Village Idiot
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2009
- Messages
- 32
I came up with the idea to make hot sauce last week. I and a friend of mine made our first batch which turned out decent, but I want to make more and learn more about this amazing stuff.
The first batch started by putting some oil in a pan and sautéing 3 habaneras and 7 cubanelles until they started browning. Then we added water and boiled for about 20 minutes.
That went into the processor and was pureed. We tasted it to see what kind of flavor we got from the mixture of peppers and it could only be described as….bland. Slightly spicy, but with no real flavor. We ended up putting honey, Worcestershire, cilantro, and vinegar in until got the desired taste. It almost tasted like a chimmi churri sauce. I think we messed up by added distilled white vinegar vs. a milder vinegar like cider. After it sat for a week though, the vinegar kind of mellowed out and made a nice smooth flavor.
Our next two batches are going to be smoked jalapenos and smoked habaneras. Blend and add bacon fat for a spicy bacon hot sauce and the second batch is going to be the smoked peppers with brown sugar for a sweeter sauce.
Now, time for the discussion part, how bad am I butchering hot sauce in general? I want taste with a mild heat (we can eat the current batch like it’s a slightly spicy salsa, it’s not that hot with the current hot pepper to not pepper ratio) and flavor. Are there special peppers that actually have taste? Is there a perfect vinegar that you use? Is it weird that I want bacon flavored hot sauce?
And….go!
The first batch started by putting some oil in a pan and sautéing 3 habaneras and 7 cubanelles until they started browning. Then we added water and boiled for about 20 minutes.
That went into the processor and was pureed. We tasted it to see what kind of flavor we got from the mixture of peppers and it could only be described as….bland. Slightly spicy, but with no real flavor. We ended up putting honey, Worcestershire, cilantro, and vinegar in until got the desired taste. It almost tasted like a chimmi churri sauce. I think we messed up by added distilled white vinegar vs. a milder vinegar like cider. After it sat for a week though, the vinegar kind of mellowed out and made a nice smooth flavor.
Our next two batches are going to be smoked jalapenos and smoked habaneras. Blend and add bacon fat for a spicy bacon hot sauce and the second batch is going to be the smoked peppers with brown sugar for a sweeter sauce.
Now, time for the discussion part, how bad am I butchering hot sauce in general? I want taste with a mild heat (we can eat the current batch like it’s a slightly spicy salsa, it’s not that hot with the current hot pepper to not pepper ratio) and flavor. Are there special peppers that actually have taste? Is there a perfect vinegar that you use? Is it weird that I want bacon flavored hot sauce?
And….go!