Re: [CH] Hot Sauce
Marshall Williams (marshallw@ibm.net)
Thu, 15 Jul 1999 22:40:20 -0500
Carp writ a long note about making hot sauce, and said (among other
things):
> If you use 5% vinegar, then the amount of salt you use is up to your
taste
> buds and blood pressure; the vinegar is the preservative and the salt
is
> an added preservative but also is a taste enhancer. Normally we use an
old
> McIllhenny Island-type recipe: 1 gallon of vinegar/1 major handful
(cup)
> of salt (this is approximately 10% brine mix using water instead of
> vinegar).
Ever use any lime juice (ala Melinda's?)
[SNIP]
> We dump the [semi-]dried habs in a pot and shake and stir them around
until
> they've settled out as dense as they can. Then we pour vinegar in to
> about 1 inch below the tops of the habs. Then we raise the vinegar's
temp
> to a low simmer (NOT A BOIL--you'll mess with the acidity) until the
habs
> have reydrated and are firm. If you overheat/hydrate the habs will
fall
> apart which won't hirt anything, but for looks I like whole halves.
But if your going to mush them anyway, who cares? Wouldn't you get more
flavor if you cooked them more so they broke up more?
> Once the peppers are at the right consistency pour the mix in a stone
jar
> or crock or clean plastic bucket and add the salt and garlic or
whatever
> and mix. Because of the hydrating the peppers should be flexible and
have
> collapsed enough to be covered by the vinegar you've used. If not,
add
> vinegar until you've got them covered.
> Here's where you get to make more choices. A vinegar-brine mix that
just
> barely covers the peppers will obviously become hotter than a mix that
is
> greater than the amount of chiles. We do both. Right now the crock
we
> have aging has about 2 times the vinegar depth as peppers. That's
partly
> because it's red savina heavy, and partly because I don't like to make
> screaming hot sauce out of habs. The 2/1 ratio gives a liquid that is
> about a 3-3.5 after a year, and it is *mellow*.
3-3.5 what?? Liquid to solid ratio?
[SNIPPED AGAIN.]
> We drain all of the liquid off
> and strain and squeeze the pulp through a clean Handiwipe and can it.
Do you keep the liquid with the stuff squeezed through, or just the
squeezed through stuff?
[ SNIPPED YET AGAIN }
> And if you use
> a plastic bucket don't make the lid airtight or the fermentation may
give
> you a pressure buildup.
You could take a tip from beer and wine makers and use a fermentation
lock in a brewing bucket.
You say this comes out "mellow" - compared to some standard sauces, how
mellow? I have tried making habanero sauce and it has never come out
well. I currently have about a gallon of them frozen (whole) and was
trying to find a good recipe for a sauce for them since I go through a
couple bottles of Melinda's XXXX a month. I'll have to give this a try!
Marshall Williams in steamy N'Awlins