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mecdave

Tobascos out the Ying Yang

Whenever I shop for starter plants I try to pick out the ones that have two shoots in the hopes I can separate them and double the fun. This year I found a triple Tobasco and I now have three bushy plants loaded with hundreds of ripening pods. What in the world am I going to do with them all?

I have some woozy bottles with the dribble tips for the traditional peppers in vinegar, but that's it. I need more ideas!

PS These are the plants that suffered heavy thrip damage early in life...

This post was edited by mecdave on Tue, Jul 22, 14 at 8:28

Comments (23)

  • kuvaszlvr
    9 years ago

    Make you own tabasco sauce. I make it without fermentation. It's wonderful, I don't strain it either, I like it with pepper pieces in it. means you have to shake it before use every time. The plants look great!
    Pam

  • deadhead61
    9 years ago

    The red ones fall apart in vinegar so they are better used in sauce.Nice plants,they will get bigger so they will need staking in some way before they get too top heavy.Happy growing.

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago

    Nice plants Dave. I'm not a Tabasco fan, but sauce is the only thing I've ever heard them used for. Looks like you need more bottles.

    Kevin

  • peppernovice
    9 years ago

    I like the ideas, but I need recipes. This is my first year growing Tabasco peppers. I don't mean to hijack your thread mecdave, hopefully this will benefit everyone. Please post your recipes for whatever you do with Tabasco peppers.

    Tim

  • Mecdave Zone 8/HZ 9
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I guess the first thing I need to do is learn how to spell tabasco. lol

    Yep Pam. Sauce, lots and lots of sauce. I do have a recipe for fermenting, and since I have so many to experiment with, guess I'll give that a go too.

    I didn't know the red ones fall apart in vinegar deadhead. Good to know since that is what I was planning. Will have to use them in sauce instead.

    And I've already had problems with them blowing over (I thought the deer were doing it at first). The boards solved that problem.

    One can never have enough bottles in this bidness Kevin. Or a bigger deep freeze. ;)

    No hijack taken PN. I need ideas and recipes too. Keep 'em coming... or is that about it?

  • OKgrowin
    9 years ago

    sauce, ferment, powder, dried flakes, jelly

    and in food of course can get creative like hot pepper brownies (and surprise some friends) lol

  • jutsFL
    9 years ago

    Sauce time indeed!

  • peppernovice
    9 years ago

    What is your vinegar to water ratio when bottling Tabasco peppers? What else do you put into the mix?

    Tim

  • Mecdave Zone 8/HZ 9
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Sorry I didn't answer your post sooner Tim, but I figured I should at least make it once before commenting. I always tend to do things a little differently than what the recipes call for.

    I basically used this one (link below). I did add peppercorns and garlic, and I also brought the vinegar (no water) to a boil, contrary to what is recommended. Some of the recipes I found said to boil, some didn't. I always choose to play it safe.

    The red peppers are serranos. The recipe said the red tabasco are the best to use, but even some of my orange ones were already mushy so I didn't use any mushy ones. I cut 1/4" long slits in the heads of the peppers to let the heat out and the vinegar in.

    After bottling (with boiling vinegar) and capping I turned the bottles upside down to kill any lingering bacteria in the pre-heated drizzle tips and lids. I also gave the bottles a gentle shake until the "sinkers" ended up in the top of the bottle. Then when turned back upright they will hold the "floaters" down in the vinegar. They'll eventually all sink.

    Now they get to sit there for 2 weeks before I can try them. :)

    Ps Here's a link to the bottle supplier. I get the regular 5oz and 8oz bottles so I can use the same 24mm caps and dribble tips for both. Be sure to buy plenty of extra caps since you're not supposed to reuse them.

    Bottles: http://www.fillmorecontainer.com/CategoryList.aspx?CategoryId=0amp;k=woozy

    Here is a link that might be useful: Peppa Sauce

    This post was edited by mecdave on Sun, Jul 27, 14 at 9:52

  • flo9
    9 years ago

    Use them for bloody marys!

  • peppernovice
    9 years ago

    Thank you. That's exactly what I was looking for. It's a shame the red ones are so mushy, they have a great flavor.

    Tim

  • Mecdave Zone 8/HZ 9
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yeah I popped one of the mushy orange ones in my mouth and was surprised by the citrus taste. I've heard folks describe citrus flavor in some types of peppers, but this is the first time I've run across it myself.

    Are the reds about the same or do they just get sweeter?

  • judo_and_peppers
    9 years ago

    one of my early recipes for tabasco peppers:

    RIPE TABASCOS 50.00 PEPPERS
    SMALL CARROT 1.00 CARROTS
    GARLIC POWDER 1.00 TBSP
    TOMATO PASTE 2.00 TBSP
    WHITE VINEGAR 12.00 OZ
    BROWN SUGAR 0.50 TSP
    ONION POWDER 0.25 TSP
    combine in blender, boil, bottle. makes about 30 oz.

  • Mecdave Zone 8/HZ 9
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Looks good. Is it shelf stable (BWB) or just refrigerate?

    This post was edited by mecdave on Sun, Jul 27, 14 at 17:10

  • Meister14
    9 years ago

    I used ghost peppers but it should work for tabasco's. Tabasco vodka or in my case ghost pepper vodka. I put three and it was hotter than h*ll. I would recomment putting a few tabascos in, let it sit and try it. A little goes a long way. Great additions to stews and salsas or a shot to the brave!

  • tom_92
    9 years ago

    Meister14 thats a very ballsy drink...
    Enjoy

  • Meister14
    9 years ago

    Tom 92 for some reason my wife loves it straight. I choked when I took a shot!

  • seysonn
    9 years ago

    I do pickle hot peppers in straight household vinegar. No BWB or anything. Just bring the vinegar gently to boiling point and pour it over in the bottle(already stuffed with peppers). I have some that are 5 years old sitting on the counted. When you see the vinegar level is going down (due to the air released from inside the peppers), just add more vinegar to it. You can use the vinegar on salads etc and refill it .
    Tobasco, pequin, birds eye .. are the best decorative peppers for this purpose. Mix different colors.

  • flo9
    9 years ago

    Meister14,

    Vodka in salsas? I haven't heard of that one before. I'm wondering what to do with all of my varieties of ghost pepper plants. So far only a black cobra has peppers on it... rest of types are entering pepper from flower stage. :)

  • judo_and_peppers
    9 years ago

    mecdave, yes, BWB and it seemed to be shelf stable. still have a bottle.

  • seysonn
    9 years ago

    With the sauce, if you don't refrigerate (make a lot of bottles) have to use BWB method and seal. Then it can stay on the shelf for years, provided pH is 4.2 or lower. With pickling with straight HH vinegar, all you have to do is to bring the vinegar slowly to boiling point and then pour over the packed peppers. No bacteria can survive and/or produce toxin in 5% acidic environment. Plus, when you bring it to boil and pour over the peppers, it will kill most bacteria. Even if a bacterium survives, it can not multiply and produce toxins. Bacteria are not harmful by themselves, but what is fatal is the toxin they produce

  • Mecdave Zone 8/HZ 9
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    So I made Judo's sauce today, sorta. I don't know if my peppers and carrots run small or what, but there was no way it was going to make 30 ounces. After mixing the ingredients and before straining out the seeds there was only 14 oz.

    I tasted it at that point and while very good, it was very hot and quite tangy. So, I ground up another carrot, added the rest of the tomato paste, doubled the garlic and onion powders, added quite a bit more brown sugar (I like my sauces on the sweet side), then added 1/3 cup of fresh lime juice to help maintain acidity, and 1/2 cup water as it was getting a bit thick. PH Tested 3.6.

    Even though my woozy bottles have metal lids, there is a foam liner inside them so I chose not to BWB. I really don't have a practical way to boil that tall of a bottle anyway. Just make sure the sauce is 200 to 209 degrees when filling sterilized bottles, then cap (also hot) and invert the bottles to kill any lingering bacteria in the caps.

    The following filled two 8oz and one 5oz woozy bottles.

    60 Ripe Tabascos (some were small)
    2 Small Carrots
    6 oz can Tomato Paste
    12 oz White Vinegar
    3/4 cup Brown Sugar
    1/2 tsp Onion Powder
    2 Tbs Garlic Powder
    1/3 cup fresh lime juice
    1/2 cup water

    Combine in blender.
    Strain out the seeds. (optional)
    Bring to a boil.
    Hot pack in Woozy bottles or
    BWB in Jars.
    Makes about 21 oz.

    This post was edited by mecdave on Sun, Aug 3, 14 at 13:06

  • judo_and_peppers
    9 years ago

    sweet, I'm glad you got a good sauce out of it, I apologize if my numbers were a bit off. that may be one of the ones I tried to write down from memory a few days after making the sauce. I might bring that recipe back out of retirement, my wife just finished off the last bottle.