Homemade Hot Pepper Sauce

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I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 1:4-6

GIRLFRIENDS IN GOD today’s post.

This year Lee grew cayenne peppers in our garden.  I was thinking I wanted to just string them together for a little decoration!  But, when he brought them in it didn’t seem fair to him to let them just hang around 🙂  So, I set off to make some pepper sauce.  He likes to put pepper sauce on his pinto beans, turnip greens, pizza, and a variety of other dishes.  The sauce is just too hot for me, but I did have fun making it.  Looking around for something to store the pepper sauce in I came upon these little coke bottles in the back of my pantry.  They are so cute and worked just great!

Mixed Peppers

When it comes down to it, cayenne peppersare quite a bit hotter than jalapenos.  In fact, on the Scoville heat index, cayenne peppers range from 30,000 to 50,000. You can usually find cayenne peppers in fresh, dried or ground form in your local grocery store. These peppers are rather hot when they are picked right from the vine. If you take a bite out of a fresh cayenne pepper, you will experience the same kind of rush that you might from eating a lot of dark chocolate. (However, I really wouldn’t recommend it!) This is from the endorphins that are released in your system when you eat the pepper. The capsaicin contained in cayenne peppers are most effectively released when you roast them.

Hot Pepper Sauce
Ingredients

  • Hot peppers, any variety and amount*
  • White Vinegar
  • Garlic (optional)

Directions

Clean the glass jars you are going to be using. Glass soda bottles, oil and vinegar bottles, or decorative bottles can all be used.

Wash peppers and either chop then to fit in your jar or bottles. You may also leave them whole and put a little slit in them so that the vinegar penetrates them.

Add peppers stuffing the bottle or jar as much as you can. Add garlic to a decorative bottle or jars.

Bring vinegar to a boil. My recipe says 2 cups, but use as much as needed to fill the amount of bottles you have.

Pour boiling vinegar over peppers. Make sure peppers are completely covered with vinegar.

Leave a little airspace then top with the lid or spout.

Let it sit for a few weeks and enjoy. I always store them in the pantry, if it makes you feel better, store in the fridge, but it isn’t necessary.

Cook’s Notes:
*Amount of peppers used depends on how hot you want your sauce and what type peppers you have on hand and how big of a bottle you are going to use. Jalapeno peppers and cayenne peppers are HOT and just after a couple days my sauce was hot and ready to be used.

*When you using larger peppers such as Banana or Anaheim peppers, you can cut the peppers in long narrow strips to get them in your desired bottles or jars.

* The actual amount of vinegar needed depends totally on how many peppers you have and the size of your bottle. Make sure bottles are stuffed full of peppers and filled with vinegar.

* Hot pepper sauce is great on pinto beans, greans, in soups, or to add a touch of heat to about any food, tableside.

Hot sauce, chili sauce or pepper sauce refers to any spicy sauce made from chili peppers and other ingredients.

There are many recipes for hot sauces – the common ingredient being chili peppers. A group of chemicals called capsaicinoids are responsible for the heat in chili peppers.[1] The peppers are infused in anything from vinegar, oil, water, beer and alcohol to fruits and vegetable pulp. Additional ingredients are often used, including those used to add extra heat, such as pure capsaicin extract and mustards. If your fresh hot sauce is bubbling or fizzing it is not bad it is just fermenting. (search for fermented hot sauce recipes).

Habanero Hot Sauce
  • Mexico – Mexican hot sauce typically focuses more on flavor than on intense heat. The sauces are hot, but the individual flavors of the peppers are pronounced. Vinegar is used sparingly or not at all. Chipotles (dried and smoked jalapeño peppers) are a very popular ingredient of Mexican hot sauce. Some sauces produced in Mexico are high-vinegar-content similar to the American Louisiana-style sauces. Mexican-style sauces are also produced internationally (e.g. Huffman’s Hot Sauce and Kaitaia Fire from New Zealand). Some less hot sauces, like achiote or adobo, are used basically as part of some dishes, but they are used as a condiment, too.

    • Valentina, a traditional Mexican sauce

    • Búfalo, a popular Mexican sauce

    • Chile de Arbol, very hot, similar to cayenne peppers, used in the popular Torta Ahogada dish

  • United States: Most often called hot sauce, they are typically made from chili pepper, vinegar and salt. Peppers used are often of the varieties cayenne, jalapeño and habanero; chipotles are also common. Some hot sauces, notably Tabasco sauce, are aged in wooden casks similar to the preparation of wine and fermented vinegar. Other ingredients, including fruits and vegetables such as raspberries, mangoes, carrots, and chayote squash are sometimes used to add flavor, mellow the heat of the chilis, and thicken the sauce’s consistency.

    • Louisiana-style: Louisiana-style hot sauce contains red chili peppers (tabasco and/or cayenne are the most popular), vinegar and salt. Occasionally xanthan gumor other thickeners are used.

    • Chili pepper water: Used primarily in Hawaii, this concoction is ideal for cooking. It is made from whole chilies, garlic, salt, and water. Often homemade, the pungent end product must be sealed carefully to prevent leakage.

    • Sriracha sauce An American variant of a traditional Thai hot sauce, made primarily of ground chilies, garlic, vinegar, and salt. Often called “rooster sauce” after the predominant brand’s label.

    • A very mild chili sauce is produced by Heinz and other manufacturers, and is frequently found in cookbooks in the U.S. This style chili sauce is based on tomatoes, green and/or red bell peppers, and spices; and contains little chili pepper. This sauce is more akin to tomato ketchup and cocktail sauce than predominantly chili pepper-based sauces.[2]

    • New Mexico: New Mexican style chile sauces differ from others in that they contain no vinegar. Almost every traditional New Mexican dish is served with red or green chile sauce. The sauce is often added to meats, eggs, vegetables, breads, and some dishes are, in fact, mostly chile sauce with a modest addition of pork, beef, or beans.

      • Green chile: This sauce is prepared from any fire roasted native green chile peppers, Hatch, Santa Fe, Albuquerque Tortilla Company, Bueno and Big Jim are common varieties. The skins are removed and peppers diced. Onions are fried in lard and a roux is prepared. Broth and chile peppers are added to the roux and thickened. Its consistency is similar to gravy, and it is used as such. It also is used as a salsa. It is generally preferred over red chile.[citation needed]

      • Red chile: A roux is made from lard and flour. The dried ground pods of native red chiles are added. Water is added and the sauce is thickened.

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