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Hot Sauce question

I have been making a hot sauce for about 4 years and the people that order it love it on their eggs, chicken wings, burgers etc. However, I have been told by a few people, that seem to have more knoweledge than I do on hot sauces, that it is missing something that would make the sauce great and be marketable. I have taken their advice and have tried numerous fruits that may help. It is a roasted pepper sauce with fresh roasted tomatoes. I have tried strawberries but they were to sweet; raspberries but to bitter; black berries and blueberries but they were just awful; even kiwis and appricots but they did nothing for the flavor and really mellowed out the heat. I even tried to mix the raspberry and strawberry together and it went ok, but not great. I use Apple Cider vinegar to lower ph and still give it a little flavor. I tried mandarines and it worked alright but i was still told that it needed more flavor. Organes are to sweet also. If anyone has an idea of an ingredient that I have not mentioned that wouldn't over power the roasted flavor of the sauce that would be great. Thanks,
Aaron
 
All this advice just shows how many differnt ways to make a sauce. There is still so much more out there to learn and do with hot sauces. I'm glad I came accross this site, there is a lot knowledge here.
I am going to try two different ways of constructing this sauce with the same technique in mind. I will first try with RWV and fresh roasted reds then also hit it with some spices to give added component so that its not just one sided. The other I will try using Datil Peppers fresh instead of roasting them that way I get the sweet flavor from those as well as the heat. I will also add the roasted pineapple to the second one. If I still am not happy with it I should seek a different method. If nothing else I will at least have two different sauce that could be used for two different applications. :pray:
 
Yeah, there is no really right or wrong way to do it, but i've been down that road and had 1 sauce with 10 variations and all 10 taste significantly different with a simple few changes. The good thing about trying all the different methods is you do end up with more then 1 good sauce at the end of the process.
 
I have just ingredient your sauce needs and noone had mentioned it..............




























cantaloupe

Yes cantaloupe I make a great cantaloupe hotsauce and it is killer.











Cantaloupe? Odd thing to put in a hot sauce, but if you can put Strawberries in it... Not sure about roasted habs with it though. Not a bad idea though. I ended up going back to square one. I took the advice of LGHT and RocketMan. I Started with my onions, garlic, and zuccini (trying something a little different that could still give me a good base. Don't jump on me just yet.) which I sweated and put through the processor. I added some red wine vinegar, roasted red bell, a lemon, and one roasted tomato. Sounds like there are more ingredients than there needs to be. I mixed/pureed the ingredients and then let simmer 5 more minutes. Right now it is cooling down and I will try it in the morning. It's taste is a lot crisper than the original recipe with just a slight roasted flavor. The sauce is also thinner than the original was. With carrots, I might have had to add a bit more water to thin it out. The zuccini seems to not need that, of course I am still new and I could be completley wrong on this. I still am unsure about the vinegar its self but seems better than the apple cider. If this base works out I will then smoke the peppers with a mix of apple and cherry. I will also try other methods of smoking but think this might work. I don't want a sauce that over powers the wings so I am not going to try the harsher wood last. I am also wondering if butter will be needed. Here at the place I work we put a TBS of butter in the Franks that we use for the hot wings (standard bar wings). It obviously taste better that way. If so should I incorporate that "to order" or now?
Any Ideas,
Thanks again
Aaron
 
Artichoke hearts, sweet potatoes, peaches, zucchini, cantaloupe! Possibilities are endless! ACV, Rice Wine Vinegar, Red Wine Vinegar, White Vinegar, Cane Vinegar... Years of R&D ahead! :hotsauce:
 
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