Hot Sauce Junkie

[Shrinkrap]

Definitely not just vinegar based. The biggest problem for me is that the chapter's are organized by origin or location, and the index by name (" Run Down Sauce"), so it's hard to know what you will find when you go through page by page.

I don't recall seeing a significant amount of info about fermenting, but in the introduction, under varieties of sauces, the mention "Louisiana-style; usually a strained sauce made of crushed or ground cayenne, jalapeño, or tabasco chile's that are sometimes fermented and then combined with salt and vinegar. "

[Down_South]

Good hot sauce starts with good peppers. Heirloom Bhut Jolokia growing under my lights.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Shrinkrap

Definitely not just vinegar based. The biggest problem for me is that the chapter's are organized by origin or location, and the index by name (" Run Down Sauce"), so it's hard to know what you will find when you go through page by page.

I don't recall seeing a significant amount of info about fermenting, but in the introduction, under varieties of sauces, the mention "Louisiana-style; usually a strained sauce made of crushed or ground cayenne, jalapeño, or tabasco chile's that are sometimes fermented and then combined with salt and vinegar. "

The Tobasco brand is crushed peppers packed with salt in a wood barrel just like they make sauerkraut.
Then it is left for about a year like that.
I know several people that worked there growing up.
They said when you took the lid off one of these barrels after a year it would almost knock you over.
Then it is ground up strained and diluted with vinegar some how.

Originally Posted by Down_South

Good hot sauce starts with good peppers. Heirloom Bhut Jolokia growing under my lights.

Ferment a jar and make sauce with them I want to grow some this year.
Worth

[Salsacharley]

Those are beautiful plants. I bet you get some great peppers from them.

Originally Posted by Down_South

Good hot sauce starts with good peppers. Heirloom Bhut Jolokia growing under my lights.

[Down_South]

Originally Posted by Worth1

The Tobasco brand is crushed peppers packed with salt in a wood barrel just like they make sauerkraut.
Then it is left for about a year like that.
I know several people that worked there growing up.
They said when you took the lid off one of these barrels after a year it would almost knock you over.
Then it is ground up strained and diluted with vinegar some how.



Ferment a jar and make sauce with them I want to grow some this year.
Worth

Just fixed a pickling brine for some green tomatoes that cracked off their stem. Apple cider vinegar, equal parts salt and sugar, peppercorns, crushed red pepper and garlic. About 3 weeks should do it.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Down_South

Just fixed a pickling brine for some green tomatoes that cracked off their stem. Apple cider vinegar, equal parts salt and sugar, peppercorns, crushed red pepper and garlic. About 3 weeks should do it.

Try some without the vinegar sometime you dont need it and can be added later just for taste if you like it.

All you need is around 2 to 3 table spoons per quart of pure water not tap water depending on the temperature.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...T6wg2S-SzWIjJQ

Taken from link above.
The biggest variables in pickle-making are brine strength, temperature, and cucumber size. I prefer pickles from small and medium cucumbers; pickles from really big ones can be tough and sometimes hollow in the middle. I don’t worry about uniformity of size; I just eat the smaller ones first, figuring the larger ones will take longer to ferment.
The strength of brine varies widely in different traditions and recipe books. Brine strength is most often expressed as weight of salt as a percentage of weight of solution, though sometimes as weight of salt as a percentage of volume of solution. Since in most home kitchens we are generally dealing with volumes rather than weights, the following guideline can help readers gauge brine strength: Added to 1 quart of water, each tablespoon of sea salt (weighing about .6 ounce) adds 1.8% brine. So 2 tablespoons of salt in 1 quart of water yields a 3.6% brine, 3 tablespoons yields 5.4%, and so on. In the metric system, each 15 milliliters of salt (weighing 17 grams) added to 1 liter of water yields 1.8% brine.
Some old-time recipes call for brines with enough salt to float an egg. This translates to about a 10% salt solution. This is enough salt to preserve pickles for quite some time, but they are too salty to consume without a long desalinating soak in fresh water first. Low-salt pickles, around 3.5% brine, are “half-sours” in delicatessen lingo. This recipe is for sour, fairly salty pickles, using around 5.4% brine. Experiment with brine strength. A general rule of thumb to consider in salting your ferments: more salt to slow microorganism action in summer heat; less salt in winter when microbial action slows.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Originally Posted by Worth1

You can go to the fermenting thread in the food preservation section. Preserving your harvest.

It is full of fermented hot sauce and other neat stuff.
If you haven't fermented peppers you are missing out.

http://tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=38997
Worth

Worth is right. When my superhots get out of hand, I pick the lot and ferment them for 10 days, then bottle the sauce. Must have used about 15 pounds of pods that way. Gets rave reviews. This year, I flavored with mustard, orange juice, etc. The mustard flavor was the favorite.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Worth is right. When my superhots get out of hand, I pick the lot and ferment them for 10 days, then bottle the sauce. Must have used about 15 pounds of pods that way. Gets rave reviews. This year, I flavored with mustard, orange juice, etc. The mustard flavor was the favorite.

I cant imagine 15 pounds of super hots in the house, it's a wonder you didn't catch the place on fire.

Worth

[Down_South]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Try some without the vinegar sometime you dont need it and can be added later just for taste if you like it.

All you need is around 2 to 3 table spoons per quart of pure water not tap water depending on the temperature.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...T6wg2S-SzWIjJQ

Taken from link above.
The biggest variables in pickle-making are brine strength, temperature, and cucumber size. I prefer pickles from small and medium cucumbers; pickles from really big ones can be tough and sometimes hollow in the middle. I don’t worry about uniformity of size; I just eat the smaller ones first, figuring the larger ones will take longer to ferment.
The strength of brine varies widely in different traditions and recipe books. Brine strength is most often expressed as weight of salt as a percentage of weight of solution, though sometimes as weight of salt as a percentage of volume of solution. Since in most home kitchens we are generally dealing with volumes rather than weights, the following guideline can help readers gauge brine strength: Added to 1 quart of water, each tablespoon of sea salt (weighing about .6 ounce) adds 1.8% brine. So 2 tablespoons of salt in 1 quart of water yields a 3.6% brine, 3 tablespoons yields 5.4%, and so on. In the metric system, each 15 milliliters of salt (weighing 17 grams) added to 1 liter of water yields 1.8% brine.
Some old-time recipes call for brines with enough salt to float an egg. This translates to about a 10% salt solution. This is enough salt to preserve pickles for quite some time, but they are too salty to consume without a long desalinating soak in fresh water first. Low-salt pickles, around 3.5% brine, are “half-sours” in delicatessen lingo. This recipe is for sour, fairly salty pickles, using around 5.4% brine. Experiment with brine strength. A general rule of thumb to consider in salting your ferments: more salt to slow microorganism action in summer heat; less salt in winter when microbial action slows.

Similar technique in making homemade sauerkraut.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Down_South

Similar technique in making homemade sauerkraut.

I make my own kraut it is in the beginning of the fermenting thread.

Worth

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by Shrinkrap

I've been working on a Trini and Bajan (Trinidad and Barbados) style sauce. I finally grew the pepper of my dreams for it. The MOA Scotch Bonnet. The aroma is the stuff of dreams. Unfortunately I added culantro (Chandon beni), to my last batch which overwhelmed the scotch bonnet aroma. Hot Lollie's is Bajan. I'm told Motouk's hot sauce is reccommended for Trinidad and Tobago style.


http://www.thehotsaucestop.com/matou...picante-26-oz/



And not really a HOT hot sauce, but I love Pickapeppa.

https://www.mohotta.com/product/661/Hot-Sauce

Matouk's is my very favorite,besides what we ferment at home.
And,sambal olek. And, a few other Asian style Chile paste in my spice rack.

[Worth1]

I never really could see the point in the burn your lips off hot sauce but that is a choice of different people.
The stuff I dont consider that hot would burn the lips off other people.

But some of the stuff they have is just over the top hot and I dont care for it.
The Tobasco brand with habanero is just about the top of my limits if I use enough of it.
I like the ghost pepper insanity sauce too.

Both go well with BBQ sauce to, "Kick Then Up A Notch".

But I dont need to buy either one as I can now make my own.

Worth

[Down_South]

Growing up in South Texas I was exposed to a lot of Mexican cooking. One not served in restaurants but was made by the Mexican women at home was sort of a chili rojo sauce.

Olive oil
Onion
Habanero, jalapeno or the best thing...chili tepin
Garlic
Tomatoes
Cilantro
Water

Chop, throw in hot pan, reduce to a mush...eat.

[Down_South]

Here's another shot of the rojo

[dmforcier]

Mmmm. Bacon tacos!