Cocktail hour - what’s on our minds?  

Hot sauce styles? 

Fermented vs unfermented

• Fermentation mellows and enhances the flavors

• Probably also mellows the heat a little bit

• Changes sugars into alcohol and maybe vinegar if given enough time

• Tabasco ferments for 3 years and even uses barrels - lending even more complexity to the product.

• Gives those good probiotics! 

• Non fermented will give the true “fruit” flavors from the chilis

Types of Hot Sauce

Here's what you need to know about some of the globe's most popular hot sauces, and the best ways to use them to make any dish pop.

Louisiana-Style. ...

Picante. ...

Sriracha. ...

Chili Garlic. ...

Harissa. ...

Green/Red Chile. ...

Chili Oil. ...

Gochujang.

Louisiana 

You’ll probably recognize a Louisiana-style hot sauce most commonly as Tabasco or Red Hot, a thin, slightly salty sauce that can be used either as a condiment or a cooking ingredient. It’s typically a simple combination of chili peppers, vinegar and salt, pureed, though some styles go one step further and ferment the pureed product. Tabasco’s versatility and relative mildness on the hot sauce scale make it a great entry-level sauce to try if you’re first tempting your heat-seeking taste buds.

Picante

Mexican-style hot sauces have a similar thin consistency to Louisiana-style, but use sparing amounts of vinegar (or none at all). They’re typically made from a combination of chipotle, habanero, jalapeno and pequin chilies. Cholula is the brand you’ll most often see at Mexican restaurants

Sriracha

Often referred to as “rooster sauce” in the U.S., this wildly popular red-orange hot sauce originated in the town of Si Racha (hence the name) in Thailand. Made from red chilies, sugar, salt, garlic and vinegar, the versatile sauce can be used on pretty much anything, whether Asian-inspired or not. (It’s even been used in ice cream!) Find more Asian sauces you should keep in your pantry.

Recipe Source

Easy Homemade Hot Sauce - The Practical Kitchen

Ingredients 

10 ounces Fresno peppers, or desired combination of red peppers (weight is after chopping the peppers)

4 ounces medium shallots (about 2-3 (1-2) bulbs, cut into quarters)

1 ounce garlic cloves (about 5 cloves, smashed)

5 whole peppercorns

2 teaspoons diamond crystal kosher salt (use half as much of any other brand)

6 ounces distilled white vinegar (¾ cup)

Special Equipment

Goggles

Gloves 

Blender

Strainer 

Sterilized jar 

Scale

Funnel 

World Level 

2

Steps

To sterilize- 

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees. Wash each canning jar or mason jar and lid with hot soapy water then rinse but don't dry them. Place each clean jar on a baking tray and place in the oven for 10 minutes.

To make sauce -

1. Remove the stems from the peppers and cut them in half, lengthwise. Remove and discard the seeds and ribs according to desired heat levels. Roughly chop the peppers into pieces approximately 2″ in size.

2. NOT OPTIONAL: WEAR GLOVES!

3. Put the chopped peppers and the rest of the ingredients in a medium-sized sauce pan. Bring it to a boil, then cover and reduce to a lightly-bubbling simmer for 15-20 minutes. Be careful when removing the lid — the vinegar steam is potent!

4. While still hot, carefully pour everything into a powerful blender. Slowly increase speed from low to high until the sauce is completely smooth. This may require a few minutes of blending.

5. Pour still-hot hot sauce through a strainer into funnel set up in the mouth of your hot sanitized hot sauce bottle. You may need to do this in a few batches. Use a small spatula to press the sauce through the strainer, occasionally lifting the strainer to scrape the sauce off the bottom and into the funnel.

6. Seal the bottle tightly and let the hot sauce cool to room temperature, then store in the refrigerator or at room temperature for up to 8 months.

RESOURCES: 

How to Make Hot Sauce

The Ultimate Guide to Hot Sauces (And How to Use Them)

Easy Homemade Hot Sauce - The Practical Kitchen

Homemade Louisiana Hot Sauce - Chili Pepper Madness