In the last month or so I shared three of my recipes for hot pepper sauces. Since then, I have done more experimenting with these basic recipes, tweaking them by using different peppers, and different levels of salt, sugar and vinegar. And what I have found is that they are all good! Like most homemade foods, making your own hot sauces allows you great freedom and creativity, and the opportunity to make things exactly like you like them.
When I made the first three sauces, I had mostly ripe cayenne and serrano peppers. All my jalapenos were still pretty well green at that point. Now I have ripe jalapenos as well, so I can add them to the mix along with the others. My container grown Cayennetta plant has provided me with well over 100 peppers so far, though I haven’t kept an exact count. This 2012 AAS winner is a winner in my books too, maturing into a short bushy plant that just keeps on making peppers all season long.
But back to the sauces themselves. I made two more batches of No-Rooster Chili Garlic Sauce, one with red jalapenos and serranos, and the other batch with green jalapenos. Sitting together in the kitchen they remind me of Christmas colors! I gave the red version to a friend who is going to make me some of his BBQ sauce in return. For the green version I removed most of the seeds and membranes inside the peppers, to make it a bit milder. It turned out well, with a fresh taste that is somewhat milder than the first batch I made, but still plenty hot. I kept it for myself.
green and red chili garlic sauces
I also made a version of the Basic Fermented Sauce using green jalapenos. I think it compares favorably with the Tabasco brand Green Pepper sauce, which I find has a bit too much salt and vinegar for my tastes. It turned out with an olive-drab color, which is probably why the Tabasco brand comes in a green glass bottle!
Green Jalapeno Hot Sauce
And I made what might be a one-of-a-kind version of the Sriracha-Style Hot Sauce using my Hot Happy Yummy peppers. At least it might be the only chance I get to make this one in 2012, as I am not sure how many more of those peppers I will get. I’ll admit I am not exactly an impartial judge, but I do think this sauce may be my favorite so far. The fruity taste of the Happy Yummy peppers really comes through. And I cut back a bit on the sugar, which suits my tastes just fine. It turned out a lovely orange color, which is what I was hoping for.
Yummy Sriracha Hot Sauce
I now have another batch of the Basic Fermented Hot Sauce going. I plan on letting this one ferment for a bit longer than the first batch I made, which fermented for a week. It’s got a blend of mostly ripe cayenne and serrano peppers. I would like to let it go for a month, if I can wait that long. We will see!
pepper mash fermenting
I used to make a green hot sauce at the end of the season with any chilies that hadn’t ripened. I was never bothered by the color. I always thought the olive green was pretty. Though the orange and red ones were a lot more festive. They were good either way.
That Yummy Sriracha sauce is just gorgeous looking! Now that you have all these great variations and varieties of homemade hot sauce, you should have a hot sauce taste trials party and do blind tests to see which gets the most thumbs up consistently. Not that you are going to market them or anything, but it would be a fun excuse to get together with friends and eat alot of hot sauce. 😀
I am enjoying following your hot sauce adventure. I would love to try it but it just isn’t going to happen.
Now that most of my canning is done, I’ll have time to work on some hot sauces too. Th Yummy hot sauce is beautiful! Thanks for sharing your hot sauce adventures!