Hot Pepper Sauce

This recipe was made using the peppers growing in my bucket garden. The recipe is based on the “All New Ball(R) Book of Canning and Preserving” Fiery Fermented Hot Sauce recipe. The “how to” was taken from the recipe for Fiery Fermented Hot Sauce.

1/2 quart

Ingredients

• 32g Poblano peppers, stems removed and seeded
• 9g Thai Hot, stems removed with seeds
• 49g red ripe Shishito peppers, stems removed and seeded
• 77g red ripe Jalapeño peppers, stems removed and seeded
• 43g red ripe Scorpion peppers, stems removed and seeded
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 15 ml water
• 70 ml white vinegar (5% acidity)

Tools:

Disposable gloves, cutting board, knife, food processor, 1 pint jar, 1 to 2 oz spice jar, cheese cloth, rubber band to hold cheese cloth onto pint jar, rubber spatula, plate or bowl, funnel

Instructions

1. Process peppers, water, and salt in a food processor until peppers are finely minced or mostly a paste. You’ll have to scrape down the peppers on the side of the good processor bowl with a spatula a few times to get all the peppers processed. Once processed, transfer the pepper mixture to a 1-pint canning jar. The pepper mixture filled the jar half full.
2. Place a 1 to 2-oz spice jar, bottom side down, on top of the pepper mixture inside the pint jar, to weigh down the pepper mixture. (The small jar keeps the pepper pieces submerged in the liquid that forms in 1 to 2 days as the the pepper mixture sits.)
3. Cover the top of the jars with cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band. Place the pint jar on a plate or in a bowl to catch any spills or overflow from fermentation. Put the pepper mixture in a dark, cool (65°F/18°C to 75°F/24°C) place.
4. Let the pepper mixture ferment for 3 weeks or until all active bubbling stops. Check the pepper mixture daily; remove the spice jar, skim the foam (harmless Kahm yeast), clean any overflow from the outside of the jar, clean and replace the spice jar, and replace the cheesecloth if necessary. I didn’t have any overflow since the pepper mixture filled the jar only halfway.
5. Once fermentation is complete (the bubbling stops) or it has been 3 weeks, remove the spice jar, skim off any remaining yeast, and put the pepper mixture in a clean jar.
6. Add the vinegar to the pepper mixture and put a lid on the jar. Shake the jar so the vinegar mixes with the pepper mixture. You now have a hot pepper sauce.
7. You can store the hot pepper sauce in the refrigerator for up to 1 year.

Notes:

Be safe: Wear the disposable gloves when handling the hot peppers. If you think you are going to touch the peppers after they have been processed, wear the disposable gloves.

This made a very hot sauce!