Getting Started
An intro to using your Hot Sauce Making Kit
Welcome to a world of flavor! Your palate is about to change forever. These posts are your guide to making the best hot sauces you've ever tasted, and it's a lot easier than you might think. But don't tell anyone that, leave them wondering what magic you used to cook up such insanely good sauces.
To keep the recipes as short and sweet as possible, all of the basic information is contained below. You can come back and reference this page any time you need to.
The Basics
This is the base recipe you will use for every sauce, since these are the perfect starting ratios. You will then add different peppers, spices, and vinegars, following the ratios listed in The Basics, to create your own awesome sauces.
This recipe is the building block of all hot sauces. If you follow it, it will be almost impossible to make a bad sauce.
You want enough acidity (vinegar), and salt to preserve the sauce, and flavor it, without overwhelming it. You can then adjust the levels to suit your taste.
This building block recipe is for a mild hot sauce. The higher the heat, the higher the acidity should be to balance it out. If you up the heat level with more peppers, then up the vinegar level too. Increasing vinegar levels by 20% at a time is a good starting point.
This ratio can be scaled up infinitely.
100% Water, 50% Vinegar, 10% Dried Pepper 2% Salt (Optional: 25% Dried Fruit)
Or, in measuring cups: 1 Cup Water 1/2 Cup Vinegar 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 Dried Pepper (to start) (Optional 1/4 Cup Fruit)
The next steps are: Heat, Blend, and Bottle.
HEAT: Place water, vinegar, salt, & dried pepper in small pot on stove. Add an extra 1/2 Cup of water, to account for evaporation. At this point, add any extra dried fruit, extra peppers, or aromatics. Simmer on medium low heat for 5-10 minutes until the pepper(s) have softened. Remove stems.
BLEND: Pour into blender. Cover. Pulse gently until roughly blended, then blend on medium until smooth. To thicken sauce, return to heat, and gently reduce for a few minutes. To thin out sauce, mix 1C Water + 1/8C Vinegar in separate container, and add 1Tablespoon of mixture at a time until desired consistency.
BOTTLE: Place funnel into sanitized bottle. While still hot, pour hot sauce into bottle. That's it! Welcome to the hot side of life.
Sauce Safety
A quick discussion about safety. Yes, it's important.
Wash hands before and after. Why? Don't be gross, thats why. Also, if any peppers get on your hands and then you touch your face, you're going to regret it.
Wear Gloves. Why? So you don't get peppers on your hands, and then touch your face, which will burn your face, and you'll then regret it.
Sanitize Bottles Thoroughly wash bottles before filling using a dishwasher, or by hand in very hot soap and water. Bottles can be re-used as many times as you like. To change the label, Soak bottle in warm water for 5 minutes, and the old label will peel off.
Don't smell/breathe in Steam It might be tempting to smell the sauce while its cooking. Don't. When simmering the peppers, the steam coming out of the pot is infused with a mild amount of capsaicin, which is the same stuff that is in pepper spray. It WILL burn your nose, throat, and eyes.
Hot Bottling Pour your sauce into the bottle while still hot, whenever possible. This is called hot bottling. It will help keep your sauce as fresh as possible, as long as possible. Sauces will keep for 2 months in the fridge, or 2 weeks on the counter. But they'll probably be eaten long before then. If you are going to keep your sauce in the fridge, then hot bottling is not strictly necessary.