Bottled my first 12oz of hot sauce.

15 years ago

Well I had a whole bunch of dried Bonbero and Thai Dragon pods. We decided to put about 12 Bonberos and 6 Thai Dragons (I think, we were drinking) through the coffee grinder. Then simmered the results of the grinding in vinegar with salt and a little garlic powder. We let it cool and bottled it in a sanitized beer bottle. The recipe I used recommended leaving it in a dark place for 2 weeks before sampling.

Now I have a couple questions. After opening the bottle, I plan to just re-cap it, but do I need to refrigerate it? An under filled bottle of beer will explode if capped. Should I be worried about this at all? Does anyone have any suggestions as to what kinda container to use next time. Like a resealable something just to make it more user friendly.

-HabBob

PS It's going to be hotter than s--t. I took off the lid to smell it while it was simmering. Got the concentrated fumes in the nose and eyes. My buddy said it looked like I got punched in both eyes.

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Comments (7)

jimster
15 years ago
The only liquid is vinegar, so the pH will be as acidic as any food can be. Therefore, I see no possibility of fermentation or production of gas (CO2). Therefore, no explosions. Probably no spoilage, even without refigeration, either. On general principles though,I accept no responsibility for any resulting harm. Verify what I have said to your own satisfaction. Don't accept casual Internet advice in matters of possible life or death.

Jim
david52 Zone 6
15 years ago
It won't explode, as jimster explains. For one bottle, I'd keep it in the fridge - just easier and eliminates even more risk.

If I had a whole bunch of it and wanted to store it for a while, I'd can it in pint jars and open them up one at a time.
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habbob
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the replies. I have a follow up question too. I noticed that the bottle settled into what looks like a black and tan. All the bits of pepper ended up at the bottom with the translucent vinegar (I'm sure it has changed color) settling to the top. I'm considering straining it, but might sample it first and make a judgement call at that time. Any thoughts?

-HabBob
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
15 years ago
One day, when I have too many peppers to count, I'd like to make some hot sauce!

So, Bob, did you decide to strain the sauce?
I'm curious if you've tried just a taste yet...

Josh
shelbyguy
15 years ago
Why strain out the flavor? Ok because the solids will eventually clog the opening on a woozie bottle.

So? Poke it with a toothpick.

I suppose you could pasteurize and homogenize your sauce, but wouldn't it be simpler just to 'shake well before serving?'
:)
habbob
Original Author
15 years ago
greenman28 I'm really excited about the sauce. When we went to bottle it, it smelled very hot and quite tasty. You'll have fun with it I'm sure. No decision on straining yet. There are a lot of solids in the bottle still but shelbyguy makes a persuasive argument about the shaking and toothpicks.

I chopped the dried peppers with scissors and then sent them through the coffee grinder until they were very small flakes. But there are a lot of them. The "black and tan" has now settled into a black and tan with a 1/4" of bright red oil on the surface. Looks delicious.

I chose to try this recipe, because it is a simple vinegar based recipe. Easy to brew and easy to make table safe. Pasteurizing or homogenizing seem like more work than shaking well.

I'm not going to open it until this Wed. That will give it 2 weeks to steep. Going to sample it Wed night, maybe on a pizza. Unless someone has a better suggestion.

I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks for all the support. I'm definitely going to make another batch and I suggest everyone on the fence about making their own do so.

-HabBob
shelbyguy
15 years ago
The entire reason I got into growing chiles in the first place was because I wanted hot sauce without vinegar...

Then I learned why the vinegar is in there.

Bottled my first 12oz of hot sauce.

Comments (7)

jimster

david52 Zone 6

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Bottled my first 12oz of hot sauce.

Comments (7)

jimster

david52 Zone 6

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