Need help tweaking my first habanero hot sauce

[Tony Cappello]

Hello all,

I decided to make my own habanero hot sauce today so I searched online for a simple recipe and after sorting through dozens of articles I settled on one that I found on food.com.

12 Habs
1/2 cup onions
1/2 cup carrots
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup lime juice

I sauted the onions and garlic then added the chopped carrots and let it simmer for a while until the carrots softened. Then I chopped up the habs and threw in everything in the blender and gave it a whirl. After that I let it simmer for 5 minuets and put it in a jar.

In my first taste test I noticed the vinegar was overpowering the sauce ( I used distilled vinegar btw). Is there something I can do right now to cut down the taste of vinegar or is it too late? In the future how much vinegar should I use? Is there anything else I can add to this recipe to make it better?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

[GreenTea]

I'd add more garlic, and a bit of sea salt. Less vinegar next time. If your batch is overpowered by the 1/2 cup, blend up another half batch and add them together, minus anymore vinegar.

 

[SanPatricio]

Vinegar is a volatile acid and will boil off, let it simmer unit the vinegar cooks off to your taste.
More carrots will also temper the vinegar taste. Good luck!

 

[Tony Cappello]

Thanks guys! I thought about adding another clove or two of garlic so I'll most likey do that in my next batch and use a little less vinegar. I only used a pinch of salt when I sauted the onions and garlic so I think I'm going to add more salt right now and let it simmer a little more.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

You did not give your sauce time to mellow and meld. All of the flavors will jump out right after making. The proper hot sauce tasting is at least two weeks after bottling (3-4 recommended), properly bottled and stored at room temp.

If this is just a fresh sauce you plan on consuming fast, let it sit in the fridge overnight for proper marrying. But at least give it the overnight test before adjusting anything. The fresh state is before the good stuff happens chemically.

 

[Tony Cappello]

Yes, this is just a fresh sauce I plan on consuming in the next couple of days. I'll definitely let it sit in the fridge overnight and go from there. Thanks for the great advice. I really appreciate it.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Okay let us know. Some flavors will intensify, and some will mellow. You may end up with a balanced sauce, or may have to adjust.

 

[Sawdust]

Yep admin is so right...

I made a fresh picodegallo salsa type batch the other night at late and at first I thought it was real twangy because of the two limes and I used no vinegar, but I let is set in the fridge for 2 days and it has totally changed and smoothed out and is really good, so good I don't have much left and I need another bag of chips

8 roasted medium size vine ripe maters
10 Habaneros
2 Serranos
2 roasted carrots
1/2 a bunch of Cilantro
1 medium bulb worth of cloves of Garlic roasted
1/2 of a white onion
1 tsp of ground Cumin
1.5 tbp of Kosher Salt
10 turns of fresh black peppercorns on a coarse set peppermill
2 Limes worth of juice squeezed and used the pulp from a half lime in there

 

[Tony Cappello]

**UPDATE**

So I let the hot sauce sit in the fridge overnight and I took it to work with me today to try it at lunch and I have to say it's definitely spicier than anything you can buy at the supermarket so it gets the job done in that department but as far as taste goes there's nothing really special about it. You can still taste the vinegar and lime juice if you eat it as is but once you mix it with ketchup or mayo that vinegary taste goes away it turns into the ultimate condiment for a chili head. I'm going to mix some with hummus tomorrow and if there's any left I'll make some guacamole and put the rest in there.

For my next hot sauce I'm going to see if I can find a recipe that calls for very little vinegar and maybe I'll mix a fruit or two in there for a more tropical flavor.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

For my next hot sauce I'm going to see if I can find a recipe that calls for very little vinegar and maybe I'll mix a fruit or two in there for a more tropical flavor.

You don't need a recipe to tell you less vinegar, just you less vinegar in this recipe! Cooking is all about experimenting. Finding recipes is like... finding other people's experimenting. No fun in that. Do your thing, and if anything, just use it as a platform.

You can also balance your flavors with the 5 taste sensations. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami. Vinegar = sour. Now mess with the others. Sweet can cut sour.

 

[Sawdust]

You don't need a recipe to tell you less vinegar, just you less vinegar in this recipe! Cooking is all about experimenting. Finding recipes is like... finding other people's experimenting. No fun in that. Do your thing, and if anything, just use it as a platform.

You can also balance your flavors with the 5 taste sensations. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami. Vinegar = sour. Now mess with the others. Sweet can cut sour.

Yep, admin is totally right, (he is like a ninja) :} I forgot to mention but I did get ancy after tasting that first batch and add about 1.5 tbsp of sugar so perhaps that countered it somewhat. But I was fairly pleased that my first batch did not last long and came out pretty good. Most importantly I wrote down everything I did in exact measurements on paper so I can look back and adjust or add different things in the future. It is a learning experience because now I find myself actually tasting the different effects of modifying the recipe. I really appreciate alot of the help I had here in getting up the nerve to even try,

Be well

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Yep, admin is totally right, (he is like a ninja) :} I forgot to mention but I did get ancy after tasting that first batch and add about 1.5 tbsp of sugar so perhaps that countered it somewhat. But I was fairly pleased that my first batch did not last long and came out pretty good. Most importantly I wrote down everything I did in exact measurements on paper so I can look back and adjust or add different things in the future. It is a learning experience because now I find myself actually tasting the different effects of modifying the recipe. I really appreciate alot of the help I had here in getting up the nerve to even try,

Be well

For best results make sure these are weight measurements, for example, one medium onion does not weigh the same as the next medium onion. So weigh the onion used, if that works, next time, use the same weight by adding more or taking away so it is exactly the same.

Invest in a food scale. A hot sauce makers best friend.

Ninja post!

 

[Downriver]

Yes, this is just a fresh sauce I plan on consuming in the next couple of days.

If that's the case, you don't NEED to add the vinegar and/or lime at all. Acidics (like vinegar, lemon, lime, etc) can be used to enhance flavor, but larger volumes are generally used to increase acidity (lower pH), to create a self-stable product. If you are refrigerating and consuming within a week or so, you don't need to be as concerned about pH.