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recipe-help Pasteurising makes my sauce bitter??

I'm not sure we're talking about much more than pureed pickled jalapenos, but the boss ingredient IS peppers, and that's awesome. When I look at your ingredients, the only thing that jumps out to me that can be bitter is your "Chipotle spice". Using "bad" smoke can definitely make things bitter, and since you "...have smoked, dried and ground to make the chipotle spice", I suspect it may be the source. I'd taste it straight up and see if you taste "bitter". Also, taste it after you mix the spice with vinegar. There could be a reaction between vinegar and the smoked chipolte creating bitter notes.

Just my 2c. Good luck with it going forward. :seeya:
 
Sugar might solve it. There's a big difference between raw and cooked sauce, and you might be expecting them to taste the same. Yes, there's a lot of sauces that are not bitter and they don't have sugar, but they may be aged pepper sauces. If not, a lot actually do have a sugar component. You can tinker away, but you could also try sugar.
 
Or ferment it then cook it. That should really mellow it out as well as add depth.
 
Downriver said:
I'm not sure we're talking about much more than pureed pickled jalapenos, but the boss ingredient IS peppers, and that's awesome. When I look at your ingredients, the only thing that jumps out to me that can be bitter is your "Chipotle spice". Using "bad" smoke can definitely make things bitter, and since you "...have smoked, dried and ground to make the chipotle spice", I suspect it may be the source. I'd taste it straight up and see if you taste "bitter". Also, taste it after you mix the spice with vinegar. There could be a reaction between vinegar and the smoked chipolte creating bitter notes.

Just my 2c. Good luck with it going forward. :seeya:
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Hi Downriver,

Thank you for your input. You are correct, it is all about the pepper and drives me insane for 6 months when I have no fresh peppers to make it which is why It would be great to nail this recipe.

I didn't think about maybe "bad smoke" I am a self-proclaimed above-average smoker and the bitterness doesn't come across in the fresh so I neglected to think of this one. I just tried some as a powder and it doesn't come across as bitter but for the next batch I will buy some and see if that is the cause.
 
Just made a batch. This really brings out a nice flavor in jalapeno rojo. Taco Fuego clone with rice vinegar and a little lime juice.
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I know some old grannies use to do that with carrots too. To get the sugar and flavor into a red sauce without adding the carrots. They'd use a cheesecloth with some twine to make a sachet bag and add herbs/spices/carrots etc and fish the bag out of the pot at the end.
 
Hi all,
An update, I managed to get an extra harvest off my bushes so tried again with exactly the same ingredients. I put the peeled garlic in whole for the last 15 minutes to kind of boil before I put it through the blender, worked out perfectly for me. Thank you everyone for the help and suggestions
 
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