[HN Gopher] Making your own hot sauce
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Making your own hot sauce
Author : hermitcrab
Score : 59 points
Date : 2024-08-04 15:58 UTC (7 hours ago)
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| hermitcrab wrote:
| Shop bought hot sauces are pretty 'meh' in my experience.
| willcipriano wrote:
| I like Cholula.
| upon_drumhead wrote:
| Cholula is a fine hot sauce, but if you haven't expanded
| beyond it, there are sauces with a much deeper level of
| interesting flavors.
|
| Don't get me wrong, I'll douse a chicken wing in franks quite
| happily, but when it comes to my bacon and eggs in the
| morning, I prefer something smoked and fuller.
| ngai_aku wrote:
| What's your recommended hot sauce for eggs?
| upon_drumhead wrote:
| I've been enjoying La Posta Hatch Smoked Chile the past
| month. It's nice and smoky with a decent kick. My last
| bottle was African Rhino Peri-Peri, which is a much
| brighter sauce then the smokey ones.
|
| https://lapostachileco.com/products/hatch-smoked-chile-
| hot-s...
|
| https://www.hotsauce.com/african-rhino-peri-peri-hot-
| sauce/
| hermitcrab wrote:
| Is that the stuff you get in lots of US restaurants? If so,
| think it is quite bland. Subjective obviously.
| namdnay wrote:
| I think it depends on the store. In Montreal there's a "micro-
| saucery", I love the concept (and their sauces are great)
| samstave wrote:
| I love all hot sauces, and my GF brings me random hot sauces
| often. Most recently gave me a bottle of
| https://i.imgur.com/f7o1FT9.png TRUFF -- and my goodness, its
| my favorite one yet. Its amazing - and it pairs well with
| Wasabe Mayo...
|
| I rally need to make my own, but I mix raosted paprika into a
| lot of cooking I do with hotsauces...
| dmoy wrote:
| Didn't see it mentioned in the article or picture, but you often
| get better results if you weigh down the stuff you're fermenting
| so it's always underneath the brine. Glass weights, literal
| rocks, or just an excess of brine, either way.
|
| If you do that, then the "fuzzies" the article mentioned
| basically never make an appearance.
| throwup238 wrote:
| _> Glass weights, literal rocks, or just an excess of brine,
| either way._
|
| Alternatively, ziplock bag filled with water and a little air
| for buoyancy.
| hermitcrab wrote:
| Author here. Fair comment. I did think about mentioning that.
| But I didn't want to get too much into the weeds. Better to
| watch some videos for all the details.
| doctorhandshake wrote:
| Can confirm most of this but I disagree with the advice to stop
| fermentation by any means. To the contrary I like to keep my
| lacto hot sauces fermenting in the fridge for a year before using
| them - much deeper, more complex flavor.
| Duanemclemore wrote:
| Same. I have a fermented ghost pepper sauce that's been working
| in the fridge for almost a decade. I pretty much only use it to
| start other sauces these days but when I taste it, it's
| freaking fantastic.
| dunham wrote:
| I also disagree with their lack of oxford comma. :)
|
| I did lacto once because I had a bunch of habanero from the
| farmers market and wanted something that could sit around for a
| while. But I usually don't plan ahead, so typically it's
| habanero and a garlic clove under the broiler and then blended
| with some lime juice - a bottle at a time, as needed. A recipe
| I got from Rick Bayless.
|
| The grocery store has been out for a few weeks, so I may need a
| different strategy. And I should branch out more.
| hermitcrab wrote:
| I took a batch and A/B tested it. Simmering one half, but not
| the other. I preferred the simmered batch. Not much of a sample
| size though...
| throwup238 wrote:
| You don't have to make a brine. I ferment my chilis in a vacuum
| sealed bag like those used for sous vide. Just pulse the
| ingredients a few times in a food processor and add 2% salt by
| weight. Since they don't have much sugar I've never had to burp
| the bags.
|
| Makes it really easy to just have tons of bags fermenting without
| taking up lots of space or reusable containers. The Noma Guide to
| Fermentation has a lot more info.
| SmellTheGlove wrote:
| Do you vacuum the bag and get all of the air out, or do you
| just kind of flatten it with your hand and seal it with space
| at the top for expansion? I assume it puffs up a lot. Do you
| have to vent and reseal it or can those bags handle it,
| assuming name brand food saver bags or something else that's
| decent quality?
| throwup238 wrote:
| I vacuum the bag with a Foodsaver but the displacement method
| with a ziplock bag probably works too.
|
| I've only ever had to vent ferments with lots of fruit sugars
| like blueberry habanero. I just cut the bag, force some of
| the air out, then fold it over and use a binder clip. I don't
| reseal them because the salt pulls out their liquid and I
| don't have a chamber vacuum sealer.
| dunham wrote:
| Good to know it can be done with a food saver. I have the
| book on my shelf, but never got around to reading it.
|
| I've used a ziplock of water as a fermentation weight. I
| didn't know I could use a chamber sealer, and I have one
| (the "cheap" model VP112S - at $600 and only 57 lbs. - but
| I bought it 7 years ago and it's still going). I think I
| need to try this with some chilis.
| ssl-3 wrote:
| Vacuum bags and 2% salt by weight are the easiest way to get it
| done, for sure. It doesn't get much simpler.
|
| I've had pepper ferments that got a little carried away and
| tightly filled the bag with CO2.
|
| There's a lot of ways to deal with this problem, but I just
| poke a tiny hole in the bag, let the bug farts out, and cover
| the hole with a strip of clear tape.
|
| (A lazier method is to plan better and use a bigger bag to
| begin with. And for those who aren't familiar, vacuum bags can
| be huge: They're available as continuous uncut rolls.)
| MarkMarine wrote:
| I make my own hot sauce, but they were all kind of blah until I
| started growing my own chilis.
|
| I grow the bird's eye chilis (piri piri) that is an important
| part of a number of Portuguese dishes that I like, including
| wonderful piri piri oil that I drizzle on many things. I always
| have extra chilis at the end of the year so I make sauce.
|
| There is a Portuguese sauce made from fermented red (sweet,
| large) peppers that I've never been able to get right though.
| Finding a recipe online is tough because this is a family recipe
| that gets passed down, many families have their own take on it,
| and I'm in California and don't have any Portuguese relatives. If
| anyone makes massa de pimentao and has a recipe please share
| silisili wrote:
| If you haven't already tried them, take a look at siling
| labuyo. They are a little smaller and hotter, and IMO better
| tasting. I've had tons of luck growing them in the US, even
| indoors over a winter once(light lamp).
|
| I like them so much I picked my username after them :)
| vram22 wrote:
| >started growing my own chilis
|
| I thought / have observed that the spelling "chili" (single
| letter l) was used for the US / Mexican dish called "chili con
| carne", and the spelling "chilly/chillies" was used for the hot
| pepper that came from the Americas and spread to much of the
| world.
|
| Edit: Wikipedia says both spellings are used for the hot
| pepper:
|
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper
|
| Edit 2: See the Spelling and usage section.
|
| It does not mention the y ending, but I have seen it in India.
| harrisi wrote:
| I've never seen or heard of anyone using "chilly" to mean
| anything other than cold. I'm from Portland, but I've also
| lived in San Francisco and Tucson.
| vram22 wrote:
| I think in India it is the commonly used spelling, and
| maybe in Britain and Australia too. But not sure about the
| latter two, need to check.
| shepherdjerred wrote:
| Anything home preserved makes me anxious. Canning, bottling, etc.
| It just sounds way too easy to poison yourself.
|
| That being said, this does sound really fun.
| namdnay wrote:
| Anything that's salty or acidic or sweet or fermented enough
| isn't dangerous. So no risk for jams, hot sauces, beers,
| pickles etc. Canning fruit or vegetables requires more care
| candiddevmike wrote:
| There's a lot of steps you're missing. Just by virtue of
| having those qualities does not mean it's safe, there is
| probably a lot of prep, cleaning, and boiling involved.
| namdnay wrote:
| Even without those steps the worst you'll get is fur on the
| top. As long as you're putting the correct weight of salt
| There's no danger
| candiddevmike wrote:
| Agreed... I can never find a hot sauce ferment recipe that has
| weights and measurements like sauerkraut or kimchi. Everything
| is too eyeball-ey and makes me super paranoid about not getting
| the right salt and ph. Botulism scares the shit out of me.
| ssl-3 wrote:
| There's only a few things to do with pepper ferments. It's
| not at all like baking a cake is. And it's far easier to
| accomplish safely than canning is.
|
| Only one ingredient must be measured before it is added:
| Salt.
|
| There is just not anything here that could be improved by
| adding specificity:
|
| 1. Use pure-ish water, if any water is used at all. Chlorine
| is bad. Buffering from dissolved minerals is also bad.
| (Distilled water is cheap; use that.)
|
| 2. Weigh water, if any, along with the peppers.
|
| 3. Add 2% _non-iodized_ table salt, by weight. (Kosher salt
| works here, and has other uses.)
|
| 4. Mix it up in a suitable vessel (I prefer vacuum bags
| because the results are both flawless and easy), and put in a
| dark-ish place that is not cold.
|
| 5. Wait.
|
| That's really all there is.
| dathery wrote:
| You can use a pH meter to monitor the sauce while it's
| fermenting if you'd like some extra assurance. Hot sauce is one
| of the safer things to do at home (in terms of things like
| botulism risk) due to the acidity and saltiness.
| fitsumbelay wrote:
| ahhhhh, this is what I was looking to read about; some kind
| of sensor to make sure no one dies. though I also imagined a
| sensor for the air around the fermenting container as well?
| candiddevmike wrote:
| Not sure what you mean by air, I use pH test strips instead
| of a meter and just drop some of the liquid on them.
| fitsumbelay wrote:
| I see, so at some interval you take a sample and directly
| test it on a meter. Thanks.
|
| By 'air' I'm meant air leak from stuff you're trying to
| can or preserve, as others began mentioning preserves and
| canning
| dathery wrote:
| The bacteria behind botulism can't grow in oxygen-rich
| environments, so I think the makeup of the solution is the
| main thing to worry about. That's why botulism is mainly a
| concern with canning, oil suspensions, etc.
| bagels wrote:
| Botulism is the biggest concern, and even still, it is pretty
| rare and avoidable. Mold is generally visible, and if found,
| you can just discard.
|
| As long as you're following good practices (cleaning,
| temperature, proper salt ratios, verifying acidity, following
| researched recipes), it's pretty safe.
|
| edit: I'd add to this, I don't preserve meats, that's the risky
| stuff.
| ssl-3 wrote:
| Botulism is invisible and odorless and deadly.
|
| Please do not do people the disservice of conflating botulism
| with mold. They are not even close to being the same fucking
| thing.
| vram22 wrote:
| All the videos I have seen say that sterilizing all the
| vessels you use is one of the good practices.
| throwup238 wrote:
| In this day and age, you'd have to show some gross negligence
| to poison yourself from ferments. Either by ignoring some basic
| guidelines or doing something stupid like eating a clearly
| contaminated batch.
|
| In decades of canning and fermenting across four generations,
| my family has never gotten food poisoning from it. Mushrooms on
| the other hand...
| _heimdall wrote:
| In my experience a ton of it really does come down to quality
| of the ingredients you use. We actually ferment quite a few
| things here and have never had an issue. Though, whether we're
| making sauerkraut, kambucha, pickles, or cheese it always
| starts with ingredients we either grew ourselves or bought from
| a local CSA.
|
| I was a bit nervous the first time we salt cured our own bacon,
| but it turned out way better than any bacon I've bought from a
| store!
| ANarrativeApe wrote:
| I love that this has climbed to a medal position on the hacker
| news podium!
| hermitcrab wrote:
| It dropped from 9th position to 85th position in about 30
| minutes. So it appears that the mods or the HN algorithm
| weren't so happy about this.
| hermitcrab wrote:
| Now back to position 17.
| smallerfish wrote:
| I get my chili ferments going with live kombucha. I used to use
| my own, but no longer maintain a running kombucha batch, so I
| just buy some ultra hippy kombucha whenever I'm ready to start a
| new chili ferment.
|
| Basic recipe: blend together chilis, kombucha, and some filler
| (e.g. carrots, or fruit).
| fitsumbelay wrote:
| the fermentation step is a new one to me. I've always been
| vinegar, chillies, garlic/onions in the blender and call it a day
| but the result was always a bit south of satisfactory. excellent
| post
| meroes wrote:
| I usually go for a quick and dirty start-to-finish in a day
| recipe when I'm craving hot sauce. I don't have much patience or
| long term storage or want to gamble with botulism, so I don't
| ferment.
|
| A very very rough recipe is:
|
| - 4 lbs of dried chiles de arbol (no seeds or stems) - 1.5 lbs
| each of Serranos and Jalapenos - 1 lb of habaneros - 4 large
| carrots - half cup of garlic - about 2 gallons of white vinegar -
| a little salt and maybe a cup of water
|
| I like the idea of adding some mangoes from the link so maybe add
| 2-3?
|
| Rough chop everything and take out stems and the majority of
| seeds. Start heating the arbols in a very large boil pot outside
| (on a grill or its own propane burner). Then after 15 mins add
| the other peppers and salt. 15 mins later add the veggies, 5 mins
| later pour the vinegar and water if needed in so that it just
| covers the chiles. You might not use all the vinegar. Heat to a
| low boil for 2 hours. Let it cool for 20 mins, blend it in
| batches till smooth. Then transfer the blended batches back to
| the pot and reboil for 10 mins. Then pot directly into mason
| jars. Stir occasionally throughout so nothing burns, but some
| color is good at the beginning.
|
| It feels pretty safe. It's very very hot but that's how I like it
| and makes it last longer. It's not as smooth as the off the shelf
| hot sauces, but not quite as thick as the chile hot sauce in
| Asian restaurants.
|
| Oh and don't touch your eyes or sensitive areas.
|
| Maybe it's just me but chiles have decreased in hotness in the
| past decade. Like a habanero or jalapeno is not as hot as they
| used to be. For jalapenos, there used to be like 1/5 that would
| floor you, so their average hotness was quite higher. Now it
| seems like all jalapenos I buy are the same, which reduces the
| average heat so I have to add more habaneros.
| cyb_ wrote:
| The article below claims that milder store-bought peppers are
| the result of growers using different varieties, which is
| driven by larger (factory) consumers of the peppers.
|
| https://www.dmagazine.com/food-drink/2023/05/why-jalapeno-pe...
| meroes wrote:
| Ah that makes sense. Seems to be in large part because there
| are varieties that are lower heat but higher flavor, and
| ceteris paribus, getting away with less jalapeno for same or
| greater flavor saves money. I wonder if anyone's weighed the
| amount of actual jalapeno in a jar of tostito's queso.
| Probably like a quarter gram.
| lukasb wrote:
| There are even quicker hot sauces;
|
| 1. Chop up bird's eye chilis, add fish sauce and lime juice -
| boom, prik nam pla. If you don't have fish sauce, bird's eye
| chilis and white vinegar.
|
| 2. White vinegar, sugar and salt, garlic and/or ginger, bird's
| eye or jalepeno, some bell pepper to cut the heat - stick it in
| a blender, done. Super delicious.
| meroes wrote:
| Thank you that sounds fun and less of an undertaking
| somnic wrote:
| Prik nam pla is great. Thin garlic slices are a good
| addition.
| kylehotchkiss wrote:
| Your labels are my favorite! Love the rocket ship
| r0s wrote:
| Hot take about fermentation in these recipes.
|
| > Lacto-ferment chillis with your choice of veg and/or fruit in a
| brine solution for a couple of weeks at room temperature.
|
| Room temperature is no kind of standard. Optimal fermentation is
| up to about 75f max. I live in the south and most of the year
| room temp for me is at least 76. I've ruined several batches of
| lacto-fermented experiments before making that connection.
|
| Don't get me started on vague salt measurements like "seawater"
| taste.
| hansvm wrote:
| A few notes:
|
| 1. Botulism is nearly a non-issue in lacto fermentation. As the
| article mentions, salt and acid inhibit its growth. For an extra
| layer of protection, you can add a bit of vinegar at the start of
| the process to further encourage the growth of safe
| microorganisms. Botulism only starts becoming an issue when you
| have low-salt, low-acid preparations, or when you start the
| process like you would in traditional canning (boiling the
| fermentation mixture ahead of time -- getting rid of all
| competition for the botulism). If you cook the peppers you should
| make sure to pitch in a significant quantity of yeast and/or
| lactic acid producing bacteria.
|
| 1a. Botulism is a lot higher risk if you stabilize the mixture
| (the "simmering it in a pan to thicken" step) before storing it.
| That kills any safe microorganisms and again opens up the door
| for an infection from something dangerous (though, as the article
| mentions, it's less risky because of the accumulated salt and
| acid in the final product).
|
| 2. Mold requires a stable, aerobic environment to grow.
| Completely submerging the peppers suffices, as does using some
| form of air-lock, but you can also almost always get away with
| just stirring it twice each day.
|
| 3. Sugar can make the fermentation work better. The suggestion of
| fruit to achieve that is a great idea. As a side-note, mango is
| particularly delicious fermented on its own (halves or other
| large chunks, fermented just till there's a lot of CO2 bubbles,
| making them fruit chunks sparkly, no longer or it gets mushy).
|
| > kills off the fermentation.
|
| 4. That has pros and cons. Fermented foods "keep" better while
| still fermenting (in terms of food safety), but the texture and
| flavor can degrade (it varies, look at how fantastic kimchi is as
| an example of longer fermentations being beneficial). Once hybrid
| strategy if you still want the improved texture from cooking is
| to reserve some of the pre-cooked sauce and re-introduce after
| cooking, re-innoculating it with yeast and bacteria. It'll tend
| to keep a lot longer if you do so. The flavor changes can be good
| or bad. It'll build up pressure over time though, so don't seal
| it air-tight.
| linsomniac wrote:
| Don't underestimate making a fresh rather than fermented sauce.
| Years ago at work I made a green chili sauce, basically just
| blended some peppers, vinegar, salt, and spices. I think it was
| 4-6 anaheims, a couple jalapinos, and garlic. Pretty simple and
| quite delicious.
|
| I'll also second the article's recommendation for Ring of Fire,
| the Habanero variety (they have a lot of varieties).
| SimianLogic wrote:
| My favorite DIY hot sauce is manzanos and dragonfruit. The little
| black seeds make it look awesome and manzanos are a nice slow
| burn.
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