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condiment Making a spicy Barbecue sauce

Hello all. I'm not one to make much idle chat, so I'll skip straight to why I'm here.

I've been into barbecue as a cooking style for about six years. Recently, I perfected my barbecue sauce recipe, and consistency in making it. Now, I am branching into making a stupid hot version of my barbecue sauce.

I've bought a variety of peppers, including:

Yellow Caribe Hots
Finger Hots
Bhut Jolokia
Habanero
Jalapeno
Green Anaheim
Bell (Red/Yellow/Orange)
Hungarian Yellow
Dried Thai Chiles
Dried Ghost Chiles

Now, if any of you are familiar with Mango Habanero sauce from Buffalo Wild Wings, Quaker Steak and Lube, or similar, you'll understand what I'm going for: A really sweet start from the barbecue sauce, then a massive kick in the mouth from the chilies. However, advice on achieving that balance has been elusive.

The other large issue I am trying to quickly solve, is how the different preservation/marinating processes affect flavor and heat. Are these peppers better when fresh, pickled in vinegar, or dried? Which process grants the most flavor from the peppers?

If you guys could help me answer these questions, I'd be most grateful. Thanks so much!
 
 
I tend to find that fresh pepper is the best flavor you can get for sauces/juices/purees. But some people like to roast, dry, or smoke their peppers before adding it to sauces, I guess that's all up to personal taste and what you're looking for. I suggest you try different ways, but in my opinion, if you're looking for a pepper taste; the fresher the better.
Smoked peppers can be awesome in barbecue sauce, though. Mmh. Give it a try!
 
Wolf1888 said:
I tend to find that fresh pepper is the best flavor you can get for sauces/juices/purees. But some people like to roast, dry, or smoke their peppers before adding it to sauces, I guess that's all up to personal taste and what you're looking for. I suggest you try different ways, but in my opinion, if you're looking for a pepper taste; the fresher the better.
Smoked peppers can be awesome in barbecue sauce, though. Mmh. Give it a try!
Okay. Now, what if I marinated them in vinegar for a bit? I'm assuming it works like an extract?
 
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by working like an extract. I'm pretty sure that every cooking process you can do on a pepper (pickled, smoked, dried, etc.) will only affect the taste, and won't make it hotter (if anything, it'll make it less hot). So basically if you're only looking for heat I'd suggest to add them raw for a maximum heat addition. Marinated in vinegar might be more like the taste you're looking for, though.
 
Sorry if I misunderstood.
 
Wolf1888 said:
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by working like an extract. I'm pretty sure that every cooking process you can do on a pepper (pickled, smoked, dried, etc.) will only affect the taste, and won't make it hotter (if anything, it'll make it less hot). So basically if you're only looking for heat I'd suggest to add them raw for a maximum heat addition. Marinated in vinegar might be more like the taste you're looking for, though.
 
Sorry if I misunderstood.
What I mean is, if I marinate/pickle the peppers, does the vinegar neutralize/water down the capsaicin, or does the vinegar simply extract the heat?
 
In any situation that you marinate a pepper in something, there will be some loss of heat. Whenever you marinate you cut the pepper open and, to some extent, some capsaicin will leach out.

That being said.

When I get fresh peppers, the ones I know I will use sooner rather than later DO NOT go in the freezer. They go halved in a jar of vinegar in the fridge.now the ones I am not going to use soon I will put in the freezer.

I find that the " loss of heat" is negligible. Not enough for me to worry about.

Now if we are talking about caps a icon extraction that is a whole nother beast.
 
HotSauceJ - 
 
Welcome to THP!  You've come to the right place.  
 
If you've perfected your bbq sauce and want to replicate that exact bbq sauce only make it hotter then I'd advise you investigate Texas Creek Pure Evil.  It's made by one of our forum members and is a non extract distillation of capsaicin that won't affect flavor in any way - it will just add heat to it.   Start with one of the lower 'proof' (1.5 mil scoville lol) versions and use only a couple drops at a time in your normal bbq sauce batch.  It will save you all the time and R&D required to achieve the heat level you want with peppers of varying heat levels, and it will keep your sauce recipe consistent.  
 
If you want to go a fresh pepper route pm me.  :)
 
There's no reason to pickle a pepper before using in sauce. If you want them soft, that happens when you cook. I don't know what you mean by extract, like, are you going to use the pepper and the brine? That would be the same heat as some cap would be in the brine instead of the pepper. If discarding the brine, the peppers would be lower in heat, but a negligible difference.
 
What are you trying to achieve here? Hotter? Less heat? Texture? 
 
I have taken my hot sauce and super hot sauce and added it to my BBQ sauce to get the taste,flavor,heat I'm looking for in a spicy BBQ sauce.
 
Smokenfire  has a good recommendation above with pure evil.
 
Superhots can kick it up. I'd recommend crushed pods over powder. Powder when used in excess can create a gritty texture, but crushed pods, the flesh will rehydrate in the sauce and break down like a fresh pepper. Powders aren't a real problem though if not using a lot. I still prefer fresh or dried. 
 
I've not tried the mango hab sauce you mention so I'm not how to direct other than suggest you perfect the base with no chiles first, then find a Chile that will complement the base flavor.

I dint understand why you are looking at vinegar or brine. If you have fresh chiles yo preserve, freeze or dry them. Adding to vinegar will pickle them, and change the flavor hence will change your sauce compared to fresh chiles.

Any time a chile is mixed with anything the capsaicin content is diluted, some of the capsaicin leaches into the liquid. Some liquids, like booze, tend to leach out more of the capsaicin, more so than water or vinegar. If you wand to strain out the chiles and use the liquids, then soaking is a process. If you are going to throw it all into the sauce, I don't see a point in soaking the chIles ahead of time.
 
I was asking about the vinegar brine, because the base sauce uses apple cider vinegar. I just wanted to know if the brine affected the heat in any way.

Either way, odds are I'll stick with fresh peppers to keep things simple. I have the base sauce perfected and consistent already.

Update: My habaneros were ruined. The culprit: A ripened banana. I swear my roommate is in so much Hell when he gets home...  :evil:  :onfire: 
 
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