Re: [CH] Best Vinegar for Hot Sauces...
Walter Spencer (g0tuj@g0tuj.karoo.co.uk)
Wed, 23 Jun 2004 07:05:48 +0100
Hi all you Ch's. Guess y'all really gone to town on this Vinegar thing.
Being a mere Limey I reckon I aint supposed to know more than my mummy
taught me, but you have to hand it to Jim because he is right on target. You
have to experiment (thats where the fun comes into it) Guess I have
experimented as much as most and to date I cannot see anything better than
plain old brewed Vinegar, light or dark variety.
Lets face it CH's, what do we want? The taste of Vinegar or the luscious,
subtle, fragrant, hot (very very hot) taste of wild, stimulating, fruity
Habanero's? Well one things for sure, if we are in it just for the taste of
Vinegar, we would be better off sitting in the seat of the Fish and Chip
afficionado, not rubbing our hands and smacking our lips at the prospect of
savouring the smooth, velvety, taste of Flaming Chile Sauce. Yikes! Lets get
it sorted, please!
Y'all have the benefit of being able to buy those most wonderful of all
God's creations, Red Savinas. Wow! Just think of it....being able to include
a dozen of them in your next mash. What would it (really) matter if you
were stuck with plain old brewed Vinegar or whether you had the best
balsamic? Eh? You are not ever going to be able to taste it. All you would
taste was that heavenly flavour. Oh boy.......Just let me get at it!
Jim, you are absolutely right about not straining the mash. I had that idea
once. I strained it to avoid, as I thought, wasting that flavoursome, firey
liquid. I wanted every drop. What a dissapointment to end up with few jars
of sub standard sauce and a couple of bottles of, what I could only describe
as Tabasco. It was a pure waste of fire power.
Years ago I joined the ranks of those ecconomists, who thought that
re-loading our SW .38 Specials with a few less grains of powder was a great
idea. After all we could still hit the target at the extremes of the firing
range. Course we could and we did. But dang it all lads and
lasses.........Where was the hand wracking thump and the ear shattering
blast of the full power cartridge? It was missing. So why even think of
playing around with our daily medicine. Come on lads and lasses, it is the
Elixier of Life we are talking about here. Get those Habs mashed, use
whatever Vinegar you have to hand and give your lips, throat and bowels the
treat of a lifetime. Walt. CH #2218. An old Chile Head from the Old Country.
Jim@Wildpepper.com said.
The best thing about being a hot sauce maker is playing around and seeing
what works :-)
I also wouldn't strain the sauce. Consider what it is you'd be
straining out- most of what gives the sauce the flavor. Strain too much
stuff out & you end up with a marginally flavored, spicy vinegar... kind of
like Tabasco ;-)