Since I'm being over run by peppers I have no intention to eat fresh, I've thought about making a few different batches of hot sauce for gifts, etc. But here's my question....how do you cook and puree some of these ultra hot peppers (think Carolina Reapers) without sending everyone in the house to the hospital?
Thanks....
- applestar
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The trick, I think, is to combine with sweet peppers so the heat is moderated to tolerable levels. I'm growing different sweet peppers that are dehydrated and used for making paprika which I intend to use fresh to make fermented hot sauce again.
Subject: What to do with an assortment of hot peppers
Subject: What to do with an assortment of hot peppers
I beleive gixxerific made his out of mostly ghost peppers last year....applestar wrote:I'm trying making two kinds of fermented pepper sauces. These are first tries so I won't know how I feel about them until they are finished.
The red/orange one on the left is
Fermented "Louisiana-style" Hot Sauce | The Joy of Cooking
https://www.thejoykitchen.com/recipe/fer ... -hot-sauce
The yellow one on the right uses a simple wild fermentation technique with just the chopped peppers and a bit of salt that I just learned about.
Both will ferment on the counter for about 3 weeks, then will be stored in the fridge (to age) until they can be food milled/strained if needed, and vinegar, etc can be added according to recipes. Finished products from these recipes are not properly tested for canning and need to be frozen or kept in the fridge to be used up in a couple of months.
Try this ratio for vinegar sauce for about 1.5-2 pints of sauce
1-1.5 lbs mixed sweet peppers
1 lb ripe fresh or frozen fruit (raspberries, strawberries, peaches, blackberries..or you can add canned pineapple, mangoes etc. you can also use carrots)
3oz onion
3 oz garlic
2 cups vinegar
1 tbsp salt
1 cup water - add a little at a time depending on how thick you want it. Frozen veggies/fruit will add a lot of water
Run this in the processor and start cooking it.
Now the supers.....10 habs, or 2-3 reaper equivalent to start. Save some fruit and run it with the supers through the processor to help knock down the fumes when you take off the lid. Add a little at a time to the pot until desired heat level. It will mellow out about 30-50 percent over a week or 2.
I haven't tried fermented sauces yet. Most ferment the peppers around the same ratio. 1.5 pounds of sweet and .5 lbs of hots. After fermenting they add the fruits/veggies to taste and cook it down.
Basically keep the super hot separate and add to desired heat level. Just keep the ph under 4 if fermenting. When using vinegar keep the 3 lbs of produce to 2 cups vinegar.
1-1.5 lbs mixed sweet peppers
1 lb ripe fresh or frozen fruit (raspberries, strawberries, peaches, blackberries..or you can add canned pineapple, mangoes etc. you can also use carrots)
3oz onion
3 oz garlic
2 cups vinegar
1 tbsp salt
1 cup water - add a little at a time depending on how thick you want it. Frozen veggies/fruit will add a lot of water
Run this in the processor and start cooking it.
Now the supers.....10 habs, or 2-3 reaper equivalent to start. Save some fruit and run it with the supers through the processor to help knock down the fumes when you take off the lid. Add a little at a time to the pot until desired heat level. It will mellow out about 30-50 percent over a week or 2.
I haven't tried fermented sauces yet. Most ferment the peppers around the same ratio. 1.5 pounds of sweet and .5 lbs of hots. After fermenting they add the fruits/veggies to taste and cook it down.
Basically keep the super hot separate and add to desired heat level. Just keep the ph under 4 if fermenting. When using vinegar keep the 3 lbs of produce to 2 cups vinegar.
- applestar
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I am saving this recipe! Thanks @rairdog! I can't wait for all the green peppers to start ripening! -- my really hot peppers are still just starting to bloom though... I suspect a lot of them will be potted up and brought inside to finish maturing this fall
...you GOTTA try the fermented sauces -- they are amazing! I particularly thought they had developed their flavors around 3-6 months after bottling.
...you GOTTA try the fermented sauces -- they are amazing! I particularly thought they had developed their flavors around 3-6 months after bottling.
I just made a batch with peach slurry and a little ground corriander. For the hots I used 1 Naga Morich, 1 Bhut, 1 Barrackpore, 3 Aji Limons and 3 Habs. It has an immediate throat burn but it will lay down in a couple weeks. Then the fruit pops. The strawberry one laid down quite a bit so I stepped this one up.
I plan of doing some fermented sauces when they start coming in heavy. I need a second round of sweets to keep it balanced.
I plan of doing some fermented sauces when they start coming in heavy. I need a second round of sweets to keep it balanced.