Cookbooks for hot sauces?
September 27, 2021 6:28 AM Subscribe
My pepper crop is coming in, and I've definitely planted too much. I've never made hot sauce, but I figure this is a good time to try it out, but I don't even know where to start.
I've got a ton of serrano chilies, and more on the way. To a lesser extent, I have jalapenos and habaneros. I'd love to learn how to make safe, even shelf stable sauces, but I'm more than willing to start with baby steps. I'd love to find a decent book to help me get started. I'm thinking of something along the lines of Ruhlman and Polceyn's Charcuterie, which got me started on sausage and bacon about a decade ago. Something that gets into the science, but is also well written and engaging.
As far as flavors and chilies go, I'm not after Ultra Macho Death Sauce level heat. I'd love to use these chilies to make something that adds flavor, not just fire to whatever it's added to. Being able to make a giant batch for sharing would be a bonus.
I've got a ton of serrano chilies, and more on the way. To a lesser extent, I have jalapenos and habaneros. I'd love to learn how to make safe, even shelf stable sauces, but I'm more than willing to start with baby steps. I'd love to find a decent book to help me get started. I'm thinking of something along the lines of Ruhlman and Polceyn's Charcuterie, which got me started on sausage and bacon about a decade ago. Something that gets into the science, but is also well written and engaging.
As far as flavors and chilies go, I'm not after Ultra Macho Death Sauce level heat. I'd love to use these chilies to make something that adds flavor, not just fire to whatever it's added to. Being able to make a giant batch for sharing would be a bonus.
I had to give this book up during a recent move, but remember it as pretty beginner-friendly. (The only reason it didn't make the cut is that I just plain don't use condiments fast enough to justify DIY'ing them.) I especially remember her saying almost verbatim what you said about how hot sauces should "add flavor, not just fire to whatever it's added to."
In fact, one of the easiest recipes from that book is something I still have in my fridge - I think I got it to do something with the cayenne peppers that had mysteriously turned up in my CSA box. She had a recipe which involved simply filling a bottle with vinegar and sticking halved peppers in it, and that was it.
The "shelf-stable" part will probably also be pretty easy in most cases because a lot of what you're making will most likely involve vinegar.
....Here's where I don my "home canning geek" hat for a moment, to explain why: there are two methods to can foods to be shelf-stable, and one of them is way easier than the other - you just prepare the food to be canned (if it's a sauce or a jam you cook it, if it's just plain fruit you can simmer it briefly in a syrup), pack it in a mason jar, put one of those two-part lids on it, and then lower the jar into a big pot of boiling water and boil it for a certain amount of time. That's it. ...However, that method only works for foods with a certain amount of acidity to them; if the food you're canning is less acidic, you need to use a pressure canner, which is more complicated and cumbersome and I've never tried it. Fortunately, since a lot of hot sauces call for vinegar as one of the ingredients, this usually tips things over into being acidic enough to just do the "boil the jar" method of canning.
The recipes you find will usually let you know if you are safe to can things this way, and they will tell you what size jar to use and how long to boil the jar for. Look for recipes that say to use the "water bath method" for processing and preserving. ....I remember most of the sauces in that cookbook called for the water bath method.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:46 AM on September 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
In fact, one of the easiest recipes from that book is something I still have in my fridge - I think I got it to do something with the cayenne peppers that had mysteriously turned up in my CSA box. She had a recipe which involved simply filling a bottle with vinegar and sticking halved peppers in it, and that was it.
The "shelf-stable" part will probably also be pretty easy in most cases because a lot of what you're making will most likely involve vinegar.
....Here's where I don my "home canning geek" hat for a moment, to explain why: there are two methods to can foods to be shelf-stable, and one of them is way easier than the other - you just prepare the food to be canned (if it's a sauce or a jam you cook it, if it's just plain fruit you can simmer it briefly in a syrup), pack it in a mason jar, put one of those two-part lids on it, and then lower the jar into a big pot of boiling water and boil it for a certain amount of time. That's it. ...However, that method only works for foods with a certain amount of acidity to them; if the food you're canning is less acidic, you need to use a pressure canner, which is more complicated and cumbersome and I've never tried it. Fortunately, since a lot of hot sauces call for vinegar as one of the ingredients, this usually tips things over into being acidic enough to just do the "boil the jar" method of canning.
The recipes you find will usually let you know if you are safe to can things this way, and they will tell you what size jar to use and how long to boil the jar for. Look for recipes that say to use the "water bath method" for processing and preserving. ....I remember most of the sauces in that cookbook called for the water bath method.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:46 AM on September 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
The Noma guide is a cool, comprehensive and scientific book on fermentation, but its recipes are pretty haute. I don't think it has a hot sauce recipe. Fermentation isn't necessary for hot sauce, you could also start with just vinegar.
I've seen this post from thehotpepper.com recommended on reddit as a good guide with good food safety instructions.
posted by little onion at 8:27 AM on September 27, 2021
I've seen this post from thehotpepper.com recommended on reddit as a good guide with good food safety instructions.
posted by little onion at 8:27 AM on September 27, 2021
This site chilipeppermadness is very good, loaded with info on the different types of sauces, how to preserve chilis, etc. You do not have to make a large quantity of sauce, there's info on fermented sauces, canning sauces, and a list of the different styles of popular sauces to reference when trying to make your own.
posted by winesong at 8:52 AM on September 27, 2021
posted by winesong at 8:52 AM on September 27, 2021
I've just started trying to make one of these from serious eats. We had a good crop of habaneros, so what else are you going to do?
posted by vernondalhart at 8:59 AM on September 27, 2021
posted by vernondalhart at 8:59 AM on September 27, 2021
I'd recommend the Ball book of home preserving and the University of Georgia's So Easy to Preserve for pepper recipes and preserving recipes and information in general.
posted by sevenless at 10:55 AM on September 27, 2021
posted by sevenless at 10:55 AM on September 27, 2021
Don’t forget gloves, maybe goggles and good ventilation if you’re cooking hot peppers. Very easy to aerosolize the capsaicin and pepper spray your whole household.
I uh, accidentally did this to my house last weekend.
posted by slateyness at 11:05 AM on September 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
I uh, accidentally did this to my house last weekend.
posted by slateyness at 11:05 AM on September 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
Don’t forget gloves, maybe goggles and good ventilation if you’re cooking hot peppers.
Seconding this - especially the gloves. Learn from my mistake.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:18 PM on September 27, 2021
Seconding this - especially the gloves. Learn from my mistake.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:18 PM on September 27, 2021
I've only made hot sauce a couple times, but I'll share the most important thing I've learned: The "base" is arguably more important than the heat. That is, if you want to make a hot sauce entirely out of really hot peppers, you surely can, but it may be too intense, depending on eaters' palates. I've found (though I LOVE extra-spicy food!) that you need to temper the heat by selecting your "base" flavor well.
I found that a good base is regular old red (and/or orange) peppers: they're delicious, canonically peppery, of a nice color, and they add the bulk to the sauce that you'll probably want.
Do NOT use tomatoes as your base! If you do, you will not be making hot sauce, but spicy tomato sauce.
Carrots can be a nice addition to the base because they add a little sugar and taste vegetal in a way that complements peppers, at least in my opinion.
posted by Dr. Wu at 1:32 PM on September 27, 2021
I found that a good base is regular old red (and/or orange) peppers: they're delicious, canonically peppery, of a nice color, and they add the bulk to the sauce that you'll probably want.
Do NOT use tomatoes as your base! If you do, you will not be making hot sauce, but spicy tomato sauce.
Carrots can be a nice addition to the base because they add a little sugar and taste vegetal in a way that complements peppers, at least in my opinion.
posted by Dr. Wu at 1:32 PM on September 27, 2021
a personal recommendation for the vacuum bag method Oooh! Got a trustworthy link, please?
I usually add a little bit of orange juice to my hot sauce to thin it out a bit.
posted by MonkeyToes at 2:12 PM on September 27, 2021
I usually add a little bit of orange juice to my hot sauce to thin it out a bit.
posted by MonkeyToes at 2:12 PM on September 27, 2021
Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions. As far as chili safety, I once spent about twenty minutes chopping Thai peppers without gloves. I tried soaking my hands in vodka, in yogurt, in milk, and nothing worked other than dunking them in ice water as long as I could stand it. I couldn't really sleep that night because my hands were just sending off waves of throbbing heat. Lesson learned.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:01 PM on September 27, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Ghidorah at 4:01 PM on September 27, 2021 [3 favorites]
A lesson I just learned is, be damn careful about using the sprayer on your sink to clean up the cutting board after. Hoo boy that was bad.
posted by showbiz_liz at 4:46 PM on September 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 4:46 PM on September 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
Any cooking vessels, bowls, or utensils you use in the making of chili sauce making may end up ONLY for chili sauce making. Chilis stain, plastics in particular, and impregnate with aroma. My sister has a separate set of pans she uses for chilis which are easily recognizable by the staining of many, many chili cookings.
Here is Andrea Nguyen making chili sauces: here and a small list here.
posted by jadepearl at 4:58 AM on September 28, 2021
Here is Andrea Nguyen making chili sauces: here and a small list here.
posted by jadepearl at 4:58 AM on September 28, 2021
Oh! Hot pepper jelly! It's not a sauce, but it'd be a fun additional thing to try. Here's one recipe which makes six half-pint jars, and uses powdered pectin to set it so you don't have to faff around with figuring out a jelling point or anything that would be a pain in the ass to play with. It also tells you exactly how long to boil the sealed jars to make it shelf stable, and you end up with six jars - one to keep for yourself and others you can give away as gifts.
That's also a good recipe because it walks you through some of the basic "how to can things" steps (how full to fill the jars, how long to process the closed jars....) the only thing that it's a little vague on is in step 1, where it says to "sterilize the jars" and "add hot water to a hot water canner". There are a gabillion ways to sterilize canning jars; if you have a dishwasher, just run the glass jars through a cycle just before canning and you'll be good. As for the "add hot water to a hot water canner" - yes, they do make official "hot water canner" pots, but I just use my big deep stock pot and fill it with enough water to cover the jars by about 2 inches and it always works just fine. In fact, the only "special equipment" I would invest in for home canning would be jar-grabby tongs like this so you can lower a full jar into a big pot of boiling water, and then pull it out of the water afterward, way more easily.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:57 AM on September 28, 2021
That's also a good recipe because it walks you through some of the basic "how to can things" steps (how full to fill the jars, how long to process the closed jars....) the only thing that it's a little vague on is in step 1, where it says to "sterilize the jars" and "add hot water to a hot water canner". There are a gabillion ways to sterilize canning jars; if you have a dishwasher, just run the glass jars through a cycle just before canning and you'll be good. As for the "add hot water to a hot water canner" - yes, they do make official "hot water canner" pots, but I just use my big deep stock pot and fill it with enough water to cover the jars by about 2 inches and it always works just fine. In fact, the only "special equipment" I would invest in for home canning would be jar-grabby tongs like this so you can lower a full jar into a big pot of boiling water, and then pull it out of the water afterward, way more easily.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:57 AM on September 28, 2021
I also had a bumper crop of peppers this year, and luckily, one of my favorite books on preservation (Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Practical Pantry) had this delicious recipe. High on flavor versus extreme heat. Since I also have an enormous amount of tomatoes, I used up a bunch of peppers in various enchilada sauces and salsa. I'm also a Liziqi devotee and inspired by her wok-ing backdrop of giant chains of chilis, I braided up a bunch of my red Thai Dragon and Serranos to hang for drying. Many of the recipes in this book, Asian Pickles, use chilies of various kinds. The SE Asian ones are quite laborious to make, but SO worth it. Oh yeah, and the Ball canning cookbook mentioned above has a great candied jalapenos recipe. Have fun!
posted by ikahime at 9:17 AM on September 29, 2021
posted by ikahime at 9:17 AM on September 29, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
If you're going to be getting started in this I'd like to put in a personal recommendation for the vacuum bag method, it is less frustrating and more foolproof than dealing with various airlock methods, and I've never had a failure.
posted by ftm at 6:56 AM on September 27, 2021 [2 favorites]