Homemade Hot Sauce

[Mike Lamb]

I have had a vegetable garden forever and have always grown cayenne which I dry and grind up as a seasoning. The plants I grow myself is good hot stuff compared to what you would buy dry in a store. I use some and give the rest away as gifts at Christmas.

I statred making hot sauce the last couple years and am now bottling it. Current recipe is called Sister Verona after a favorite wicked nun of my childhood.

Still tinkering with the recipe. I am adding different hot peppers to the main cayenne base with differing results. My goal next year is to make a couple hundred bottles and sell them at the local farmers market.

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[AHI in AR]

Nice label, although Sister Verona looks a little intimidating. But maybe that was the intent. I was a pretty compliant kid so I didn't get the knuckle raps with the ruler...

I love hot sauces with flavor and not just heat. Garlic, onion, carrots...IMHO something else should be in there other than peppers, salt, and vinegar. At any given time I have at least a half dozen open bottles on the table. Any time I travel I look for something new.

There is a monastery/boarding school up the road called Subiaco where the monks bottle a habanero based sauce. The not-too-imaginative name is Monk Sauce. Frankly, like most habanero products I find it too hot for most uses where it isn't diluted. But it does weed out the folks who claim that "nothing is too hot" for them.

[kurt]

Yeah, hot sauce. I go through a lot of it. I'll pre-order a couple bottles. Good tag line with the "fear of God in every drop".

Agree with the "more than just heat" assessment. Mixing in a little mango, carrots, or other sweetening component makes for some good sauce; not enough where one can actually taste the mango, but to add complexity. Choice of vinegar is critical too; I've taken to Chinese Chinkiang vinegar for a lot of recipes.

All my peppers end up dried and integrated whole into various Asian dishes. Maybe I should try making a little sauce.

[Mike Lamb]

I have tried carrots, onions and wasn't happy with the sweetness. Habaneros, besides being too hot are very bitter. I have only used white vinegar but will try others.

I also want a sauce that needs no refrigeration.

[kurt]

Yes, sweet is tricky. If it's noticeably sweet, it's ruined.

[davidlord]

Datil is the pepper of choice in these parts.

[gtblum]

I also want a sauce that needs no refrigeration.

I once saw an episode of "Good Eats" with Alton Brown on the food channel, about hot sauces. He said, you really don't need to bother refrigerating any of them. I do, anyway.

[Tom Raymond]

We joined a CSA and ended the season with more peppers than we knew what to do with. We decided to mince them and a large white onion and pickled them. Habeneros, jalepenos, a few hungarians, and a couple of small misshapen bells. The color is almost as hot as the relish, but the variety gives it good flavor.

[inspectorbello]

LOL Sister Verona looks like she would hit you over the head with a bottle of hot sauce and laugh at your pain. Very cool label, neat idea!

[Ben H]

I also want a sauce that needs no refrigeration.

I once saw an episode of "Good Eats" with Alton Brown on the food channel, about hot sauces. He said, you really don't need to bother refrigerating any of them. I do, anyway.

AB would know.

[hoosier inspector]

Try smoking a few peppers if you like chipotle. Let me know when they are ready I'll buy a few bottles.

[hausdok]

That label sent shudders down my spine.

Those friggin' penguins terrorized me for my first three years of school. Didn't start learning until my parents pulled me out of that catholic gulag and sent me to public school.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Jim Katen]

I have tried carrots, onions and wasn't happy with the sweetness. Habaneros, besides being too hot are very bitter. I have only used white vinegar but will try others.

I also want a sauce that needs no refrigeration.

Try a bit of tamarind.

[Scottpat]

Sister Verona looks Hot!

For a little sweetness you can obtain that from some vinegars. Try a white balsamic vinegar, it will not add the dark color that normal balsamic would but it will offer a little sweetness. Malt vinegar will also add a little sweetness but it would also impart some depth that might surprise you, but it will also make it a darker sauce.

Rice wine vinegar is a great mild vinegar that I use often when cooking if I just want a little tartness. Common white vinegar while cheap is a little harsh for me.