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habjolokia

Harvest time Hot Sauce!!

Picked my Ghost X White Bullet Habanero cross. They look like Serrano but way more of a punch but not quite as hot as a Ghost. Then turned them into sauce.

Comments (32)

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sliced open the walls are thick not thin like a ghost must be a trait of the habanero

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sauce

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    More sauce

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Pod variation

    Some look closer to the Bhut while the others do not, there were very few Bhut shaped pods on the whole plant the rest were a blend of the Hab/Bhut

  • stoneys_fatali
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Awesome!

    Stoney

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Nice Mark! So, better growing in the new location? Worse or about the same?

    Kevin

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Kevin,

    It can be between 3-10 degrees cooler where I am living now, from where I used to live in MD. More wind because I live in 7 valleys and the wind funnels through whipping my plants around, but not enough to do too much damage. Less bugs so only had a small bout with aphids so that's good. I only got one harvest when usually I get two from one plant. I think it's due to the extremely mild summer though, will see next year .

    Mark

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Right on!
    Those thick-walled pods look perfect for saucing.

    Josh

  • peppernovice
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sauce looks great. I still haven't learned that skill yet. I'm hoping to sharpen up my skills soon. So far, everything taste like hot vinegar.

    Tim

  • jtight
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Finding the right ratio of vinegar to pepper volume is key. Typically I use 3oz of distilled white vinegar per cup of sauce output.
    That being said, it's hard to "guess" how many oz are going to produced when your slicing/dicing peppers :)

    After a couple test runs you'll get it figured out.

    Johnny

  • PunkRotten
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Mind sharing your recipe? How long is your sauce good for in the fridge?

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Peppernovice/Tim: Do a mash. It's very simple and no vinegar. It has tang, but not overwhelming like vinegar.

    Kevin

    Here is a link that might be useful: fernementing peppers 101

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    @ Josh, thanks, the thick walls help with volume of hot sauce, less peppers have to be used.

    @ Tim, do you soften the peppers first? I soften all the ingredients such as onion and garlic, then blend them in a blender with a bit of vinegar.

    @ Johnny, I use red wine vinegar can't stand distilled white vinegar. I boil my sauce so if I add too much vinegar I can boil it off to thicken the sauce or thin it out by adding more vinegar. It takes 10-12 ghost per 5 oz Woozy bottle.

    @ PunkRotten, I use Peppers, Onion, Garlic clove, Sea Salt, Red Wine Vinegar, Fresh Squeeze Lime Juice. Sometimes I may omit the lime and other times will add other ingredients depending on what flavor I am looking for.

    Disclaimer, please consult proper canning methods.

    I've never stored my sauce in the fridge, I boil my sauce jars and lids, pull them straight from the boiling water then fill with boiling sauce and cap them. I've never had a problem using this sauce up to a year. I guess it would keep in the fridge much longer, but it does not make it longer than a year anyhow so guess I won't know.

    @Kevin, I've seen you mention mash before, I don't have that kind of patience to wait, the sauce I make I can use it right away but after three days its much better when the flavors meld together.

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Mark: LOL. understandable. I'm far from that Job guy in the bible myself.

    Do both--- make some of your current recipe to last a month while the rest goes into a mash that you ferment and have to wait that month. I wasn't sold on it myself until I tried it. You won't be disappointed.

    Kevin

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Kevin: I still have some Bhut X Black Pearl left, I could probably try this mash process. Here is a pic of that cross.

    How do you get the lacto bacteria? What process do you use?

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This should be enough to experiment?

  • loweride
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I just picked 115 Bhuts off of one of my plants. I have no recipes or ideas on what to do with them. Maybe I'll throw some onion and garlic in a blender with some of them and red wine vinegar?
    I wish I knew someone who has done this before........
    I didn't read every post -- did someone say whether you take the seeds out?

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sure. That should do for a small batch.

    I got mine from lining a strainer with some cheesecloth, dumping a quart container of full fat, plain, live culture yogurt into it, and letting the whey separate into a bowl underneath. With what you have there, you could probably get enough whey with a couple of small yogurts.

    I haven't, but many use Kefir. Not sure where one finds it.

    The link below is "sorta" the way I did it last year. I say "sorta" because the recipe is different and a couple changes to the process. If you're serious about doing it, I can walk you through it. There are other links on thehotpepper.com website along with this one. I'm not sure if it's shelf stable.. I refrigerate mine. You can always run the recipe over to the folks on the HARVEST forum to make sure a "shelf" version is safe.

    Kevin

    Here is a link that might be useful: One way of doing it

  • jtight
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    That looks like 4cups once you cut them up a/ blend

    Basic RecipeDirections -
    1. Slice them in half (remove cap a/ stem)
    2. De-Seed (as best as poss.)
    3. Add 6oz distilled white vinegar
    4. 2tbl salt
    5. 1tbl of SeasonAll
    6. 2tbl black pepper
    7. Blend on MAX for ~2mins

    *As needed (depending on how thick you want your sauce)
    1. Add 2oz of vinegar (as you blend)
    2. Blend on medium until you get consistency you want

    Johnny

  • loweride
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thank you.
    I made something -- more of a paste. I will try that basic recipe next time.
    I used onion, carrot, black pepper, allspice, red wine vinegar, a few drops of liquid hickory smoke, lime juice, and about 20 Bhuts. I thought it would make a nice sauce to put on wings, but I think it is a little too spicy for that. I licked the spoon and it kicked me in the mouth. Wife asked if it tasted good and I said I couldn't tell... lol

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Kevin,

    I am interested, I am familiar with making things from bacteria, I made my own vinegar mother, getting vinegar flies to wade in beer and then the magic happens and a month or two later vinegar. Seems the kefir wild origin is a mystery, from a cows stomach and I also read it can be obtain from the dirt of ant hills or crushed up ant eggs? guess if I want to get kefir grains may have to purchase.

    I think I will have to get an air lock and use mason jar. I may have to go the yogurt route to get the whey.

  • seysonn
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I will try Kevin's fermenting method the next time.
    But doing it by BWB method you need to make sure that your sauce has proper acidity/pH. The safety recommendations call for a pH of 4.5 (bare MAX). 3.5 and under sound pretty safe.

    What acid to use, is a choice : Vinegar, lemon/lime juice, citric acid, ....
    If you don't like that strong vinegary taste, probably you are using TOO MUCH vinegar to begin with. Even then you can hide the acid taste by sugar, fruit juice. Sometimes I use pineapple juice. It is already acidic and you can cut back on vinegar.

    The other flavorings (garlic, onion, salt , turmeic..) are optional. I normally do not use any. Because when I use hot sauce on anything they already have the spices that I want. I consider a hot sauce an spice of its own. Because I make milder sauces, I use the best fresh red/yellow/orange bells as filler. That gets the heat of my sauce down to around 60k. Some people use tomato sauce, carrots, etc as filler. But I like mine to be exclusively PEPPER sauce.

  • loweride
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Darn - I didn't think about pineapple juice. I have little cans of that and didn't use it.
    Next time.

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ok, Mark. Here's how i do it.

    I make a little less than a gallon at a time because I use those big gallon pickle jars. An Airlock type is probably better but I don't feel the need as long as you "burp" it every day for the 1st week or so and every few days after that.

    The last batch I made, I used about 1/3 ripened Serranos and 2/3 Nagas and Bhuts.

    !st, line a fine mesh strainer/sieve about 3 fold with cheesecloth, set inside a clean glass bowl. Dump Yogurt in sieve -- you'll need about 1/4 cup, so about a pint of full fat, plain, live cultured yogurt should do plenty. Do this a couple hours prior to processing to give the whey time to leach out... about an hour into it, disturb the yogurt a bit with a spoon.

    Next, snip stems(but leave calyxes) and wash peppers.

    Next--- my ADDED veggies and aromatics include onion, garlic, and carrot. You don't have to use anything but I love garlic and onion and I add carrot for some sweetness and something for the bacteria to munch on besides the peppers. Peppers aren't the greatest sugar producers. So, I use 3 heads of garlic, 1 large onion and about 3 carrots, so adjust yours accordingly and/or to taste. Peel garlic, peel and quarter onion, and peel carrots and cut into 2 inch pieces.

    Next, Blitz everything in the food processor and move to clean glass mixing bowl or non-reactive pot.

    Add whey, salt and sugar. The recipe on the link calls for about a quart of sauce, so you may have to adjust. But I used 8 TB of BROWN sugar(molasses good for the bacteria) and 8 tsp of sea salt. Give a good stir.

    Next, scoop out and put in jar. Try to keep mash from touching the sides of the jar at the top. Many people will put weights on the mash to keep it submerged under the juice, but i don't find this necessary. I just wipe it with a paper towel and on goes the lid.

    Up on the counter or in the cabinet it goes.

    As mentioned above, an airlock is probably best, but what I do is twist a regular lid on but barely tight. I want it to breath but not like if I left the lid off entirely. So, for the next week, I "burp" the jar by twisting the lid off about an inch and then loosely tighten it 5 seconds later.

    The instructions on that site calls for fermenting for 5-7 days. I do it for about 6 weeks. From my understanding and readings, you really do want to do at least a 30 day ferment. Kind of like making cheese or letting wine age... complexity is achieved through time. The burping is daily for the first week or so and every few days for the remainder.

    Next, after the fermentation process, it's time to finish. Dump mash into a nonreactive pot and cook on medium heat until just to a boil. This will soften up the mash and release some juices, which will make the next step easier.

    Next, put in blender and blend on high for about 2-3 minutes.

    Next, pour blended mash through the fine mesh strainer and back into the pot, using a rubber spatula to aid the flow. If you have to do more than one pour, remove seeds from strainer each time.

    Bring back to a boil and gently boil for 10 mins., stirring frequently. You're done for the most part, but there are a few things you may want to do to make unique or to taste. For example, before the last boil, you may want to add more salt, sugar, juice, black pepper, spices, etc. I, myself, add about a TB of finely ground black pepper and about 1/2 cup of rice vinegar. I know I've said time and again that I hate vinegar based hot sauces, but this is only 1/2 cup to a gallon of sauce and the type of vinegar i use is very mild.

    Put in bottles and refrigerate. Like I said earlier, I'm not sure if this is a shelf stable recipe.

    It's a good all-around hot sauce that really isn't all that a**-ripping. it's nice and hot, but something in the fermentation process really calms the heat down. Vinegar does this by nature, but I only add 1/2 cup. So I guess fermenting does what vinegar does. And mashed sauces have a tang, but you're not overwhelmed by vinegar.

    This year, i want something even hotter. So, no serranos, but maybe a "few" japs. But when i get to that 2nd boil, I'm going to add some Bhut/Naga powder.

    Good luck and any more questions, just ask. I'm far from an expert though. But like i said, it's so easy, even a woohooman can do it. :)

    Kevin

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Kevin,

    That's quite the process, I could not find a fermentation lock so I ordered one, once it arrives I will start the process. Thanks for the detailed steps and I will let you know how it turnes out, and probably will ask more questions :)

    Mark

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    LOL... not really. I just wanted to detail it as much as possible. You know me... I can be long winded at times

    Once you do it, you'll realize it doesn't take much time at all.

    Kevin

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Kevin,

    I did not forget, just took longer for my ferment lock to arrive. I will ferment for 6 weeks. Thanks for sharing I will let you know how it turns out.

    Mark

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Cool. 6 weeks sounds good. I think you'll be happy. If you don't like being overwhelmed with vinegar, fermenting is the way to go. Besides, one can always add vinegar if he/she likes venegar-y sauces.

    Side note: Either way you go, vinegar OR ferment, I've noticed the heat gets diminished severely. Good use for powders --- just add some to mash before you cook and strain if you want to up the heat level.

    I'll make my salsa(s) like this -- mild gets mild peppers fresh and dried, medium gets a crapload of reconstituted Arboles or such added to the mild, hot gets some Bhut and Naga powder added to the medium.

    Still can't please all the masses-- my Mom still prefers the heat of Pace over MY mild. I think that it's in her mind -- she thinks "Kevin's making it --- it's hot."

    Good luck.

    Kevin

  • judo_and_peppers
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I still kinda wanna experiment with fermenting hot sauce. but my problem now is every new experiment I think of, I have to consider how it could be done on a large scale, so for me fermentation just isn't practical at this stage of the game. plus, I love vinegar based hot sauces. but I probably will start experimenting soon, I get bored too easily, and then stuff like that happens.

  • DMForcier
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I don't see why fermentation wouldn't scale up. You just need larger containers and some place to put them.

    Dennis

  • judo_and_peppers
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    it will scale up. in fact sriracha and tabasco (or should I say huy fong and mcilhenny) show that it scales up nicely.

    but the "and some place to put them" is the problem. I'm renting space in a commercial kitchen (my old arrangement with a local BBQ joint to use their kitchen fell apart due to vast differences of opinion) so other than my one bedroom apartment, I don't have any permanent storage space.

  • habjolokia z 6b/7
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    @ Kevin, is the fermentation going to show signs of doing anything? It's been a week and it looks the same? There is a tiny separation at the bottom maybe width of a pinky finger of liquid not sure if that's just natural sepration or not. Should I be seeing something like bubbling at the top?

    @ Judo and Dennis, I think that's the way Tabasco is made they make a mash then ferment in recycled whiskey barrels, that's large scale.

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