Need some thoughts on getting a food processor for making hot sauce

Codeman · Sep 27, 2019

Hello all.
I was wanting some thoughts on getting a food processor to make my hot sauces much better. Now not sure if seeds would make my hot sauce bitter. Not sure if using a immersion blender would be better or using a food Mill would be better. I don't cook my peppers to make my sauce I just ferment in a 3 percent brine and blend it. Wanting a upgrade from a worn out Oster blender. Trying to make my hobby making hot sauces into a business. Thanks.

pellidon · Sep 27, 2019

Depends on the end texture you want. A food processor will make a textured chunky sauce but not a real puree that's smooth. I usually make my mash with a food processor or Ninja then blend after cooking/fermenting. I blend in an old Vita Mix or my new Blendtec. They can even obliterate seeds to some extent.

Codeman · Sep 27, 2019

pellidon said:
Depends on the end texture you want. A food processor will make a textured chunky sauce but not a real puree that's smooth. I usually make my mash with a food processor or Ninja then blend after cooking/fermenting. I blend in an old Vita Mix or my new Blendtec. They can even obliterate seeds to some extent.

Wait so I want a smooth hot sauce so how do I achieve it?

salsalady · Sep 27, 2019

For a really smooth sauce, there are a couple options.
#1- ferment, run it all thru a FOOD MILL, which will remove seeds and large pieces of skin.
#2- ferment...Get a BlendTec blender which will pulverize all the seeds and skins. I've used food processors, Ninjas, cuisiarts...none will completely homogenize the sauce like a blendtec. Mine is a reconditioned commercial smoothy maker. $450 (I think) on fleaBay.

Have fun!

SL

Ps...when first reading the title, I thought you were asking about another food processor...as in COPACKER...making the sauce. -lol-

Codeman · Sep 27, 2019

salsalady said:
For a really smooth sauce, there are a couple options.
#1- ferment, run it all thru a FOOD MILL, which will remove seeds and large pieces of skin.
#2- ferment...Get a BlendTec blender which will pulverize all the seeds and skins. I've used food processors, Ninjas, cuisiarts...none will completely homogenize the sauce like a blendtec. Mine is a reconditioned commercial smoothy maker. $450 (I think) on fleaBay.

Have fun!

SL

Ps...when first reading the title, I thought you were asking about another food processor...as in COPACKER...making the sauce. -lol-

Copacker?? I bought a cusinart cfp-800. So my best choice would be #1...

sirex · Sep 27, 2019

A copacker is a facility that will make, cook, and pack your sauces into bottles for you. All for a price.

Be prepared for somewhat of an undertaking going legit with a sauce biz. All the rules and regulations vary state to state. I think every chilehead at one point or another has either dreamed of running sauce for a living or taken the leap in some fashion or another.

But to tackle your question. I choose blender over food processor. To me blenders provide a smoother product. To achieve ultimate smoothe though a food mill after the blend is Def the way to go. I don't have a Blendtec or a Vitamix. I have a ninja. Think it's 1100 watt version. Works well for me. I know a guy that uses an immersion blender . The one we use at work is a freaking beast of a boat motor and I'd have to be making gallons though.

salsalady · Sep 27, 2019

You can do option #2 also...

I was misreading the OP. As in...hiring a commercial facility to make and bottle the sauce... "getting a food processor to make my sauces much better"....

OK! My mistake- :lol:

back on track...hope this helps.
SL

Codeman · Sep 28, 2019

salsalady said:
You can do option #2 also...

I was misreading the OP. As in...hiring a commercial facility to make and bottle the sauce... "getting a food processor to make my sauces much better"....

OK! My mistake- back on track...hope this helps.
SL

I have the cusinart cfp 800. It's a food processor,juicer and blender. I think it's 500 watts though.

Codeman · Sep 28, 2019

salsalady said:
You can do option #2 also...

I was misreading the OP. As in...hiring a commercial facility to make and bottle the sauce... "getting a food processor to make my sauces much better"....

OK! My mistake- back on track...hope this helps.
SL

My other question is do I keep the seeds? Also is it better to make a mash then cook and then blend or food processor then run it through a coliander?

pellidon · Sep 28, 2019

Those are all a matter of personal taste. There's no right or wrong except for food safety. I'm too lazy to remove seeds plus my blender pulverizes them anyway.

Siv · Sep 30, 2019

SL has given you the answer - a BlendTec blender. They're expensive (~$300 and up) but totally worth it - I have the designer model. It'll turn anything into a fine puree.

Don't believe me? https://www.youtube.com/user/Blendtec

ShowMeDaSauce · Sep 30, 2019

For small batches i just use a Nutribullet Pro. The newer one is 1200watts and its only about $89-99. They got a 1700watt now also. You can find them for under $150

Codeman · Oct 8, 2019

Siv said:
SL has given you the answer - a BlendTec blender. They're expensive (~$300 and up) but totally worth it - I have the designer model. It'll turn anything into a fine puree.

Don't believe me? https://www.youtube.com/user/Blendtec

ok. For now my new blender is fine until I can get a Vitamix or blend tec. I'll food process it then cook it then blend it and let it cool then run it through a sieve. But at the moment if I remove the skin it'll remove all the flavor right?

Siv · Oct 9, 2019

Codeman said:
ok. For now my new blender is fine until I can get a Vitamix or blend tec. I'll food process it then cook it then blend it and let it cool then run it through a sieve. But at the moment if I remove the skin it'll remove all the flavor right?

Actually, I have no idea what impact the skin has on flavour - often when you roast sweet peppers you remove the skin. Also of note that Tabasco sauce is the fermented peppers but the skin and seeds are left over and don't make it into the sauce. Personally I don't think you're going to remove much flavour from removing the skin - you may actually improve it as skin can be bitter.

sirex · Oct 10, 2019

Codeman said:
But at the moment if I remove the skin it'll remove all the flavor right?

Flavor doesn't come from the skin. It comes from the flesh. I leave skins in. Others don't. Most people deskin after roasting toms and peppers. I actually leave the charred bits on because I like the flavor as well as the aesthetic appeal of the characters in the final product.

When you eat an orange or watermelon you don't eat the skin (the zest of orange skin does provide wonderful flavor for sauces etc though).

DaQatz · Oct 10, 2019

There are many ways to make smooth sauce. First though you need to understand what affects the texture,
and flavor of your sauce when it comes to components of the pepper.

Basic pepper parts to consider when making your sauce.
1) Skin - Mostly fiber, almost no flavor
2) Meat - Lots of flavor, and a bit of heat. Low fiber
3) Pith - Lots of heat, very little flavor. Low Fiber
4) Seeds - Mostly fiber, not much flavor, but can impart nutty or bitter tones

The skin, and the seeds are what make a sauce "chunky". This is because they are hard to grind consistently.

Option 1 Remove the seeds and skin. The easiest way to do this is what SalsaLady suggested. Use a food mill on your mash. It will remove most of
the skins, and seeds. It should make the sauce very consistent, and should keep the flavor a little more intense.

Option 2 High power blender. If you want to brute force it you can leave in the fiberus bits.
You will need to stick to the top of the line blenders though. Pretty much just Blentec, or Vitamix.
This will also help you thicken the sauce, as the fiber in the seeds and skin will have that function.

Option 3 Remove the lumps in post. You can pass your sauce through mesh screens after you blend it.
I normally use multiple mesh sizes when I do this.

Wide mesh

Fine Mesh after the wide mesh to texture the sauce.

Personally I tend to use a combination of high power blending, and then a fine mesh for texture.

ShowMeDaSauce · Oct 10, 2019

I just use a large mesh strainer. Shake it back and forth for a minute. Dont even need to use a spoon.

Thats all i did with these and got a great texture.

Codeman · Oct 11, 2019

DaQatz said:
There are many ways to make smooth sauce. First though you need to understand what affects the texture,
and flavor of your sauce when it comes to components of the pepper.

Basic pepper parts to consider when making your sauce.
1) Skin - Mostly fiber, almost no flavor
2) Meat - Lots of flavor, and a bit of heat. Low fiber
3) Pith - Lots of heat, very little flavor. Low Fiber
4) Seeds - Mostly fiber, not much flavor, but can impart nutty or bitter tones

The skin, and the seeds are what make a sauce "chunky". This is because they are hard to grind consistently.

Option 1 Remove the seeds and skin. The easiest way to do this is what SalsaLady suggested. Use a food mill on your mash. It will remove most of
the skins, and seeds. It should make the sauce very consistent, and should keep the flavor a little more intense.

Option 2 High power blender. If you want to brute force it you can leave in the fiberus bits.
You will need to stick to the top of the line blenders though. Pretty much just Blentec, or Vitamix.
This will also help you thicken the sauce, as the fiber in the seeds and skin will have that function.

Option 3 Remove the lumps in post. You can pass your sauce through mesh screens after you blend it.
I normally use multiple mesh sizes when I do this.

Wide mesh

Fine Mesh after the wide mesh to texture the sauce.

Personally I tend to use a combination of high power blending, and then a fine mesh for texture.

What is a good quality food Mill?

sirex · Oct 12, 2019

I think for option 3 you do what you need to do to get what you want.

DaQatz · Oct 12, 2019

Codeman said:
for option 3 do you blend it into a mash then cook it then blend again the run it through a fine mesh sieve? Or do you run it through twice one time through medium then one time through the fine sieve? What is a good quality food Mill?

When I use the mesh method for my sauce I normally blend, mesh, then cook. I only cook then mesh if there is an extra ingredient that requires cooking to have it's full effect on the sauce. this would be items that turn to mush while cooking, or that thicken the sauce.