 
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Chiliac said:
It's new to me, too. Sounds like a good idea though. I'll try that this weekend, I have plenty of peppers atm, so ideas like this are very welcome.
Click to expand...

Got the idea from the amazing way my habanero ale sucked every bit of heat from the 6 pods I put into it.

People fear something new.

I have a great knowledge of beer on a chemical level, as well as a taste level.

I try not to drink BMC beers (bud, miller coors), that is why they are so good for sauce.

The ones I have made so far are great.

Nothing wrong with vinegar, if that is the flavor you are looking for.
 
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Another basic Sauce Question

Never mind - found my answer on this thread here: http://www.thehotpepper.com/showthread.php?t=7299

Separation.

Its hard on kids and was a problem with my first attempt at sauce mixing.

I had a good recipe, cooked and blended everything - then bottled it. It separated - obviously the solids sink to the bottom - but getting it to recombine took more than a brisk shake of the container.

I see a lot of commerical product will use vege gums and other emulsifiers - but what works in the home kitchen - while keeping things au naturale?
 
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Experiment with vinegars. Apple cider vinegar is one of the harshest, it's actually one of the only vinegars that can cause burns, and it tastes horrible, there are some really great vinegars you can try, and white distilled is much better than ACV, in my opinion. There are a couple I actually love, but I'm keeping them a secret for now ;) lol.
 
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stillmanz said:
Best bet for paste is
3 parts chilli I part vinegar. it will be thick and true to the pod flavour. Don't cook it too hard. it only has to be brought to the boil and held there about 10 minutes to be safe. Boiling for hours will afect the subtle flavours of the pod.
if the consistancy is too thick add a dash of vinegar or water until your happy.
Click to expand...

Exellent Advice from the sauce Guru :)
 
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Well, I went with mostly beer but with a bit of white vinegar, turned out pretty well. Not sure if I'm going to be going with that approach again. Maybe a bit less beer and some vinegar, white, apple cider, not sure.

Sauce was pretty hot for just using habs and cayenne peppers, nice and thick but still easily pourable.


The batch I'm canning right now, though, whole 'nother animal.
Habs
tobasco peppers
portugal cayennes
hot hungarian wax
part of a red poblano pepper (it was in my fridge and I couldn't bring myself to throw away something I grew, so into the blender it went)
a vidalia onion
an apple from the orchard near my cabin
honey
a touch of celery seed
apple cider vinegar
tomato juice (from the tomatos in my garden)

It started off at around two quarts (i had a quart of tomato juice that didn't seal in the canner last night, so that's why I used the whole thing, didn't want it to go to waste)
Simmered on a very low heat for a bit over an hour
Hard boil for around 10 minutes

by this time it had reduced a lot~I got a little less than a quart out of it, and it's yummy. Nice and thick from reducing (I think the pectin in the apple may have also helped). Hot but not overly hot, nice touch of sweetness from the apple and the honey, no strong vinegar taste.

Should be great stuff. Experimentation in the kitchen is made of win and sex.


Edit: I had a bit left over from the canning process that I put in a little screw top bottle I had, I just tasted it and omg it turned out way better than I thought it would. The heat is there in spades, nice and thick, and the apple taste plays off the fruity hab taste and the heat way better than I thought it would. This is my third time making a hot sauce, and wow, I'm more than happy with the results.
 
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I prefer lime and or lemon juice to vinegar

try equal parts carrot, onion, chiles, liquid (vinegar/lime/lemon)
bring to the boil, simmer for 10-20mins. blend and add one ts or so of salt per pound of mix. you can also add the pods after the other ingredients have been cooked so you keep the fresh pod flavour - this is how I do it and savour the habanero flavour.

it helps to use rock or cooking salt, not table/iodised salt. also, try adding some honey or a little sugar to soften the acidic flavour of vinegar/lime.
 
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chilliman64 said:
I prefer lime and or lemon juice to vinegar

try equal parts carrot, onion, chiles, liquid (vinegar/lime/lemon)
bring to the boil, simmer for 10-20mins. blend and add one ts or so of salt per pound of mix. you can also add the pods after the other ingredients have been cooked so you keep the fresh pod flavour - this is how I do it and savour the habanero flavour.

it helps to use rock or cooking salt, not table/iodised salt. also, try adding some honey or a little sugar to soften the acidic flavour of vinegar/lime.
Click to expand...


Yeah, this was my first foray into the world of sauces made with anything but peppers/vinegar/salt, and it won't be my last.

Surprisingly, I found that the addition of the apple brought out more of the hab flavor, and since that was my original intent with the basic sauce, I'm quite happy.
Will definitely be adding some carrot to my next sauce, and more apple, I think the pectin in it really helped thicken the sauce up, it's not runny now, probably a bit thicker than catsup.

Oh and as far as salt goes, I can't remember the last time I bought table salt. Diamond Crystal Kosher salt all the way.
 
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wow, I came on here looking for a recipe for sauce, and had no idea it was that easy. Peppers, vinegar (or beer apparantly(haha)). and salt. I am definitely going to do this this season. The last time I grew peppers I just had too many peppers to eat, and gave basketfulls away to friends and co workers. Making my own sauce will be a good and easy way to use up some of those peppers (and save on buying my own sauce!)

Does anyone have a recipe for a Buffalo sauce in particular?
 
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