Wow what a coincidence!! I was thinking along the same lines tonight. I am wanting to make some hot sauce and had some pickled habaneros from last year still in the fridge. From what I had gathered on the hot pepper forum you should let your hot peppers sit in the vinegar for appx 6 months, puree in a blender, then you have hot sauce. They said as long as you use pure vinegar you don't have to worry about refrigerating it. I tried it with my habs and I would advise to use as little vinegar as possible. The habs were not as hot as I wanted so I may wait until this year's crop ripens then do it. I don't see any harm in trying to make hot sauce from your peppers. You might want to post on hot pepper forum, they have some good recipes.

Could it have been the Tabasco pepper? I have seen those used red and green, they're small and (as we know) pack a punch. Was it literally the whole pepper sitting in vinegar? You can use all kinds for that! Cherry peppers, tabasco, piquins... don't forget the garlic! I've seen a couple blended sauce recipes with piquins which come in different colors. I have a fatalii sauce that is amazing and can't wait to make my own. If you are looking for more of a blended sauce, do a search on hot sauce recipes and see what you get. Just watch the recipe because some you will need to make and then refridgerate and some you will have to process if you want to store it in the pantry. If you want to experiment with a couple cups at a time to refridgerate, add mango or raspberries. The sweet and the heat... soooo good. Carrots are good in sauce too as John stated. Well, hope this points you in about 3 different directions. :) Good Luck! Erin

Hi koreyk, What went wrong with the pickled banana peppers is a bit too much Mexican Oregano for the bland peppers, as well as them being mushy. That is why i thought they would make a good base for saucing. I make my own chili/pepper powders each year, and have about 6 blends mixed up. We buy the ordinary chili and paprika powder - until i begin to grow better paprikas. I wouldn't have thought of using the powders for sauce! I usually make my hot sauces out of either fresh cooked, or dry whole peppers soaked in vinegar for a long time ( with garlics and various peppers and different vinegars. Then, i cuis it and BWB can it. This year, i concentrated on producing ripe sweet peppers for roasting and freezing, but do have about 18 plants of hotties in-ground and producing. Habanero, Yellow Squash, Ananheim, Poblano/Ancho, Peter Peppers, and Jalapenos. Not much exotic this year, for pepper sauce lovers like we are! Thanks alot - i will make a few tasting batches from different combos and go with the best. Hope the taste is wonderful and all that work from last year i8sn't for nothing. Glad "Not sure what you do not like about the first batch. You can also purchase some hot pepper powder or even some sweet pepper powder ( paprika ) and simply add that to the Banana Pepper hot sauce until you like the flavor. What kind of peppers are you growing this year to mix with the Banana peppers. do you have tons of new peppers or only a few." koreyk

The hot peppers used in pepper sauce are usually a matter of availability, cultural heritage, and personal taste. Any and all hot peppers can be used. If you Google 'hot pepper list' you will find lots of suggestions. If I am making a mild sauce, I use primarily cayennes and any other 'salsa' type pepper. For something hotter and more flavourful (my taste) I use scotch bonnets and something yellow (maybe hot lemon) because I find that blend tasty. To make it hotter add some scorpions or bhuts; and chocolates add another layer of flavour. Then you can vary the amount of pepper to control the heat factor. I just 'wing' it all the time - no set recipe - just let your imagination rip!! Some cultures add spices like garlic, onion,mustard, horseradish, green mangoes,and celery seed that all add to the flavour. Maybe you can come up with some additions of your own. Please share.