preservation Vinegar Absorbed? Also, 'green' tasting?

[Shandley]

Greetings,

Well, my small apartment harvest of my Chinese peppers known as chao tian jiao peppers came out to be about a pound and a half. I a drying half a pound but I made a simple hot sauce with the remaining pound. This is my first run so I kept it very simple.

2 cups white vinegar.
1 pound peppers
2t pickling salt

Simple, right? I bring the vinegar to a boil, drop the washed peppers in and turn it down, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes then turn off and let it cool before doing anything else.

I got this far and opened the lid to find all of the vinegar gone and the peppers looking liek there were going to explode. I know that much vinegar didn't evaporate but is this normal?

I ended up blending them up and adding a bit of Cider Vinegar to thin it out and it turned out pretty nice before jarring. I didn't get much but it's suuuper hot. Anyways, input here would be great.


One more question. Is it true the hot sauces need to sit around for a while (few months) to develop the taste and get rid of the 'green' flavor? Everything I put into the sauce was ripe but it has a hint of 'green' (I don't know what to call it. Fresh is wrong but as if it was fresh, maybe tasting kinda like it's not ripe yet even though they were. If it was a meat, I would call it gamey). Is this normal?

 

[Lucky Dog Hot Sauce]

OK, my thoughts (and I am by no means the "guru" or telling you how to make it - just suggestions from someone who's spent the better part of the last decade experimenting)

1. Having just 2 C vinegar to 1 lb of peppers is a bit sparse. Do-able, but still seems like not enough liquid. I would suggest adding some water - maybe 1 C water.

2. No need to boil the vinegar. No need to boil the sauce at all. 190 degrees is sufficient for pasteurization, provided the entire content of the pot is 190 degrees for ~10-15 mins.

3. when you do superheat the sauce, do it with the peppers in the pot. Put all your ingredients in, and heat to 190. This will assure uniformity. If you're dropping fresh pods into boiling vinegar, you'll risk scalding the pods (the skin will likely sear, which can add a bitterness/undesirable quality)

4. I'd recommend a little something sweet in there - either sugar or fruit. Since you have so little liquid, maybe consider adding 1 C of fruit/veggie juice - apple or carrot or something slightly sweet that will help to both add liquid to your sauce, and balance the flavor. Having a salty/sour sauce with nothing sweet at all makes it a bit 1-dimensional. It can be done, it's just not going to be as versatile in my opinion.

5. I think part of the "mystery of the disappearing vinegar" was boiling - it evaporates pretty quickly when boiled. the water will help with that, and keeping temps just under boiling will also help. Another part is absorption of vinegar into the peppers.

6. If you indeed go back and tweak it (e.g. adding cider vinegar) remember to bring it back up to 190 before bottling/jarring & bottle it hot for safety!

finally to your last question, yes and no. To get rid of the "not ripe" flavor you need to use ripe peppers. Once cooked into solution they don't keep ripening, so if it has a bad taste or aftertaste, that won't go away with time. However hot sauce does "mature" in the bottle a bit. I know my sauces (hobby & pro) taste different/better a few weeks after bottling. I use some dried peppers and the capsaicin continues to leech out into the solution - likewise with the roasted garlic and other ingredients - they all kind of mellow in the bottle a bit. It's not a "night and day" difference, but it's noticably hotter and slightly more balanced in taste.

but your flavor issue is unlikely to be resolved this way.

Hope this helps - it sounds like you're off to a great start. I'd suggest getting some habs and jaleps at the local market (since those are easy to obtain) and experimenting with some micro-batches in about the same scale you did here. That way you can practice/hone the recipe while not using the special peppers you grew. then once you have it nailed, use your peppers.


good luck and please do keep us posted on the progress!


Scott

 

[RocketMan]

+1 LD, great recommendations.

I too would recommend adding something like some carrots, onions and garlic to the sauce. It'll give you some added demension and charicter to your sauce and if it doens't help to cure the "Green" flavor taste it might just cover it up some so it's not so in your face.

 

[Shandley]

Thank you!

All opinions and suggestions are welcomed.

I should mention that I mis-posted that I actually followed a recipe I found elsewhere that was a scaled down version of the following:

3 Cups of White Vinegar
2 Pounds of Ripe Cayenne or Jalapeno Peppers
2 Teaspoons Salt

So mine would be 1.5 cups of vinegar to 1 pound of peppers and 1ts of salt. Even less vinegar than I posted.

When I cooked them, I did not drop them in boiling vinegar. I cooked it all from cold (all ingredients) and I actually used a thermometer and took it to 200 before covering and simmering; however, after blending, I added a little cold cider vinegar.

So, do I just heat it all up again to get that cold cider vinegar to a sterilized level? I thought the PH was high enough to not have to worry about anything bad (I tested the PH to be 3).

I am going to the store today and getting more peppers to try. This was a lot of fun and I love hot sauce.

Just a side note: I tried some apple juice in a batch of randoms I had a while back and it ended up smelling and tasting like puke. I'm terrified to do that again.

 

[Lucky Dog Hot Sauce]

first, apologies - you said you brought the vinegar to a boil & then dropped in the pods. i was just responding to that comment. no worries. sounds like you're golden there.

So, do I just heat it all up again to get that cold cider vinegar to a sterilized level? I thought the PH was high enough to not have to worry about anything bad (I tested the PH to be 3).

Yes, but the cold/room temp vinegar will cool down the content of your solution below 190. for proper pastreurization and sterile bottling, it must be brought back up to temperature, then bottled.

If the room temperature cider vinegar puts the sauce in the food "danger zone" temperature range, you risk an unsterile bottling process.

so to answer your question, yes - just pour back into the pot, bring it up to 190, then bottle it. Easy!


Ps - I have apple (not juice) in my newest prototype recipe and I think it tastes wonderful - you catch just a hint in the smell too.

I think you may have had some other things going on there, as fruit tends to really work well with hot sauce. Citrus and sweet fruits are quite complimentary.

 

[Shandley]

Yes, my apologies. That is what I said but it's not what I did. It's what the recipe said to do.

Currently, the sauce is in a canning jar which was sterilized. Can I just put it into a pressure canner for a while (up to temp) with the ring loose to get it to where it needs to be?

 

[Lucky Dog Hot Sauce]

Yes, my apologies. That is what I said but it's not what I did. It's what the recipe said to do.

Currently, the sauce is in a canning jar which was sterilized. Can I just put it into a pressure canner for a while (up to temp) with the ring loose to get it to where it needs to be?

Alas, I have zero experience canning so i can't really offer any guidance there - SalsaLady or others would be much better able to help you with that question.

Good luck!

 

[RocketMan]

first, apologies - you said you brought the vinegar to a boil & then dropped in the pods. i was just responding to that comment. no worries. sounds like you're golden there.



Yes, but the cold/room temp vinegar will cool down the content of your solution below 190. for proper pastreurization and sterile bottling, it must be brought back up to temperature, then bottled.

If the room temperature cider vinegar puts the sauce in the food "danger zone" temperature range, you risk an unsterile bottling process.

so to answer your question, yes - just pour back into the pot, Clean and Sterilize your bottles again, bring it up to 190, then bottle it. Easy!


Ps - I have apple (not juice) in my newest prototype recipe and I think it tastes wonderful - you catch just a hint in the smell too.

I think you may have had some other things going on there, as fruit tends to really work well with hot sauce. Citrus and sweet fruits are quite complimentary.

FIFY

 

[Shandley]

I don't get it. If I bring it to 190 anyways in the canner, doesn't that sterilize?

 

[Lucky Dog Hot Sauce]

I don't get it. If I bring it to 190 anyways in the canner, doesn't that sterilize?

I assume that it would - 190 is the required temp.

but like I said, I have no experience so I just can't speak to that with any sort of authority.

there are many here who can help though. sorry - I've just never used that process so I am hesitant to speak to it.

FIFY

lol - I assumed it had not been bottled yet.

good point - if it's been bottled, clean & re-sterilize the bottles.

 

[Shandley]

What's FIFY?

 

[Lucky Dog Hot Sauce]

most places it's "Fixed It For Ya"

heh - Rocket assumed you bottled it, poured out the bottles and added cider vinegar, then rebottled. I assumed you tasted it, added vinegar & bottled.

the important part we both agree on: use sterile bottles and bottle hot.

 

[Shandley]

Ha! Ok, excellent. Ok so maybe I should just redo it. Will do! Thanks to all!

 

[salsalady]

Hi Shandley
If you haven't already done so, check out the Making Hot Sauce 101 thread in this section (Hot Sauce Making).

What area of BC are you in? I'm about 60 miles south of the Okanagan area.
SL

 

[Shandley]

Yeah, I glanced at it to get an idea but I've canned before. I was under the impression that anything in the 3PH level was safe regardless of heat when canning.

I live in Vancouver but I go to Osoyoos every year. Also, I take a trip to Oroville nearly every time to grab a quick 6er.

 

[salsalady]

We're down in the Methow Valley. A bunch of us NW chileheads are getting together in August at Sun Lakes. Check it out here- Love for you to join us~