Pickle Scent

[TV_LI_111]

Hello guys,
 
I have been making home made hot sauce for the last couple of months. I've been trying to master a couple of sauces, so I've been experimenting a lot.
 
I recently made a basil flavored hot sauce with some scotch bonnets, garlic, and a lot of onion. The vinegar I use was white vinegar and I think that the sauce tastes great. You get a nice amount of heat, and the basil flavor definitely comes thru nicely.
 
However, the sauce doesn't necessarily smell like a pepper sauce, it has a little bit of a pickle scent.
 
I want to get this sauce mastered but don't want to change the recipe too much.
 
I made a kiwi sauce recently which I think had the same issue.
 
My other sauces do not have this type of distinct pickle scent, and I want to see if anyone else has encountered this issue, and if they have any tips on how to not make it smell like pickles as much.
 
Thanks all

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Hmm okay let me take a stab at this.
 
You might want to make sure you are using a quality white vinegar. Some are made from petroleum products actually and are designed for cleaning, they come in plastic bottles. Heinz is a decent one, it is made from corn, most likely GMO corn but they state the final product is free of GMOs and the vinegar is very smooth. Next step up would be an organic white distilled vinegar, or you can try white wine vin, or rice wine vin. Cheers!

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Also maybe just too much vinegar and it's mixing with certain veg giving that aroma, like onions and peppers.  It's not a bad aroma tho. If the sauce tastes good, you're good to go!

 

[TV_LI_111]

Thank you for that. I am actually using Heinz white vinegar. I'm using the same amount of vinegar in all of my hot sauce batches, give or take 1/4 of a cup, but really only notice this in the basil/onion sauce and kiwi sauce which is odd.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

So maybe cut down the vinegar in that batch. Every sauce is different. Use some fresh squeezed lime juice it will go greet with kiwi. In fact you could lose the vinegar altogether.

Also a kiwi in kinda cucumbery so maybe that's it.

 

[nice.chili]

I'd second THP on this one - white vinegar imparts a certain taste. Good, strong, otherwise - the choice is up to the sauce maker. Personally I use chardonnay white wine vinegar because I prefer a milder vinegar taste.
I haven't gone the rice wine vinegar route as yet, but do use it for jerky making because while it's vinegar it doesn't impart so much of a classic white vinegar taste.