Ghost of a Scorpion hot sauce

[Jeff H]

Okay, I have a basic hot sauce recipe that I have been working with for most of the year. It is made with mostly Tabasco peppers with a small amount of TSBT and has great flavor that my family likes it, but it was time to make a hotter batch just for me The ingredients are basically the same as my tabasco sauce, but I changed the amount of each to suit my TLAR approach. My newest creation is "Ghost of a Scorpion". As the name implies, there is a healthy amount of Bhut Jolakai and TSBT peppers. 
 
Awayyyyyyy we go. 
 
 
Let's start with a even amount of ghost peppers .  A dozen or so. 
 

 
 
8 Scorps. I was going to add more, but decided 8 was going to be a decent amount. 

 
One red bell for some sweetness- scorps can be rather bitter. 

 
One head of garlic

 
 
One white onion 

 
 
Toss all that into the little dedicated pepper smoker for about an hour with Apple wood. 170 degrees ish. 
 

 
 
 
Into the pot everything goes to simmer for an hour or so. Add to the pepper mixture:
 
Carrot

 
Some Roma tomatoes

 
1/8 cup salt. 

 
 
1/4 cup brown sugar---those scorps can be bitter. 

 
 
 
And that is 10 pictures. After a bump, I'll finish it. 

 

[Husker21]

Bump

 

[Mr. Hill]

Posted Today, 04:20 PM

Nice timing LOL,, Looks good too!!

 

[Jeff H]

A little vinegar 

 
And as I said, everything was simmered for an hour or so. After that, it was blended and then strained to get the seeds out and put back on the burner to bring it back up to temperature. I added a bit of black pepper at this stage and simmered for a few minutes more. 
 

 
 
Yielded about 10+ bottles. 
 

 
 
Like I said, I have been working on this type of sauce for a while. Trying to achieve a black pepperish taste similar to a Gator sauce type. 
 
It is definitely hot, and way to hot for a nonchilihead but I like it quite a lot. Heat level of the total sauce is probably about like eating a milder orange hab. Has a bite and burns for a bit, but nothing you can't handle. As with my experience with my tabasco black pepper sauces, the black pepper flavor is in the background now, but give it a month for the flavors to meld. Should be outstanding. 

 

[hoibot]

looks great, thanks for the detailed process and photos!

 

[Greenguru]

A little vinegar 

 
And as I said, everything was simmered for an hour or so. After that, it was blended and then strained to get the seeds out and put back on the burner to bring it back up to temperature. I added a bit of black pepper at this stage and simmered for a few minutes more. 
 

 
 
Yielded about 10+ bottles. 
 

 
 
Like I said, I have been working on this type of sauce for a while. Trying to achieve a black pepperish taste similar to a Gator sauce type. 
 
It is definitely hot, and way to hot for a nonchilihead but I like it quite a lot. Heat level of the total sauce is probably about like eating a milder orange hab. Has a bite and burns for a bit, but nothing you can't handle. As with my experience with my tabasco black pepper sauces, the black pepper flavor is in the background now, but give it a month for the flavors to meld. Should be outstanding. 

got bite ?

 

[laynlow]

Nice looking sauce.  Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Jeff H]

got bite ?

 
Depends on your opinion of bite. Yes, it is hotter than any commercial ghost sauces I have had, hands down. Hotter than most scorpion sauces too, but it is no where near as hot as the scorpion puree I made with AJ's recipe. That stuff will take the paint off of walls.

 

[MrSauce]

well f my a that looks goooood

 

[Greenguru]

Scorpions are a hot peppers I remember eating my first ripe one before breakfast major mistake lol but I have eat all on empty stomach I have to see what the peppers are like and of course to say I have eaten one

 

[kevinpo]

Very nice! Thanks for the pictures too. Is it OK to cook it in the house or will the fumes be too strong?
 
Cheers,
Kevin

 

[Jeff H]

Very nice! Thanks for the pictures too. Is it OK to cook it in the house or will the fumes be too strong?
 
Cheers,
Kevin

 
 
If anyone is in the house with you, I would strongly suggest going outside. The only cooking I did indoors was to bring it back to a boil right before bottling. I got a decent amount of grief from my wife for even that.

 

[wildseed57]

Sounds great,
I ferminted a full galon of pureed Super hots for a month and did a taste test, the heat was crazy hot, but because of all the Caps. Oil it was also very bitter, so I plan to cut it with onions, garlic, carrots, sweet potatoes, mangos and maybe some pineapples to sweeten it up some, I have a couple of quarts of green pepper puree that I ferminted also same crazy heat and also quite bitter. I'm not quite sure what to use to sweeten it up with without turing it a ugly brown  we don't have much in the green to yellow fruit, maybe pineapples would do the trick along with onions and garlic to mellow the taste ?

 

[JayT]

Has the sauce changed any sine you bottled it?

 

[salsalady]

maybe just bite the bullet and use sugar.  Won't change the color. 

 

[Jeff H]

Has the sauce changed any sine you bottled it?

 
 
Mellowed a little, but that is about it. As I finish the 2nd bottle I have two thoughts. More black pepper and more brown sugar.
 
I think Ann is on the same page as I am  with just adding sugar. Just enough to cut the bitterness. I don't want a sweet sauce. 

 

[Pepperjack91]

Looks really good!

 

[annie57]

George, on the green, can try really ripe tomatillos, chayote, agave and a touch more salt, scallions should help or have done same thing and gone "Ewww" and had to "fix" green ferments!
 
Jeff, next time you make this and it does sound delicious but as you noted, going to have bitterness, next time, if you smoke a few ripe jalapeño to go with, I'd say 1/4th, something about ripe smoked jals works well with a red super sauce and tomato butter, which is basically tomato sauce in crock pot, with a little sugar, few spices, maybe. Have found for a fresh and even fermented sauce, with red supers, smoked jals and tomato butter take out bitterness of the 7's, which ya know, just prone to. Like the pepper touch. Have you tried Szechuan peppercorns? Be killer if grind separately and they kind of numb ya mouth. Nice effect when using supers. Looks like excellent  !!! Annie 

 

[Jamison]

Very nice! I'm really gonna try to make a sauce next year that I like.