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My 1st sauce

CAPCOM

CAPCOM

In the past the only way I could capitalize on a large quantity of peppers was to make a powder of them. A sauce has always been in the back of my mind but never really gave it the needed consideration till after it was too late. Well, I am doing so now and have read through a few of the stickies of this forum.
 
My base pepper will be the Brown Moruga. I dont like a lot of salt or pH adjusters that add flavor while altering the acidity so I am looking at a ferment. Probably the whey or hooch method. I want to focus on the flavors that are inherent to this fine pepper. I cannot however, decide whether to combine it with a flavorful fruit to add a complexity of flavors without distracting from the base pepper flavors. I like pineapple and mango as 1st choices.
 
I have over the past year gone through a lot of Tabasco sauce and have retained the bottles. They would be fine for a limited production of a new sauce.
 
Any suggestions?
 
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FROG DOG said:
i enjoy hot sauces without fruit just simple ingredients with the pepper being the main flavor profile.....sriracha would be a good example
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sriracha has too much salt in it, that detracts from the flavor.
D3monic said:
To be honest it's not hard to be under recommended ph... i'm having a harder time raising it. I haven't produced a batch yet that was above 3.8 
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I wouldn't bother, I like acidity.
 
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I don't ferment, though I use white wine vinegar in some of my sauces. I find that it isn't all that noticeable in the sauce, and it lets the other ingredients shine through. Adding fresh orange/lemon/lime juice would also help lower the pH. I had the correct pH on one batch of sauce by just adding citrus juice and no vinegar at all.

I've heard that rice wine vinegar is also good to use as it is also milder in taste.


SR.
 
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CAPCOM said:
In the past the only way I could capitalize on a large quantity of peppers was to make a powder of them. A sauce has always been in the back of my mind but never really gave it the needed consideration till after it was too late. Well, I am doing so now and have read through a few of the stickies of this forum.
 
My base pepper will be the Brown Moruga. I dont like a lot of salt or pH adjusters that add flavor while altering the acidity so I am looking at a ferment. Probably the whey or hooch method. I want to focus on the flavors that are inherent to this fine pepper. I cannot however, decide whether to combine it with a flavorful fruit to add a complexity of flavors without distracting from the base pepper flavors. I like pineapple and mango as 1st choices.
 
I have over the past year gone through a lot of Tabasco sauce and have retained the bottles. They would be fine for a limited production of a new sauce.
 
Any suggestions?
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Maybe you can slowly add more pineapple or mango, maybe both until you feel like it has the right balance of flavors. Personally I enjoy a fruity taste up front followed by the taste of the peppers. Usually when I make a homemade sauce the first ingredient(most by weight) is my peppers. That way I can always taste my peppers in the sauce I make. The "fruitier" the pepper is that I'm making the sauce with the less fruit I add to it. For example with the Bishops crown I don't need to add any fruit as it has a nice fruity taste all on its own. I find with the superhots its needed for balance. But again its all personal taste and what you like in a sauce. I'm an apple cider vinegar person with my sauces so they always have some fruit flavor in them. I look forward to your results. Good luck !!!!
 
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Congrats on your first sauce! 
 
A sauce with all brown morugas will be waaaaaay too blazing hot for everyone except except a select few like yourself and others here in THP-land.  Here's a couple options-
 
Mostly chiles-
90% brown morugas
8% onion
2% garlic
salt brine/hooch as suggested in Fermenting 101
 
 
Milder version (which will still be plenty hot!!!)
40% brown moruga
25% red bell, pimento, or other very mild red chile
25% apple, pineapple, mango- mix and match as you want (apple will give bulk without adding any fruit flavor, pineapple and mango will add bulk as well as fruit flavor)
8% onion
2% garlic
hooch
 
Might want to add 1%-2% more garlic if you want a heavy garlic.  If you want a non-fruit flavor, use all apples, if you want a fruit, then use the pineapple and/or mango. 
 
Also, I'm not a huge fan of a strong fermentation flavor, but I do like a bit of ferment flavor.  I've made a couple sauces where I ferment a batch (keeping track of approximate ratios of the ingredients) and when it's ready to process, I add the same amount of the same ingredients fresh.  That cuts the ferment flavor in half and keeps the ingredient flavors the same.  I've done a red jalapeno ferment like that and it makes a really good sriracha-style sauce.
 
Have Fun!  and I dont' have to mention post pics~~~ 
:lol:
 
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FROG DOG said:
capcom, salt actually makes flavors of food more profound unless you use too much....that is called salty. If you don't like salt, don't use it.....but it makes everything good including chocolate :)
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I agree with you that salt enhances flavors already present. The problem is, I find its use, especially in many sauces to be in abundance of that necessary to enhance flavor. And in most cases limits how much sauce I can enjoy at on sitting without getting dehydrated myself.
salsalady said:
Congrats on your first sauce! 
 
A sauce with all brown morugas will be waaaaaay too blazing hot for everyone except except a select few like yourself and others here in THP-land.  Here's a couple options-
 
Mostly chiles-
90% brown morugas
8% onion
2% garlic
salt brine/hooch as suggested in Fermenting 101
 
 
Milder version (which will still be plenty hot!!!)
40% brown moruga
25% red bell, pimento, or other very mild red chile
25% apple, pineapple, mango- mix and match as you want (apple will give bulk without adding any fruit flavor, pineapple and mango will add bulk as well as fruit flavor)
8% onion
2% garlic
hooch
 
Might want to add 1%-2% more garlic if you want a heavy garlic.  If you want a non-fruit flavor, use all apples, if you want a fruit, then use the pineapple and/or mango. 
 
Also, I'm not a huge fan of a strong fermentation flavor, but I do like a bit of ferment flavor.  I've made a couple sauces where I ferment a batch (keeping track of approximate ratios of the ingredients) and when it's ready to process, I add the same amount of the same ingredients fresh.  That cuts the ferment flavor in half and keeps the ingredient flavors the same.  I've done a red jalapeno ferment like that and it makes a really good sriracha-style sauce.
 
Have Fun!  and I dont' have to mention post pics~~~ 
:lol:
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I was hoping you would add your thought to the thread salsalady.
Yes, I agree on your take of the brown moruga heat and I will probably end up doing a brown moruga lite sauce as with your milder version. You mentioned ferment taste, I was under the impression that fermenting was just a way of avoiding the addition of salt while still boosting natural acidifiers. Can this ferment taste be described in a way that can be recognized absent of making a ferment and tasting 1st hand?
 
It is possible a  ferment is not the way to approach this and I should revisit my past experience with jam making as another possible start point.
Lots of good advice and suggestion so far
 
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Fermentation is not so much avoiding adding salt as opposed to getting a good pH level for a shelf stable sauce.  Ferm,entation also imparets a distictive flavor.  As pointed out, Sriracha is fermented and is salty.  Most ferments use salt, but you definitley don't need as much as the 6% some recipes call for.  I think most use a 4% brine.  Fermenting 101 has more on that, I can't remember for sure.  Also, there are 2 basic types of fermentation, kimchee/kraut which is growing the probiotics (as well as lowering the pH) and is usually kept fresh (not cooked) so all the good bugs stay active, and the chile fermentation which is to lower pH and is usually cooked which stops the fermentation process but the sauce will have that fermented flavor.
 
Despite the salt, Hoy Fong Sriracha is probably the most recognizable distictive fermented flavor.  I don't think Tabasco has a fermented flavor.  Vinegar, aged, salt, yes, but Sriracha has way more fermented flavor.  If you taste Tapatio and Sriracha side by side, you should be able to get the fermented flavor difference.  I think I've seen some packets of Sriracha at deli counts, maybe you can snag some and get the flavor difference.  If you happen to have some of Cappy's Brain Strain or some of Rocketman's sauces, those are fermented also.   
 
Part of the decision of how you process is whether you want the fermented flavor or just a bright fresh sauce.  Maybe do a ferment and if, when you process the ferment, it's too strong of a ferment flavor, do the 50/50 trick.  As others have mentioned, if you want to try a fresh sauce, consider the rice or white wine vinegar instead of ACV or white.  Rice and wine vinegars have a softer flavor, not so harsh of a bite.    
 
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salsalady said:
Fermentation is not so much avoiding adding salt as opposed to getting a good pH level for a shelf stable sauce.  Ferm,entation also imparets a distictive flavor.  As pointed out, Sriracha is fermented and is salty.  Most ferments use salt, but you definitley don't need as much as the 6% some recipes call for.  I think most use a 4% brine.  Fermenting 101 has more on that, I can't remember for sure.  Also, there are 2 basic types of fermentation, kimchee/kraut which is growing the probiotics (as well as lowering the pH) and is usually kept fresh (not cooked) so all the good bugs stay active, and the chile fermentation which is to lower pH and is usually cooked which stops the fermentation process but the sauce will have that fermented flavor.
 
Despite the salt, Hoy Fong Sriracha is probably the most recognizable distictive fermented flavor.  I don't think Tabasco has a fermented flavor.  Vinegar, aged, salt, yes, but Sriracha has way more fermented flavor.  If you taste Tapatio and Sriracha side by side, you should be able to get the fermented flavor difference.  I think I've seen some packets of Sriracha at deli counts, maybe you can snag some and get the flavor difference.  If you happen to have some of Cappy's Brain Strain or some of Rocketman's sauces, those are fermented also.   
 
Part of the decision of how you process is whether you want the fermented flavor or just a bright fresh sauce.  Maybe do a ferment and if, when you process the ferment, it's too strong of a ferment flavor, do the 50/50 trick.  As others have mentioned, if you want to try a fresh sauce, consider the rice or white wine vinegar instead of ACV or white.  Rice and wine vinegars have a softer flavor, not so harsh of a bite.    
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All good points. Any noticeable difference in processing fresh pods vs. frozen pods? I am asking from a quality of taste standpoint as I know they will work. More reading to do.
 
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Many here process sauces from frozen pods. Frozen is the closest to fresh from a flavor perspective. But, as you likely already know, freezing pods makes them thaw to very soft. Since you are going to be saucing them, though, the texture doesn't matter. I am pretty sure both Justaguy and RocketMan make their sauces from frozen, as examples. 
 
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grantmichaels said:
I froze fresh pods on purpose, hoping it would stick blend more easily for defrosted to mush from exploding all the cells ... will that pan out - we'll soon see!?
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yes it works well, less cooking time necessary to achieve blendable consistency too.   :)
 
edit@CC
 
I'd suggest trying a batch of non fermented sauce based on what you have available and what inspired you from SL's post (excellent!) and then do a batch of fermented mash too - both using the moruga as the primary heat bringer.  For a base pepper to match with the moruga I think roasted poblanos and aleppos would really add a nice bottom note with some apple cider vinegar and roasted garlic for a non fermented sauce, and sweeter reds like corno di toro and/or apple to match with morugas and ripe jalas/fresnos with garlic and sweet onion for a fermented batch.  
 
In either case I'd start with like 2/3 morugas per 1/2 gallon batch, grind everything up together and taste before adding any more to the batch. It should be easy to dial your desired heat level in.  Cooking either batch is going to lessen heat a bit, but open up the rest of your ingredients.  
 
Good luck and please post pics of your results!
 
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