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Why doesn't my hot sauce come out very hot?

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Nick4978

I've made a few different hot sauces with Reapers, orange Habs and Thai dragons and every recipe I've followed calls for sugar so I added it. However, it never seems to come out very hot - not even really as hot as store bought Tabasco sauce sometimes. Does adding a cup of sugar (brown or white) to the mix really dampen the heat that much or am I doing something else wrong?

The basic way I'm making the sauce is:

1. Cut peppers in half or thirds
2. Put into pot
3. Add enough vinegar to almost cover peppers (I've tried white and apple cider)
4. Add 8 chopped garlic cloves
5. Add 1 chopped onion
6. Boil until soft
7. Transfer everything to the blender
8. Add my spices (including the sugar)
9. Puree everything

So would it be the sugar that's taking away the heat so much? Or the process?

Thanks!
 
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Eh...that's a lot of sugar. It'll dampen it definitely. But not that much. In my fruit sauces Ill use anywhere from .25-.5 cup of brown sugar and it'll still have heat. And that's from using 3-5 supers I. 32 oz of sauce.

How much peppers do you use in a sauce?

How much sauce are you making at once?

You told us how much sugar but these other determining factor are very important. If you're only using one Bhut and a cup of bell peppers than it won't be hot.
 
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Not sure what to tell you but I just made 1 pint of a blueberry sauce and only used 1 JPGS and it is hotter than the bottle of tabasco we have.  Much hotter.
 
 
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Let me add a little more detail: In my last batch, I used 7 Reapers and about 20 Thai dragons. In another batch I used about 20 orange habaneros and about 15 Cayennes. Both batches I used around a cup of sugar (as the recipe I found had called for)

Again, just enough vinegar to almost cover the peppers.

Thanks!
 
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Nick4978 said:
Let me add a little more detail: In my last batch, I used 7 Reapers and about 20 Thai dragons. In another batch I used about 20 orange habaneros and about 15 Cayennes. Both batches I used around a cup of sugar (as the recipe I found had called for)

Again, just enough vinegar to almost cover the peppers.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
Wow!  That sounds like it ought to be really hot!
 
We only used 1/4 cup of brown sugar to make the pint of blueberry sauce and the 1 JPGS with the seeds removed but left as much placenta as possible.  I don't like the seeds and my gastro doc said to avoid small seeds so I usually always try to remove them.
 
Maybe you just tolerate capsaisum like no other! ;)
 
Maybe someone else can help.
 
Edited to correct Autocorrect!!!!! :rolleyes:
 
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Definitely too much sugar.  Sugar will cut the heat sensation significantly.  Using sugar water is what Wilbur Scoville created the Scoville Heat Units scale with.  I've seen it firsthand when sampling Pure Evil in catsup and soy sauce.  Same number of drops in the same amount of each condiment...the soy sauce tastes hotter, the catsup has sugar and doesn't taste as hot.
 
For the recipes above, which sound like it might be making 2-3 cups...I'd cut the sugar to 1/4 cup to start, or even eliminate it altogether.  Cut the vinegar by half, (or use a softer tasting vinegar like rice or balsamic) fill in the rest of the liquid with water (if using sugar) or fruit juice (if not using sugar).  Apple juice is a pretty neutral flavor that will add sweetness. 
 
Taste test it after simmering and blendering.  You can always add a tablespoon or 2 of sugar while the sauce is still hot and it will dissolve just fine.
 
Good Luck, keep us informed~
SL
 
 
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Not spicy enough?  Repeat the recipe with either more peppers or cut back on the stuff that reduces heat, namely the onion/garlic/sugar.  An entire onion seems like a lot for the amount of peppers you're putting in and an entire cup of sugar seems like WAY too much.
 
For instance, I just did a batch of hot sauce with 1.5 lbs of jalapenos/sugar rush and 3 reapers.  I added 3 TABLESPOONS of brown sugar, 4 garlic cloves, no other fruits or vegetables.  The sauce is very hot, hotter than most hab sauces.
 
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Ratios.


Think of your sauce as alcohol.

It is rated by ABV. Alcohol by volume.

If You add a cup of water to 1cup of 40% ABV alcohol you now have 20% ABV .

Everything you add cuts down on your capsaicin by volume, without even getting into the masking properties of sweetness.

It is a great marketing ploy for these chain restaurants that advertise a ghost Pepper sauce, but the ratio is so small that it has less heat than a standard hab.

People think they are superheroes for eating ghost Pepper, but have no real inkling what a superhot is really about.
 
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Yep....what Ashen said...^^^
 
 
I think of it like sodium/salt in a PPM equation.  1 tablespoon of salt(or reaper chile) in a cup of water -v- 1 tablespoon salt(or reaper chile) in a gallon of water...
 
Yea, they both contain Salt/Reaper Peppers.....but one is significantly saltier/hotter than the other. 
 
We've seen ads recently on TV of Reaper Chile Cheese Sauce on Taco Bell nacho fries???  I may not have the details right, but something like that.... and we were talking about there's probably .001% Reaper Chiles in the nacho cheese sauce.  But bragging rights for those that "crush them fries!!!"  :rolleyes: 
 
 
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Same thing happens when I do mixed powders.

I will dry and grind single varieties but I also always do a blend each year.

Love the taste of the blend but it is less hot than a straight up choco lava or reaper powder.
 
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