Re: [CH] another batch of hot sauce+questions ... one last attempt

Jonathan Smillie (jonathan.smillie@gmail.com)
Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:59:17 -0400 

JohnT wrote:
>> Having received exactly zero information...
>
> Jim,
>
> I understand your frustration as happens all the time to me.
>
> Not a hot sauce expert here, but I do use peaches in my canned salsas 
> with great (to me) results.  So how do you make your hot sauces?  Are 
> you canning, making for eating immdiately, fermenting, freezing or what?
>
> jt
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Graham
> To: ChileHeads
> Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 4:29 PM
> Subject: [CH] another batch of hot sauce+questions ... one last attempt
>
>
> For full details, read my original request for ideas.  Basically, though,
> the idea is this:  I'm doing another batch of hot sauce, but don't want
> to do the same thing twice...want to change it up a bit (variety and all
> that).
>
> One of the changes is to replace the carrots (1#) with something else.
> I mentioned the possibility of peach (hazmat to me until it's cooked,
> but that's ok---I've got protection and, if that fails, an Epi-Pen)
> and/or mango.  I also mentioned that I seem to recall that there's
> something special about mango (as opposed to just peel and dump into
> the blender), but don't remember what it was....
>
> Having received exactly zero information, I went to the store today and
> bought one peach, one mango, and one pineapple.  Some or all of this
> will make it into the sauce.  If I don't use the pineapple, I won't
> have any problem putting it away (if you've never had FRESH pineapple,
> you've never had pineapple).  :-)   The peach and mango are either hot
> sauce ingredients or trash.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas as to which of these I should use (whether
> individually or a combination), and perhaps relative amounts (e.g.,
> percentages of the total weight if in ounces or mass if in grams)?
>
> I'm making hot sauce either tomorrow (Saturday) or Sunday.  If anyone
> has any suggestions between now and then, they would be highly
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>   --jim
>
Jim:

I won't put myself forward as any kind of an expert, because all I've 
done so far is to make sauce for my own consumption and that of 
immediate victims (I mean, friends and co-workers). But as I understand 
it, the actual components (fruit vs. vegetable) are less important than 
the resulting pH - that is, you can use peaches, mangoes or whatever you 
like, as long as your resulting product has a sufficiently acidic pH (at 
or below 4.5, IIRC) to avoid growing any nasty bio-beasties. So you will 
want to offset your peaches and mangoes with some form of acid, be it 
lemon juice, vinegar or otherwise.

Sorry not to be more help- as mentioned above, I hesitate to put myself 
forward as I am by no means an expert; however, I can promise you I've 
never poisoned anyone with my concoctions. I don't know what method 
you're planning on using, but I cook my sauce base at 195 degrees for at 
least 5 minutes (usually 10) and then blend with the peppers, following 
which I hot-fill sanitized bottles.

Hope this helps,

Jonathan