Habaneros and othe HP's - to Sauce?

16 years ago

Greetings!

I am wondering about saving our various hot peppers to sauce this winter. The problem is that we lost our big freezer a couple months ago, so i am doing way too much canning this time around. I have an abundance of beautiful, ripe peppers this year - great news! Would there be as flavorful sauces this winter if i dehydrate them first, or is it important they be frozen fresh for the taste? We make many kinds of sauces each year, and they are important to the Good Life and for gifts come the Holidays.

Thanks,

Glad

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Comments (5)

ksrogers
16 years ago
Drying hot peppers is a good way to preserve their flavor and most of the heat.
zabby17
16 years ago
Glad,

Hot peppers make great sauces to can, as you know, and they also dehydrate well. But I'm not sure if the dehydrated versions make good sauces. Seems to me you would be missing out on a lot of "body." You could use the dried peppers to add flavour to sauces, etc. in the winter for sure

Hopefully jt or one of the other pepper lovers who owns a dehydrator will chime in.

Is there a reason that you can't make sauces and can them now while they're fresh? Did you mean you are too busy canning other things? (In which case, would dehydrating really save you much time, since you still have to prep, chop, etc.?)

I find hot pepper sauce the easiest thing to make and can --- just cook with some garlic and cider vinegar, maybe a little sugar. Whirr in the food processor and water-bath ten minutes....

Zabby
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John__ShowMe__USA
16 years ago
Glad,

I favor dehydrating over canning for retaining original flavor and heat. (I think freezing is best, but not an option here)

Canning just peppers means 35 min at 10-15 lbs pressure and a great loss of capsaicin heat and some flavor. Boiling water bath preserves more of the heat, but because of added vinegar results in great flavor change.

Dehydrate at 125-130Â°F is what I would do. Then pack in jars or vac seal and refrigerate.

jt
gladgrowing
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks, Ken, Zabby, and jt!
I have dried alot of peppers in the past, at those low temps.....but haven't made Hab Sauces before. Since i would use less of these peppers than other sauces we like - i am glad to hear that flavor would still be in place! We are moderate corp types, and don't especially seek out pain in our eatings :)
I make alot of sauces of dried peppers that are steeped with garlic and various vinegars and salt to taste, make blended chili powders, dehydrated hot sauce powder, and varietals dried for cooking. Love those plants! I hope to use the hotties along with things such as peach, mango, carrot/onion/garlic blends, etc. Just want to taste the pepper thru all the mixers!
Have any of you ever made fermented mash for sauces?
I had best start a new post for a new topic on that.
I appreciate your inspirations here. The tiny freezer is almost full.. and i still need to freeze the bundles of seed harvest each for a few days. How i miss my beloved BIG freezer now.
Good growing,
Glad
John__ShowMe__USA
16 years ago
Glad,

Happy to help!

JohnT
Buck Private
SandyO Moderate Corps

Habaneros and othe HP's - to Sauce?

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Habaneros and othe HP's - to Sauce?

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