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It's on

T

tims77

started my first 2 batches for 2016......7 or 8 more to go (and this one is only half over)
 
 
on tap today: a white sauce.....assorted white supers, lots of roasted garlic, white onion and parsnip......rice wine vinegar and white vinegar......will possibly finish with a little agave once it's about done
 
 
a smoked red......a ton of smoked (in apple & cherry wood) red varieties (with healthy doses of scorpions and primos), smoked vidalia onion & garlic......cortland apple and cherry juice (i didn't locally source cherries early enough).....will finish with agave if it needs it, but the cherry juice might sweeten it enough
 
 
a few pics so far:
 
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ended up with 20 bottles of white and 34 of the smoked red
 
white had some good natural sweetness from the roasted garlic and parsnip.....added a little agave at the end, came out really strong I think.....you can def. get the garlic, then the peppers come on hot.....this one was a winner for sure, came out a little thick from the starch of the parsnip though, but I am ok with that
 
 
the smoked red is HOT.....that's a lot of peppers to drop into 34 bottles.....just enough smoke to provide depth without over smoking the peppers, just enough onion and garlic fhat you can tell they are in there.....could have done more apples, they are certainly in the background.....the tart cherry juice made the batch, really need to source local tart cherries next year, they go really well with the peppers......just a little agave to finish this one off.....the color came out really nice, the pictures don't do it justice
 
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looked at my freezer, and i probably have 15-20 quart bags of yellow......some will go into a smoked blend, some will get papaya & mango like usual, and i think some will get some smoked fresh pineapple
 
 
chocolate peppers will get some tomato, tomatillo, garlic, onion, thyme, cumin, allspice and some agave.....once it is blended and strained, i'll add some mexican chocolate....sort of a mole inspired hot sauce
 
 
the caramel peppers will get pumpkin & ginger
 
peach will get pear and ginger
 
green gets smoked jalapeno, citrus, onion, garlic 
 
and i'll do a smoked blend that gets all colors run through the smoker with onion and garlic and whatever else i decide to add in lol
 
 
 
it will be a busy next 3 weeks......i am estimating 250-300 bottles out of my kitchen this year
 
 
i'll be putting the kids to work putting labels on over the next little bit lol
 
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Masher said:
Excellent looking, the curry, turmeric, ginger sounds great.  
Click to expand...
 
 
it tasted great out of the pot....sweet front, then a little depth with a touch of smoke & spice, then yellow heat.......will be interested to see how it sets up after it cools and sets up a bit
 
as usual, i went light with the pineapple/ginger/spice......i could have been a little heavier handed with the spice, but it's about the peppers
 
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i ended up picking up a few from folks on the site just because I was running slow.....some fatali, some jay's in there, plus some peach bhuts and a few others
 
 
this one was nuclear, but the pear & ginger is a fantastic combo
 
 
using the juice to add a little more liquid when blending is a new trick this year, and really works well.....the tart cherry juice  added to the smoked red was money, and i'll use pom juice on the regular red (which will get 6lbs of local cranberries as well)
 
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quick 65 bottles of red were thrown down yesterday - 7lbs of local cranberries, pom nails, pom juice, roasted onion and garlic.....
 
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and i lied.....I only have 120 or so bottles left, and I have to do yellow (40-50 at least), green (30), chocolate (20-30), caramel (10-20) and blend (60-70+)
 
guess I'm ordering more bottles later.....
 
 
hopefully I'll put the hammer down today and bang out a smoked green and a yellow.....
 
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you guys sick of me yet? lol
 
hammered out 85 more bottles
 
 
the green is mostly jalapeno based, with a few random greens here and there thrown in.....they all went into the smoker, along with a couple vidalias and 5 bulbs of garlic....once it was strained it got the juice of 3 limes, 2 lemons and an orange, this one got all apple cider vinegar and a little salt.....and a little agave to finish it off....this one is a solid green sauce, smoky and just enough heat
 
 
the yellow got a lot of fruit.....2 cantaloupes, some star fruit, mangos and a persimmon (just for the heck of it)....I used some organic fruit nectar (papaya, mango and a few others) to add some liquid to blend....a little bit of rice wine vinegar and white vinegar....made a "tea" from some candied ginger and rice wine vinegar to serve as a base (I've never done this, will have to add more next time)......this one also got a little agave at the finish......this one starts off nice & fruity, you can't place your finger on any one fruit, then a really nice heat kicks in, with a little sweet agave finish.....one of my faves
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had to order more bottles.....i think i'm looking at 10-20 bottles of caramel, 40-60 bottles of chocolate and 70-90 bottles of blend left to make
 
 
should break 400 this year, need to get selling lol
 
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Since you sell to retail market are there any preservatives other than vinegar and heating/sealing?

Just curios for my own knowledge....That Cranberry one looks great, just in time for Turkey sandwiches.
 
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Masher said:
Since you sell to retail market are there any preservatives other than vinegar and heating/sealing?

Just curios for my own knowledge....That Cranberry one looks great, just in time for Turkey sandwiches.
Click to expand...
 
 
 
 
nothing but vinegar - i add xanthan gum just to smooth it out/keep it from separating, but I rely on pH to keep the nasties away......i have bottles that are 3+ years old, open, partially used in the cabinet......while some oxidation has occurred and the color has changed a little, and the flavor profiles have changed a bit, they are still good to go
 
 
i will note that my retailer is a small, local farm/community store.....good sized, they sell local meats, veggies, bake bread and other items, good beer, wine, etc
 
but they don't worry that my products aren't state certified, either.....shhhhhh
Masher said:
Since you sell to retail market are there any preservatives other than vinegar and heating/sealing?

Just curios for my own knowledge....That Cranberry one looks great, just in time for Turkey sandwiches.
Click to expand...
 
 
 
if i ever wanted to expand and go legit, i'd have to send an ingredients list and $25 (per recipe) to Orono to get certified by the State
 
if i made a product that had potential allergens or could go bad, I'd think about it.......but I should be able to sell half of my stock in a week all on my own, and the product is stable and well preserved by simple pH.....so.....
 
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