Trying some new things with this years peppers

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damon555

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Jun 26, 2010
464
35
Middle Tennessee
I've been pickling peppers for quite some time now and I figured it's time to try my hand at making hot sauce. I found 2 recipes online that piqued my interest, one was for a fresh hot sauce and the other was for a fermented version much like the Tabasco sauce that we see in the store.

This go around I'm going to use some of the cayenne peppers that are coming in like crazy over the last few weeks.....


Hot sauce has very few ingredients and is proving to be very simple to assemble.....I won't say "easy to make" because the jury will be out until the finish product is acceptable.

Here are the beautiful peppers cleaned up and ready for use.....I'm glad I have gloves to handle these bad boys!


The peppers chopped up with little salt, starter culture (optional) and a nice Riesling to get things started. If all goes as planned in a few weeks I'll be able to run the concoction through my food mill, mix with some vinegar and have a palatable hot sauce straight from my own kitchen.


The fresh hot sauce includes peppers, onions, garlic, oil and a little salt. All sauteed over high heat for a few minutes. Then a few cups of water are added and the mixture is cooked down until the liquid is almost gone. After cooking down it is allowed to steep until it reaches room temperature. The next step is to mix it all up in a blender to make a paste and add vinegar to create the desired consistency. The final step is to strain the mixture to remove any solids that are left and salt to taste.....The peppers are cooling at the moment so it's almost time for me to finish.....I sure hope I can handle the heat enough to get the salt content correct!
 
I'm going to dig a hole under your fence.

biggrin.gif
 
Seriously though, I do have a lot of red cayennes on the vine and ready for picking, along with red and orange habs. I was thinking of drying them but I might try your wine trick.

One of the many different things going under the sauce name "piri-piri" is a Portuguese version with dried hot peppers in oil and whiskey or brandy.
 
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It would be well worth it Blue!

I also added some of the wine to the fresh hot sauce.....It turned out amazing! I might be on to something here.....


I didn't bother straining it.....I liked the consistency.
Update: After sitting in the fridge for almost 2 years the fresh hot sauce is just about gone. It was some of the best hot sauce I've ever tasted. Sweet and hot. Just what was looking for. The longer it sat the better it got. It's so good now that I want to be stingy with what's left!

I never went through with the fermented peppers.....but this year I've got 4 batches of different types of fermented cayennes processing. 3 different types of mash and 1 gallon jar of whole green cayennes. 

This is the recipe used for the 2 year old, fresh pepper sauce

 
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