Sometimes I feel a whole lot like the Grinch, spoiling people's canning. I don't know if that recipe is safe or unsafe. It's the not-knowing that's the problem. It's on the higher-risk end, though, because you have to have acid to counteract the oil and then more acid to raise the pH of the low-acid onion, peppers, celery and garlic. How much I don't know. Also, 10 minutes processing time is great for jams, but it seems awfully short for this. 1994 is the date of the last USDA revision and the NCHFP recipes developed since then, as well as what you see in new editions of the Ball Blue Book or any of the current sources, work from those standards. The USDA is planning a new revision now, but I don't know how soon it will come out or what will change. There's always new research changing what we assumed, like the listeria problem with certain refrigerator pickles. Who could have imagined? The trick is there are a lot of great recipes out there in books like Chesman's and then scattered amongst them are those that are doubtful. I'm not suggesting abandoning the book, just being selective. In "Blue Ribbon Preserves" Linda Amendt suggests canning curds, which are loaded with eggs and butter. When I asked her about it, she said the recipe wasn't tested (I don't know how she arrived at the pressure and time) and that she no longer cans her curds but refrigerates them. That's a really popular book. But there's been no revision or errata sheet and she hasn't said anything on her website. It gets kind of worrisome when you think an author has changed her own practices but hasn't acknowledged that in print. So the odds are that nothing would happen if you ate that sauce the rest of your life. But the potential for problems is definitely there. I'd refrigerate it; I don't see why it couldn't be frozen for long-term storage. It might be worth taking a small amount, if you have the space, and doing a test-container for the freezer, just to see how it holds up. Carol

I've posted several times in the past about fermenting hot peppers, and IMHO, the result is considerably better than the sauces made with vinegar. I'm getting ready to ferment two batches, one with peppers that have turned red - these I've picked and frozen as they turn red - and one batch with green ones. I've grown several varieties of hot peppers - jalapenos, Chili Noir, several of my own inadvertent (eh-hem) 'hybrids' from saved seed. What I'll do is follow the salt ratio for sauerkraut - 3 tablespoons for 5 lbs peppers. So weigh the peppers, drag the food processor outside and chop up them up, then put the result in a 3 gallon crock with the appropriate amount of salt along with some whey or kefir powder, then weigh it all down with plastic bags filled with water, set the crocks in a cool place, put them in a saucer so any spillage won't eat the floor, and then wait 3 - 5 weeks, checking occasionally. That result will be run through a food mill to remove skins and seeds, and then I'll see what I've got. I may add vinegars to cut it, may add fruit juice, who knows. That result can say in the fridge for months. I generally leave a quart or two in the fridge and can the rest. There is a fizzy complexity of flavor thats just hard to describe, but it leaves tobasco sauce in the dust. Looking at the above-mentioned Canadian site, they have a completely different method, but I don't see why it wouldn't work out just fine for smaller batches of peppers.

Michele, I always include peppers in a roasted veggie sauce, and I roast them with the tomatoes, onions, garlic and so forth. I stem, seed, and peel the peppers and combine with the other veggies in a blender until reasonably smooth. I'm sure your sauce will be awesome however you choose to add the peppers! Kathryn

There is a Carolina Cayenne listed above(developed in the U.S.A. 100,000-125,000)that gets in the range the add says. When I grew it ,it was hotter than regular Cayenne but I only grew it once. There are probably tons of hybrids/developed cayenne types out there that are in all different heat ranges. I was refering to Cayenne in general. Maybe it was my growing conditions but in general , I don't think Cayenne peppers pack that much heat. I haven't grown them in a while. I use mostly C.Chinense,Baccatums and Pubescens for my powders and rubs heat. Annuums I use mostly for flavor.Especially Chile Negro , Poblano and Cascabel. For short intense bursts of heat a lot of the Frutescens do the trick. I grow a lot of Pubescens too. They'll fool you though. They have all 3 kinds of Caspaicin in them so they feel hotter than they are. They hit up all the receptors in your mouth. I'm more into using several types of peppers to blend together to get the taste and heat i want. I'm growing several strains of 7 Pot,Trinidad Scorpion ,Nagas and Bhuts this year with a couple seasoning type peppers to mellow them out. I guess if the growers are using a similar strain to the Carolina Cayenne type for their powder it could reach up to 125,000 units. I've just never had a Cayenne that I thaught was anything to write home about as far as heat goes. I did like yellow Cayenne better than the other ones for taste when I grew them a few years back. I've grown several different ones.Regular assorted Cayennes,Long Slim,Long red,Yellow,Carolina,Thomas Jefferson,African,Purple,Super,Orange,Golden,Turkish,Picante,Portugal,Processing and sweet.