Well, not only did I just learn how to pronounce it correctly, I also learned that the "rooster" brand is US made, unlike the Roland that's in my fridge. Or, at minimum it would seem the pepper is domestic...

I just bought two back-ups last night just incase. : )
I knew it would be fine but thought others might freak.
Or, hey, ya never know.

Out of curiosity I went to see where my bottle of sriracha sauce was made .. While at it I checked the expiry date....August 2011. Although I find it hard to believe that stuff could ever expire, I guess I best toss it! Why do they sell it in such large bottle any way.

PS: Made in California bottled in Quebec.

I make my own hot sauce using a combination of grilled chilies - habaneros and mild and sweet chilies, and then I freeze parts of it. I used to use Sriracha, but I like my own sauce much better, although mine does tend to be hotter. Once the pepper plants get established, they just keep making more chilies, and I have some plants that are three years old.

The last batch of chili sauce I made using a stick blender, and then I forced the mixture through a coarse sieve with a spatula. I also add garlic, salt, and white Balsamic vinegar. Using a good vinegar really improves the flavor.

If you do buy extra Sriracha, you can always label and freeze portions of it.

Lars

Chase, I once saw a bottle of Sriracha sauce that was just 8 ounces, which would have lasted me a long time, but since I already had the industrial size, I didn't buy it. Haven't seen one since.

In 1999 I had never heard of Sriracha, but a fellow I worked with who knew I liked food hot and spicy brought me a bottle. I don't think it had an expiration date on it and in 2012 I was still using it. I never got sick and it still tasted the same as it did when he gave it to me, but I thought I might be taking a chance by still using it, so I tossed it and bought another. The new bottle tasted nothing like the old bottle! I like "really" hot, and the old bottle was so hot that I could never use it straight from the bottle. I always had to mix it with ketchup at a ratio of about 1 (Sriracha) to 5 (ketchup) and it was still pretty spicy. This new bottle is much tamer and I don't have to cut it with ketchup at all. I miss my old bottle.

Now I'm wondering if the recipe has changed over the years or if my friend was having a bit of fun with me and "spiked" my first bottle.

Donna, I would expect different batches of hot sauce to taste different because the chilies vary in hotness from year to year, based on weather and growing conditions. Even if the recipe did not change, the chilies (being a natural product) would change.

Then again, maybe the recipe did change gradually over time. I would never mix ketchup with hot sauce, but you can dilute it with mild chili sauce (I do not buy chili sauce that contains tomatoes), but I also use it to flavor mayonnaise. I never put plain mayo on a sandwich, I always mix it with hot chili sauce first. If you do want a tomato flavor, you can dilute the hot sauce with tomato paste, which will have a more neutral effect than ketchup. About the only time I use ketchup is when I make Okonomiyaki sauce, and I make sure that the ketchup does NOT contain HFCS. I have found that ketchup made without HFCS tastes much better. If you are in Canada, you don't have to worry about that.

Lars

Lars,

I am overloaded with chillis that are still clinging to the plant. I would love to try your hot sauce recipe.. Can you post please? Do you use a preservative to keep it from spoiling?

I have been following this story the last couple of days on various programs. The town's people are complaining about the smell. I remember driving through Gilroy and thought it was cool that you could smell the garlic. Have the citizens of Gilroy protested their town's odor?

I do make my own hot sauces and mustards and vinegars, dry rubs, salsas, foods!...but, i do like a few known standards. Old Bay, Bells, Worcestershire...i know what they can do and quickly. When i need it. Sriracha has a bit too much sugar for our taste but it is quite balanced for what it is and i like the 'heat' flavor. A big squirt is not a killer like some.

Irwindale is a pit, literally, since most of the city is gravel quarries. There is also a big brewery, some light industry, etc. 10 sq miles and only 1500 residents.

I'll haveto get some!

Wasn't there a race track in Irwindale also? Irwindale International Speedway? Definitely not a suburban residential area. Maybe, my memory has suffered from too much Sriracha sauce.

/tricia

I didn't read the article until today, and Kevin told me yesterday that he had heard about this.

Irwindale has some very beautiful spots, located at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, which I can see from my house. I don't know about a racetrack in Irwindale, but it is very close to Santa Anita and the L.A. County Arboretum, which has the pond and house from the TV show Fantasy Island.

I can imagine the fumes from the factory from the chilies - I would not mind the garlic, but chili pepper fumes make me gag. But then I use habanero chilies, and the fumes from them are quite intense. I never noticed any intense garlic smells in Gilroy (I must have been there at the wrong time of year), but the smell of broccoli in Oxnard is quite offensive, even though I love broccoli. Stockyards are even worse, and my worst memories of those are from Fort Worth. I've heard they have even bigger ones in Chicago. I would take Sriracha over a meat packing plant or paper mill any day!

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: Rec Area in Irwindale

Got curious so I googled...

Looks like Irwindale International Speedway closed in 2012.

/t

Here is a link that might be useful: Irwindale International Speedway

Re publickman's comment about hot sauce and ketchup, one of the hottest (yes, a pun) condiments in the San Francisco Bay Area restaurants is Sriracha ketchup, custom-mixed in the kitchen.