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Phildeez

Hellooo,

I am new to these forums and I am having fun reading about everybody's pepper gardens and recipes. This is my first year with uncommon
hot peppers and I kind of went bonkers with around 10 varieties of peppers that I have not even tried before. I have always loved spicy food
and I hope to be able to take that to another level with my own sauces and marinades.

I am wondering what I can use as a good base for a sauce to use as a taste tester. Of course I will be tasting the raw peppers, but,
especially for the really hot ones, it can be hard to get the flavor of the pepper through the heat. I may use a tortilla chip or slice of cucumber
as the medium, thoughts on that would be appreciated too.

I want a standard base recipe to use that I can throw each variety of pepper into to try as I first harvest them. Preferably things that will
accent the peppers are not overpower them, garlic and salt immediately come to mind. Something simple, keep in mind I basically just want
to dumb-down the heat of the pepper without taking away from the flavor. Something that will not clash with any (if this is possible) variety.

Help me, Pepper Pro's!

Thanks
-Phil
 
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Tomatoes, carrots, and garlic is a pretty standard and common hot sauce base. You can throw onions in there too if you like. Carrots are pretty good in fruity flavored hot sauces too, e.g. carrots + mangoes, pineapples, pears, grapefruit, etc.
 
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If you do not want to impart much flavor you can make a pepper puree with vinegar and peppers.

For the vehicle try UNSALTED tortilla chips, or just a spoon :)
 
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What kind of sauce are you wanting to make? Sweet or savory? Are you thinking about fermenting it or just cooking it up? There are many different ways to go and experimentation is 75% of the fun of making sauce to me. If you read through the forum you'll see lots of ways that others have made sauce. If you see one that sounds good to you copy it down and give it a try. If you think changing something would make it better, go for it and if you have questions ask we all love to answer. Oh, and make sure you take lots of pics of the sauce making process. We love it!

Cheers,
 
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I am looking for something simple that will showcase the flavor of the pepper best. It will not be something that I make repeatedly, not with the same pepper anyway.
It is hard to tell the flavor of two different pepper varieties in two difference sauces if the sauces are not made the same. I will definitely be experimenting plenty, but
I want a good foundation of the taste of the peppers to go off of.

Thanks for the input so far! I had thought about carrots but I did not know if they would overpower or clash with anything in particular.
 
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Greg H's idea is good if you want something like Tobasco but I believe it is possible to make a basic sauce that showcases both the peppers flavor and heat. A simple sauce would be:

15 to 20 peppers (the same or a mix)
1 sweet onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 large carrots peeled and shredded
3 Roma Tomatoes blanched and peel removed
2 Tbs Pickling or Kosher salt

Run all veggies through a food processor so their chopped fine. Place in a container and add salt. I lime fermented sauces and use Sourdough hooch as a starter but the whey from a container of yogurt will do the same thing. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons to the mix and warm water so that the veggies Are just covered. Find a nice place for it to set of 30 to 45 days. When done, or if you dint want to ferment pour everything into a good pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat some and summer for 30 to 45 minutes. Run everything through a blender till it's the consistency you want then back into the pot and reheat to 190 degrees F. Hold there for 15 minutes then bottle in steral bottles. Put in the reducer and cap and invert the bottle for 10 minutes to sterilize caps. After cooled add a label and let age for a week then enjoy.

cheers
 
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I try not to add more than half of other ingredients. What I mean is.... say I have 1 cup mash. I try not to add more than 1 cup(collectively) of mango, onion, lime, garlic. So approx 1:1 ratio of peppers/mash to other ingredients. My goal is not to take away from the pepper but to still make a hot sauce.

Here are 2 simple sauces I enjoy (better with mash):

This one is sweet:
Scotch Bonnets - 50%
Mango - 25% (more mango if using mash)
Lime - 15% (less lime if using mash)
Onion - 5%
Garlic - 3% to 5% (not to sure, just wing it)

And not sweet:
Scotch Bonnets - 50%
Vinegar(white) - 35% to 40%
Onion - 10%
Garlic - 3% to 5% (not to sure, just wing it)

These values are off the top of my head, I like to experiment so my sauces are always a little different.
If the sauce turns out too hot for you, try different peppers. Over time you will be able to enjoy hotter foods.
 
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Thank you guys for the suggestions. I will definitely be trying both recipes as soon as I get a harvest of anything hot enough.

Is mash just food processed peppers or do you add something?

-Phil
 
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Well what people call mash is fermented mashed peppers, but really the mash is the mashed peppers that are going to be fermented. Like a mash used in distilling. But for all intents and purposes, it is the fermented end product, because it is still mash, unlike in distilling.
 
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