Last December I explained how to make a fermented hot sauce.  I thought I would revisit the topic and show you what I’ve done this year. I planted bell peppers, jalapenos, habaneros, and Anaheim peppers this year.  My neighbors planted tabasco peppers, so I had some of those available as well.

I made four varieties of hot sauces this year.

First, I made a jalapeno hot sauce (jalapenos, onions, garlic, green bell pepper) and a Fresno hot sauce (red ripened jalapenos, red bell pepper, onion, garlic).

Next, I made a hot sauce from a blend of habaneros, Anaheim peppers, onion, garlic, grated carrots, and Fresnos.  Finally, I made a habanero and garlic hot sauce with a few tabasco peppers tossed in.

I let them ferment for about a month. Then I drained the brine (reserve it!) and put the vegetables through the food processor and then the food mill.

Last year, my hot sauce was kind of pulpy and this year I wanted it to be smoother. So, this year I used a finer disc on the food mill, then put it through the strainer.

Then I added brine back to taste, added some apple cider vinegar (again, to taste) and bottled it.  I heated the Fresno hot sauce which kills the probiotics, but the rest I just bottled.  Kept in the refrigerator, they should last for months.

I got two 5 ounce bottles out of the jalapeno, Fresno and pepper blend sauces.  I got three out of the habanero garlic sauce because I added more brine to it.

The Fresno sauce is not hot enough for my taste.  I think I didn’t have enough peppers compared to the onion and bell peppers.  The pepper blend sauce starts a little bitter but then has a good flavor and a nice lingering heat.  After talking about it with Double Eagle, I think the problem is that I used whole garlic cloves and they may have had a sprout in the center – that can cause bitterness.  The jalapeno sauce is just right – nice heat and good flavor.  I’m really happy with it.

The habanero garlic sauce is my favorite.  It’s nicely sour with a lot of garlic flavor and good heat.  I’ll definitely be making that again next year and in larger quantities.

Here are the first three bottled sauces.

Here are the habanero garlic bottles.

Note – the pulp will settle when the sauces sit because I’m not using any emulsifiers or stabilizers.  I shook them up so they would look pretty for the camera.

Have you tried fermenting hot sauce? (Pistoffnick, I’d like to see pictures.)  How did your experiments turn out?