Stickman's 2013 Glog - Time To Pull The Plug on 2013

I'm pulling things together to get ready for my next growing season. I bought NuMex variety seeds from Sandia Seed company in New Mexico, Hot Paper Lantern Habaneros and Antohi Romanians from Johnny's Select Seeds in Maine and Korean varieties from Evergreen Seeds in California. Due to the unbelievable generosity of a number of THP members I've also gotten seeds to a wide variety of chiles from around the world. Special thanks to BootsieB, stc3248, romy6, PaulG, SoCalChilehead, joynershotpeppers, highalt, cmpman1974, smokemaster, mygrassisblue, Mister No, chewi, KingDenniz, orrozconleche and most recently and spectacularly, Habanerohead with a great selection of superhots and peppers from Hungary!

There are eleven varieties of Hungarian peppers in here, mostly the early, thick-fleshed, sweet ones that range from white through yellow to purple and red.., plus Aji Lemon Drop, BJ Indian Carbon, Naga Morich, Bishop's Crown and TS CARDI Yellow! Now I just have to go through my seed bank and match the space available to what I want to grow. Thanks Balázs!

 

[Stefan_W]

The sauce looks great Rick! Well done. 

 

[stickman]

Man I wish I could find me some woozies locally!  That sauce looks great Rick, sound like it is a real winner!

Thanks Matt,
   I added enough sugar to counter the acidity of the vinegar, but there's still a little bitterness in the sauce. I think because I didn't seed the pods first and used the food mill to remove them after cooking. It's not bad though, and I've found it mellows with age. When I finish up the other sauces I have on hand, it'll be ready to use.

The sauce looks great Rick! Well done. 

Thanks guy!

 

[FreeportBum]

" Blueberry-smoked chocolate hab sauce"  -  Makes me hungry just reading that. Looks great   

 

[stickman]

" Blueberry-smoked chocolate hab sauce"  -  Makes me hungry just reading that. Looks great   

Yup! And it'll be heading your way this morning. Cheers!

 

[FreeportBum]

Rick- very much appreciated. Would you let it "age" a little before opening or just go guns a blazin right out of the box 

 

[stickman]

Rick- very much appreciated. Would you let it "age" a little before opening or just go guns a blazin right out of the box 

I'd say to let it sit for a few weeks or whenever you can't stand it anymore... whichever comes first...

 

[Devv]

Rick the sauce looks amazing! Great description of how it's made.
 
So what happens taste wise as it ages?
 
I agree if the placenta and seeds are left it increases the bitterness, I made a batch both ways and the second was sharper.

 

[stickman]

Rick the sauce looks amazing! Great description of how it's made.
 
So what happens taste wise as it ages?
 
I agree if the placenta and seeds are left it increases the bitterness, I made a batch both ways and the second was sharper.

I couldn't say for sure Scott, but I suspect it's oxidation that mellows it... just like the transition from newly fermented to vintage wine. In the case of wine... gas exchange happens through the cork if it's bottled or through the wood of the cask if it's put in barrels. In hot sauce I think it's an interaction of the sauce with the air bubble inside the bottle. I don't think there's any gas exchange between the air and the seal in the plastic cap.

 

[WalkGood]

Great looking sauce Rick, hope it rocks everyone's world [SIZE=12pt]♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪[/SIZE]

 

[annie57]

Gorgeous looking and sounding sauce, Rick! Love the coconut sugar and coconut milk additions to "sooth" any bitterness. NICE!

 

[stickman]

Thanks folks! I'll have to make another batch of "Rick's Red" sauce since I only have 2 bottles left.. Lol!... plenty of woozies now though. There aren't enough Maya Red Habs to make a batch since I only have the one plant, but I'll fill it out with Cheiro Recife and Not Yellow Bhut pods. Adding them all together I have almost 2 pounds of pods. I'll throw in enough Aji Omnicolor pods to make it even and do this thing!

 

[Bootsieb]

Doughlah powder and yellow Bs are two of the best mate. Smoke them.

You went for variety mate, I got killed by white fly, My season ended a month ago. Never mind- 20 chillies and out thus year.

 

[RocketMan]

Very nice looking sauce Rick. Just found Coconut Sugar for the first time here, guess I'm going to have to check it out. Now let's get some Dawn Patrol going up in here

 

[stickman]

Doughlah powder and yellow Bs are two of the best mate. Smoke them.

You went for variety mate, I got killed by white fly, My season ended a month ago. Never mind- 20 chillies and out thus year.

Hey, Bootsie's in the house!   Sorry to hear the White Fly wiped you out this year guy, but there's always next year!
 
I'm definitely going to cherry smoke my Douglahs and the rest of the Chocolate Habs for powder. The Yellow Bhuts turned out to be "nots" this year... they're ripening to a dark reddish-orange and have much of the taste of a red Trinidad Scorpion, so I'm going to put them in with the red Habs and Cheiro Recife pods in my next batch of sauce. The rest will be dried and powdered.

Very nice looking sauce Rick. Just found Coconut Sugar for the first time here, guess I'm going to have to check it out. Now let's get some Dawn Patrol going up in here

 
Hi Bill,
   I'll do my humble best...

 

[stickman]

Hi All,
   Another night of sauce-making here...  another batch of my "Rick's Red" Habanero Sauce, this time using ingredients I grew myself. The process is the same as the batch of blueberry-smoked chocolate hab sauce, but different ingredients. pH came in at 3.6

 

[Devv]

Looks great Rick!
Using garden tom's?
 
I subbed whole tom's for the sun dried tom's when I made mine. A 3 hour drive was a bit much for them. I googled the conversion and left the water out, can't tell the difference.
 
I'm sure another great sauce is on the way!

 

[stickman]

Looks great Rick!
Using garden tom's?
 
I subbed whole tom's for the sun dried tom's when I made mine. A 3 hour drive was a bit much for them. I googled the conversion and left the water out, can't tell the difference.
 
I'm sure another great sauce is on the way!

No, that was the only exception. My Mom gave me a big bag of sun-dried tomato flakes last year that she got at a Mennonite store out her way, I never found a good use for them until I used them in my sauces. When they're gone I'll probably revert to garden tomatoes or whole canned plum tomatoes.

 

[FreeportBum]

Hi All,
   Another night of sauce-making here...  another batch of my "Rick's Red" Habanero Sauce, this time using ingredients I grew myself. The process is the same as the batch of blueberry-smoked chocolate hab sauce, but different ingredients.

 
That looks awesome Rick! 

 

[Stefan_W]

Wow, that sure does look great! I can practically smell it from here. 

 

[stickman]

Thanks guys! My hands are burning even though I used blue nitrile gloves... Lol! My thanks to Katrina for reminding me of the food mill my Mom and Grandma used for years... it's been so long since I've seen them use it that I might have forgotten about it without the reminder. Cooking, followed by pureeing in the blender and then running it through the food mill to further break up the vegetable bits and remove the skins and seeds makes for a silky-smooth sauce every time.