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Hot Sauce has slight bitter after-taste

S

sweet_heat

Hi,
 
My last batch of hot sauce seems to have a slight bitter after taste, but cant work out why. Any suggestions?

Recipe;
 
Red peppers
Scotch Bonnets
Birds Eye
Garlic
White Malt Vineger
Water
Brown Sugar
Paprika
Mustard powder
Celery
Lime(s) - juice and zest
Carrots
Red Onion
Ginger
Mango(s)
Sichuan pepper
Salt & black pepper
Slurp of brandy
 
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I think hogleg might be onto something, especially is you didn't use a zester so that you only took the green outer part. What was your process for finalizing your sauce, did you cook/boil the sauce any? I read that a 5 minute boil will destroy the bitterness of the pith. Also try giving it some time. let it set for a month or 2 and try it again. A sauce will mellow and develop with time and a little time might be just the ticket to the bitterness issue.
 
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i made a sauce recently with red onion and lime juice. it was also slightly bitter (and strange smelling while processing, unlike any others I've done). tastes better after processing, but i suspect i over-juiced the limes, or something is up with using red onion.
 
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I really doubt it's pith, there's more pith in all those peppers than that little bit of zest, and he didn't even say his zest had pith. Usually it doesn't (if microplaned). Pith gets in all sauces from the peppers. What I am saying is all sauces have some amount of pith. It cooks down quite well without imparting bitterness. 
 
My guess is the celery.

Do you still have some left? See if it's bitter. Celery can be quite bitter depending on growing conditions. 

Also taste that white malt vinegar. Never heard of white! It's from malted barley so how is it white? Maybe it goes through a process that makes it bitter. Taste it. Just curious. 
 
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I didn't know. But I do know some Italians use large pieces only and fish them out later, in a sauce. They like to flavor the dish but a lot of people don't like biting on garlic. I now see why they also do it, for those long sauce cooks. Thanks!
 
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Hi guys,
 
I realised it was the lime zest, only included the juice in the next batch and it really made a difference! 

Forgot to say thanks for the suggestions about bitterness. THANK YOU.

As I've now got my recipe nailed and lots of people are really into it, I'm looking to go to market with it. However the shelf is a slight concern as everything used is fresh produce, do you think its worth adding a preservative such as Xanthan Gum?
 
Are there any pro's/con's to using it?
 
 
Thanks again!
 
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sweet_heat said:
Hi guys,
 
I realised it was the lime zest, only included the juice in the next batch and it really made a difference! 

Forgot to say thanks for the suggestions about bitterness. THANK YOU.

As I've now got my recipe nailed and lots of people are really into it, I'm looking to go to market with it. However the shelf is a slight concern as everything used is fresh produce, do you think its worth adding a preservative such as Xanthan Gum?
 
Are there any pro's/con's to using it?
 
 
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
 
I might be wrong here, but isn't Xanthan Gum just a natural thickener?  I'm not sure if it has any preservative qualities.
 
Your best bet is to do old school canning to make your sauce shelf stable
 
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