Dad’s Hot Pepper Sauce

Pepper sauce can be made in a variety of ways, using all kinds of peppers and other aromatics. This is just one of the many methods you can use to create your very own pepper sauce at home. Today we are using a cold pickling and fermenting process. And as long as it’s stored correctly, it will last you a long time. My father made me an 8oz jar of his pepper sauce, and it lasted me just over 3 years. During that time, my precious pepper sauce traveled from London to the Netherlands, and then to its final resting place in California. I thought that time and travel would have diminished its flavor and heat intensity. But to me it got hotter. A lot hotter and the flavors were bolder and more complex. When Pops passed in 2019, a version of his pepper sauce was made by one of his granddaughters and given to the guest attending his funeral as a way of remembering him.

This will make 32oz of prepared pepper sauce. Bottle it and share it with your loved ones, or those who love hot sauce.

How to use this pepper sauce: Dip a clean knife into the pepper sauce. Remove it from the jar and then shake the liquid collected on the knife over your plate of food, using the motion of north, south, east, and west. DO NOT USE A TEASPOON FULL or 1/2 tsp, 1/4 tsp, or 1/16^thtsp, or even an 1/32 of a tsp of this pepper sauce, until you know if you are able to handle the intensity of the heat. In this case, less is more!!!! See demonstration in the video.

Course Condiment, sauce

Cuisine British fusion, caribbean, Guyanese Fusion, Jamaican fusion, West Indian

Keyword Hot sauce, Pepper Sauce, Scotch bonnet

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Servings Servings

Calories 0.5kcal

Author Dr. Wendy Dearborne

Equipment

1 Food processor, blender or food mill
1 Glass jars sterilized with tight fitting lid 2: 16 oz. jars
1 Plastic gloves
1 Face mask

Ingredients

10-12 ounces or 4 cups of fresh hot peppers of your choice washed dried and stems removed. I used a mix of scotch bonnet, jalapenos, and serrano peppers.
8 cloves garlic
6-8 spring onions/scallion washed and rough chopped or very large dice
1 cup white distilled vinegar Heinz
1 tbsp salt kosher if using table salt use 1/2 tbsp
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup chopped cilantro
1-2 medium limes juiced or the juice 1 lemon lime juice is better
1 small onion cut into wedges

Instructions

Safety

Safety first. Wear gloves when cutting peppers or wash hands in cool soapy water immediately after cutting and or handling the peppers. It can cause skin irritation that lasts for a couple of days.

Pickling Liquid

In a measuring jug, stir the sugar and salt into the vinegar until they have dissolved. Set the pickling solution aside.

Processing

Prep all ingredients. Remove stems and rough chop onions, garlic, cilantro, and green onions.
Put all ingredients into the processor or blender.
PULSE the processor to form a textured (paste) sauce. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and continue to pulse until you achieve your desired texture. The peppers can be as coarse as you like, or as smooth as you like.

Making Pepper Sauce

Place the processed peppers into a large bowl. Add the fresh lime juice and the prepared pickling solution. Mix well. Taste the liquid to see if it needs more sugar or salt. Keep in mind that you need enough vinegar to cover the peppers when you place them into the sterile jar. So that may need to be adjusted too.

Bottling & Storage

Pour the pepper sauce into a sterile jar with a tight-fitting lid.
The pepper can be used right away, but develops a rich complex taste after 7 days.
The pepper sauce can be stored on the countertop or in the pantry, but to extend the life store it in the refrigerator.
The peppers should always be covered with a layer of vinegar. If the pepper sauce seems to be running out of vinegar, which it will, add just enough white distilled vinegar to cover the peppers. The pepper sauce will eventually go bad if it’s not covered by a layer of vinegar.

How To Use This Pepper Sauce

How to use this pepper sauce: Dip a clean knife into the pepper sauce. Remove it from the jar and then shake the liquid collected on the knife over your plate of food, using the motion of north, south, east, and west. DO NOT USE A TEASPOON FULL or 1/2 tsp, 1/4 tsp, or 1/16^thtsp, or even an 1/32 of a tsp of this pepper sauce, until you know if you are able to handle the intensity of the heat. In this case, less is more!!!! See demonstration in the video.

Video

Notes

Do’s

Deseed peppers for a milder sauce.
Change the colors of peppers to change the color of the sauce. If you want the end product to be greener in color, use more green peppers in place of red, yellow and or orange etc.

Processing

Select pulse setting on food processor to control texture or pepper sauce. Scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently.

Wash hands in cool soapy water after touching peppers.

Using A Blender

If using a blender or a food mill, you will need to chop the peppers and the other aromatics into smaller pieces.
Wash hands in cool soapy water after touching peppers.

Doubling the recipe

When doubling this recipe, DO NOT double the amount of vinegar, salt or sugar. Start out with 1 ½ cups of vinegar instead of 2 cups and gauge thickness of the sauce. Add a tablespoon of vinegar at a time until desired thickness is achieved. Note: Too much vinegar will create a watery version of your pepper sauce. Give a taste to check for seasoning.

Substitutions

Substitute scotch bonnet with its cousin habanero

Don’ts

Get pepper in your eyes.

Nutrition