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Help---fix my clumpy hot sauce

beerbreath81

beerbreath81

Ok, this will be my second attempt at making a hot sauce from fresh peppers and my results have been the same both times (clumpy/runny). Here is my latest recipe
 
Started by filling quart mason jar with chopped serannos.
Used White Labs Lacto for ferment
Left to ferment for 3 weeks
 
Added to pot with
1/4 of an onion (chopped)
1 tsp grated garlic
1 dried moruga scorpion yellow (from pepperlover)
1 single clove
juice of lime wedge
 
basically just heated to soften everything before running through food mill. After running through food mill and back on stove to reduce here is what it looks like
 
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flavor was okay, just looking for a more smooth consistancy, as opposed to clumpy/runny
 
here it is all bottled up
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what am i doing wrong? not cooking long enough was my first guess and was gonna continue to cook down, but for future sauces i better invest in hot plate so i can cook in garage, family is never happy on hot sauce day, (and this was just serranos and one moruga). haha
 
 
 
 
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can/will try the blender, just didnt want bits of skin left behind. which is why i opted for the food mill. No vinegar needed plenty of liquid from ferment, and will be stored in fridge.  Here is another shot pre food mill and durring food mill
 
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Try taking it to a boil for 10 mins then reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes. Run through the blender and back on for another 30 minute simmer. Run it through the food mill then bring it to 195 dF for 15 minutes and bottle. While bottling if it gets below 185 dF reheat to 195 and continue to bottle. once lids are on invert for 15 minutes.
 
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RocketMan said:
Try taking it to a boil for 10 mins then reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes. Run through the blender and back on for another 30 minute simmer. Run it through the food mill then bring it to 195 dF for 15 minutes and bottle. While bottling if it gets below 185 dF reheat to 195 and continue to bottle. once lids are on invert for 15 minutes.
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Thanks for the tips, by your recomendations i definatly didnt cook for long enough.  I boiled for maybe 15 minutes is all.
 
Thanks for the vinegar tips too guys
 
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You're well on your way BB.  The blender or stick blender advice is spot on - the food mill will get you to a certain point (depending on the plate you use) but I always stick blend my sauces before they go back on the heat just prior to bottling.  Not only will that help your consistency (smooth pour) but it will also help keep the sauces from separating over time.  
 
Note that vinegar and lime juice will help with consistency and pH but will also change the flavor.  If you're processing ferments adding an acid like vinegar or citrus you'll need less of them since the ferment is already pretty acidic.  It's important to consider your pH for best storage/sanitation but ultimately you want a great tasting product.  Time and experimentation will help you refine these things.  I'd also advise a pH meter - the test strips that are widely available are also hard to read and less reliable.
 
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So that BB81 and other first time fermenters are not confused here -
 
Lime, Lemon, Sour Orange or any of the vinegar's will get your Ph down to where it needs to be to have a safe sauce and the choice of which one to use should be made with your target flavor profile in mind. However in a fermented sauce like BB81's they are not necessarily needed unless the Ph reached by the fermentation process isn't low enough. My fermented sauces come out at a Ph 3.4 to 3.6 consistently so add acid isn't necessary except to achieve the flavor profile I'm after. This is why you should have some method to test for Ph whenever your making sauce. I always check mine twice. First before I empty the fermentation jar and again before the second simmering.
 
I only mention this because there are a lot saying to add acid when it may not be needed and while the acid will help to break down the ingredients over time it does no good if it's too much. 
 
JMHO :)
 
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thx RM thats exactly what i needed. I was thinking to add vinegar based on comments to help break down the sauce but i was wondering how to counter-act that acid taste as mine is pretty acidic already from the ferment, maybe some fruit juice of some kind. I dont recall you using vinegar in any of your ferments either.
 
+1 on the PH meter
 
I'm ok with tweeking the sauce to get the flavor profile i'm looking for it just seems that when i use fresh peppers it always comes out this way--chuncky and runny, the liquid and pulp just dont seem to bind together.  Dried peppers i get a nice smooth consistancy after rehydration and a run through the food mill never have had a problem with them.
 
I have another ferment going right know with orange habs, onion, garlic, orange bell, carrots, and mango so....
 
Next time I think i will cook the crap out of it as you mention earlier and see if that changes the outcome. Also will probably start looking for a stick blender on craigslist. but i got to say my little ninja does a good job, never used a stick blender so cant compare the two. 
 
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I really like ferments and feel i have a pretty good grasp on them, but I usually just ferment and eat (pickles, saurkraut, peppers etc) I am really just playing around trying to improve my techniques for making hot sauce so when harvest time comes i have the basics of a good hot sauce in hand.
 
Thanks to everyone for all your input
 
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That Ninja will work fine. I test for PH and only add vinegar to bring it down if necessary. My ferments are in the 3.5 range as RMs are. If I add I only add a couple tablespoons of rice vinegar. It doesn't have as harsh of a taste as other vinegars do. I also add water when blending then cook back down to the right consistency. A touch of xanthan gum will give it a nice shine and prevent separation. A dab of the stuff will do...
 
My ritual is blend, cook (30ish min) let cool, blend again adding a little water if needed and the xanthan gum then boil/simmer and reduce to final consistency then into the bottle. If needed I will do another blend/cook cycle before bottling to get it smooth. I test PH at every stage because as I cook I often add a dab of this or a touch of that for flavor which can change the PH. Always check the ph one last time before it goes into the bottles.
 
Just an FYI I use a screen lid for the pot I am cooking in. It will let it reduce while preventing superhot sauce from spattering everywhere.
 
Good luck and post some finished photos! Your recipe sounds like its got the makings of an epic sauce.
Shane
 
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A food mill is essentially pushing small bit of softer flesh through the small holes of the screen while the larger bits of skin and seed are left in the bowl.  The small bits that are pushed through are not liquefied, they are still small bits of pulp which need to be broken down for a smoother sauce. 
 
This can be achieved simply by low-slow cooking (think applesauce from chunky apples, usually not ran through a blender or food mill) or by cooking a bit and then blendering the snot out of it.  Cooking breaks down the miniature lumps of pulp, blendering is even better for breaking them down.
 
The pulp that comes out of a ferment is still pretty firm, and the additional veggies need to be thoroughly cooked to soft before running through the food mill.  You can even run the ferment through a blender first, with the fresh veggies just to get them into small bits, simmer for a while, THEN do the food mill.  You should find a higher yield when blendering the ingredients first, then food milling.  You;ll probably want to blender again some time after the food mill also for the reasons above.
 
Have Fun!
 
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OK, gave it another go over the weekend with some fresh peppers...results still need work.
 
First the ingrediants...
 
15-20 orange Habs
1.5 Tbls Garlic
1 onion
3 carrots
2 Mangos
2 Tbls Salt
 
Used a bit of WL Lacto yeast and set for a month ferment.
 
Pic at two weeks
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Pic at 4 weeks
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After month ferment dumped all into saucepan
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cook/boiled for 30 min and then put in blender for 3-4 minutes on high
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result was very thick, I added 1/2 C water and 1/2 cup white vinegar but still very thick.
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End result was not as pour-able as i was hoping but results were definatly better than the last. Part of the problem was a new hot plate i got. Couldnt get it dialed in, it was either on a ragin boil or off. Thanks to all that commented, I am confident with a few more tries I will have makin hot sauce with fresh peppers down.
 
Thanks again to all that commented.
Anthony
 
 
 
 
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That looks kick ayass!  If you're still too thick (or thicker than the 'pourable' result you desire) I'd thin with same ration vinegar/water - next time 1/1 cup, if still too thick 1/2 cup of each at a time till you're happy.  You'll hit pourable before you're unhappy with the acid balance would be my guess.  My own mashes contain similar amounts of the same ingredients and only reach 'needing an orifice reducer on a normal woozy' consistency when close to 2 cups of additional liquid are added (in a similar total amount of mash).  Why not double or triple up?  You'll catch it before its bottled and all it cost ya is more time out in the garage with your monster truck hot plate :)
 
If you find the key to keep it from separating in the fridge or shelf after lemme know. 
 
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SmokenFire said:
That looks kick ayass!  If you're still too thick (or thicker than the 'pourable' result you desire) I'd thin with same ration vinegar/water - next time 1/1 cup, if still too thick 1/2 cup of each at a time till you're happy.  You'll hit pourable before you're unhappy with the acid balance would be my guess.  My own mashes contain similar amounts of the same ingredients and only reach 'needing an orifice reducer on a normal woozy' consistency when close to 2 cups of additional liquid are added (in a similar total amount of mash).  Why not double or triple up?  You'll catch it before its bottled and all it cost ya is more time out in the garage with your monster truck hot plate :)
 
If you find the key to keep it from separating in the fridge or shelf after lemme know. 
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Thanks for the comment, I had some of this sauce last night on some chips and I couldnt stop eating it, flavor is spot on. It is a little thicker than what i was going for (kinda like Hienz 57, I was goin for franks red hot) but was skeered to add more vinegar/water in fears of being to acidic and ruining the sauce. The color on the last pic doesnt do it justice, the one in the blender is pretty much exactly how it looks. So for appearance and taste I'm pretty proud of myself. Following the suggestions on here I am definatly ahead of where I was a few weeks ago. Now I just need to get more fresh peppers and try again. My goal is to have this process down by this summer so when peppers are harvested, I have no doubts on my sauce makin skills.
 
Thanks agian.
 
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