About four different varieties here. Most are serrano's. I've forgotten the name of the long yellow pepper, but the little bright red ones in the lower right corner are Thai Dragons, one of my faves. And they're all hot!

T- good job wish I still had my plants. We might get snow this weekend, yahoooooooo

Nice looking peppers tomatofreak. A couple weeks ago I pickled eight quarts of peppers. There are still a lot more to pick. No hurry though. I have strings of C9's running through the plants to keep them warm. I won't be able to get to them this week. Next week I hope to pick another 6-8 quarts This time I plan on making some more hot sauce.

I grow Anaheim, Jalapeño, Hot Giant Cherry, Poblano, Italian pepperoncini and some Italian Roasting peppers.

Got a recipe? Or two?

Here you go. I make this recipe three to four times a year. It blows away anything I have ever purchased online or at a store.

Basic Roasted Hot Sauce Recipe;

Wash your peppers.

Put them in the oven on a cookie sheet at 350 for twenty five mins.

Pull the stems and de-seed them.

Toss them loosely in a high speed blender (I use a Vitamix) and fill with vinegar till the peppers are covered. You can use White. You can also use Apple Cider Vinegar if you want to add more flavor. (I buy both by the gallon at Walmart.)

Blend until all the peppers are liquefied.

(If you don't have a true high speed blender to liquefy the peppers and their skins. Run the peppers through a Food Mill with a fine screen. It will remove the skin and the seeds for you. Then blend in a standard blender on high until the contents are liquefied.)

Put the liquid into a pot to simmer.

Add to taste: Black pepper, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder along with some salt. Some people prefer using canning salt which does not have Iodine in it. (Everyones taste is a little different. To me it's a little hard to add to much Black Pepper. In fact you can be fairly liberal with all of these seasonings without ruining the sauce. However most people are amazed just how good a roasted pepper sauce tastes without any seasoning at all.)

Bring the sauce to a low boil then turn down the heat to low. Let the contents simmer on low for 30 mins being careful not to burn the contents.

Add the contents to canning jars of your choice. Process in a boiling hot water bath with the lids on very loosely for 30 mins. Take them out of the bath and tighten the lids.

It will take two months for the vinegar to lose it harsh taste. Then it will be ready for use. After that point it just keeps getting better and better as it ages.

Tips; If you have some ripe Red Bell Peppers or some other type of Roasting Peppers process them along with your hot peppers. I process all my peppers together in my sauces. It adds to the depth and complexity and richness of the sauce. If you like your sauces to be a little thicker you can add a little Xantham Gum to the sauce while it's in the pot. Do it at the end. Take the pot off the heat and add only a little at a time; Like a quarter Teaspoon. I recommend using an immersion blender while you add it.

If you like you can also add some Lime or Lemon Juice to your sauce. Add it before you cook the sauce either in the blender or before it starts to boil in the pot.

The first time I made this recipe it was just the roasted sweet and hot peppers in white vinegar. The pure taste of the sauce totally blew me away. The pure flavor of the roasted peppers really came through. Totally amazing. Since then I have added all the other ingredients. In a way all the other ingredients don't really make it that much better. It just makes it different.

here's a pic of one plants worth of seranos with a few anaheims and japs mixed in i have 8 plants which have been producing about 2 1 gallon zip lock bags a week since t giving

Awe-Some! Peppers are supposed to love the heat of summer, but I guess they like fall and winter even better.

and they seem much hotter now too

Thanks, thisisme, for those instructions. Do the skins get blackened in the roasting?

thisime - You said: "It will take two months for the vinegar to lose it harsh taste. Then it will be ready for use. After that point it just keeps getting better and better as it ages."

Do you mean you cannot taste the vinegar at all after the sauce has aged a couple of months? What's it's purpose in the recipe?

Thanks for clarifying.
Mary

tomatofreak they should not blacken if only left in for 30 mins. However a few usually do end up a little dark on one side. If you are concerned about color reduce the temp to 300 degrees and there will be no change in color.

marymcp vinegar is both a preservative and a pickling agent. If the canning process does not kill any and all molds or bacteria in or on the peppers. The high acid content of the vinegar will. Over time the acid in the vinegar leaches out more and more flavor from the ingredients making the sauce more flavorful. In the process the vinegar loses more and more of its acidic bite and mellows out leaving behind the rich and complex flavors of the roasted peppers and other ingredients.

This was my first year planting a vegetable garden. I thought I had done something wrong when my pepper plants did nothing all summer. Once fall hit, they did great. Good to know that's everyone's experience.

I picked the last eggplant this week along with an assortment of peppers to make hot sauce this weekend - serranos, Cajun Bells, cherry peppers, guajillos, and habaneros.

This post was edited by PhxLynne on Thu, Dec 20, 12 at 2:14

PhxLynne this is my fourth harvest of peppers this year. My plants are protected from afternoon sun with 60 percent shade cloth all summer. I make 8-12 quarts of either pickled peppers or hot sauce four times a year.

PhxLynne- What great peppers. For your very first time planting a veggie garden you did wonderful. I bet you are hooked now and should be proud of yourself!

Wow, awesome harvests you all! I'm envious! I love the recipe and instructions too. Thanks too for mentioning your pepper varieties that did so well, there's just no substitute for local firsthand experience. So fun to see. I don't think I have enough of my own peppers to make the sauce, but I will next year, and I still may make a batch or three with purchased peppers. You all are the best!

Happy gardening!
Grant

Grant, it's easy to make 'hot pepper sauce' with just a few peppers. I'm excited to try thisisme's recipe, but this easy one has been with me since childhood. We always sprinkled it on greens, peas and beans. Simply wash and cut the cap off peppers, stuff them in a slender jar and fill with vinegar. Cap the jar and let sit for a few days. You can use cider vinegar, white or rice vinegar. I don't recommend balsamic. I can barely eat vegetables without a sprinkle of this peppery 'sauce'.

My mouth is literally watering, tomato, thanks for the quickie recipe. I'll use my meager harvest for that, and then a purchased one for the other. Sounds yummy, especially since I have a vegan mom, vegan sister, and vegan sister's boyfriend visiting me for the holidays!

Thanks all, happy gardening!
Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: My December 2012 garden pics

tomatoefreak, that sounds like whats called a Refrigerator Hot Sauce recipe. They are meant to be eaten immediately or within a few weeks and are meant to be kept refrigerated. Without canning in a hot water bath it would not be safe for long term storage. The same can be done with hot peppers to make pickled peppers without the stems.

To me it's just amazing how good home made hot sauce taste and how easy it is to make. Once you start making your own you never want to go back to store bought.

My Son picked these yesterday. Those are five quart bowls and large baking pans. For reference that jar of sauce in the center is a one quart wide mouth jar.

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Mmmmm.... Those look yummy! What are the small 'pinched' peppers? They look like poblanos, but smaller.

There's no worry about the 'hot sauce' that's just peppers and vinegar. I've been making this for decades and I've actually refilled jars with fresh vinegar. Never, ever had a problem. You don't need to use it up quickly, just keep it in the fridge.

tomatofreak, those small pinched peppers that look like Poblanos, but smaller are small Poblanos.

I should have known; any poblano I've ever planted only made small peppers. Wonder how you get the big ones you find at the grocery?

Leave them on longer? Mine are larger than in the picture above, I'm trying to resist picking them. This weather has me in the kitchen simmering sauces and such.

With the cold weather coming and me only having my sons help to pick them on the weekends. I did not feel it was safe to leave them on any longer.

I made six plus quarts of Red Hot Sauce with ripe peppers last night. If I feel up to it I will be making as many as sixteen quarts of Green Hot Sauce with unripe peppers today.

What's your secret to growing peppers in the desert as far as heat and sunlight? What varieties have worked for you?