Habanero Heat Hot Sauce!

We grew our own habanero peppers for years, because they used to be hard to find fresh at the grocery store. That isn't the case any more, now you can find a splendid array of peppers at most grocery stores that usually include habanero as well as other hot peppers like serrano and Thai peppers.

We still grow habanero peppers in our garden, but now we focus on the hotter varieties of habanero, like the Jamaican Scotch Bonnets and the Red Savina, yes there are hotter varieties and milder types of habasnero's. The orange habanero's found in most grocery stores are the milder type.

A lot of people wear latex gloves when working with really hot peppers, and it's probably a good idea, especially if you have small children in the house, because the pepper juice doesn't just wash off your skin. I personally don't (it's a tactile thing) and it never fails that an hour later I always inadvertantly rub my eye and feel the burn for 10 minutes or so...

A lot of people think that the "heat" from the peppers is mostly in the seeds, this is a common misconception, so don't bother trying to make things milder by removing the seeds. It's actually that thin white membrane that holds the seeds to the inside of the pepper that contains the largest concentration of heat, removing that will make the pepper milder.

Personally, I say, use the whole pepper, that way you get the most heat and the best flavor possible.

1.) 30-40 habanero fresh habanero peppers

2.) 5-7 serrano peppers

3.) 5-7 red Thai peppers

4.) 5 oz. dried habanero peppers (I use red savina)

5.) one small onion diced

6.) 1 heaping teaspoon minced garlic

7.) 1/4 tsp. each: salt, black pepper, oregano flakes & thyme flakes

8.) 2 Cups water

9.) 1 Tablespoon malt or cider vinegar

10.) 1 tsp. each: cayenne powder, spicy curry powder, red chili powder

* these next 2 ingredients get added right before blending process

1.) juice from one lime

2.) 1 Tbsp. cider vinegar

NOTE*
Before making sauce, make sure you are using cookware and utensils that will not absorb the heat from the sauce. I personally use a teflon coated sauce pan to cook in, but my wooden spoon and the blender I use for hot sauce, are labled "hot sauce" because they both absorb the spice and cannot be used for anything else anymore.

I used an aluminum pan the first time I made hot sauce, and the macaroni and cheese I made in the same pan the next day was too spicy for anyone but my hubby to eat...but he loved it...

Also, I just purchased a cheap plastic blender that I use just for hot sauce, If your blender is glass, then it should wash out with out leaving heat behind, or use a hand held processor, but be careful of spray...otherwise, plastic absorbs the heat, and believe me it is strange to taste a spicy strawberry smoothie!

1.) Wash and dry all your peppers, then chop the tops off the habaneros. habaneros are very thin fleshed peppers, so there is really no need to chop them any smaller, just be sure to get all of the stem off.

2.) Cut stems off Thai and serrano pepper, the serrano peppers are fleshier, so I cut them into good sized chunks as seen in the photo.

3.) Dice the onion and garlic, I personally just buy the pre-diced garlic in virgin olive oil, that way I don't have to add any oil or butter when I saute them.

4.) First I Saute the garlic and onion in a pan until the onions carmalize...or turn brownish, then I add about 2 cups of water and all the other ingredients and bring to a boil.

5.) Once it has reached a full boil, I turn the heat down to low and simmer until everything is nice and mushy, this takes about 2-3 hours and will stink up your whole house and make everyone's eyes burn, but hey, no pain...no gain, lol.

Now, keep your eye on it, stirring ocassionally and add more water if needed as it cooks down, you want to keep the liquid level just barely covering the peppers, like in the photo...which I actually took, in my kitchen, while making this sauce.

I promise you that this sauce really is worth the trouble. If your "hot sauce" junkie is anything like my hubby, you will never need to buy a commercial hot sauce ever again.

I make a batch of this about once a month, this recipe makes about 18-24 ounces of sauce depending on how thick you like it...it fills a large 12 oz. "Franks" hot sauce bottle once with another 6-10 oz. that I put in a old sour cream plastic tub for cooking and scooping.

Okay, so now your house is nice and stinky and your eyes are watering...congratulations! That just means you're doing it right!

Your peppers should look like the top photo when they're done, nice and soft, but not completelt disintergrated.

So once your peppers are nice and mushy, you can go ahead and turn off the heat, and let your concoction sit for a while to cool off for about 20 minutes so you're not trying to pour scalding hot chunks of peppers and liquid into your blender.

I don't know about you, but I am a spiller, a real messy cook, I get splotches and splashes all over the place, especially if I have to transfer anything with liquid from one container to another. So letting it cool off keeps me from burning myself.

Once everything is cooled off enough to handle, go ahead and carefully pour your concoction into the blender, use a spoon to get every last chunk in.

Now go ahead and squeeze the juice out of a lime, I just cut it in half, pluck out any visible seeds and squeeze it right into the blender, but you are welcome to use some fancy juicer or new fangled food processor if you must...in fact you could probably use one of those food processors to blend it, but remember, plastic absorbs the heat.

After you've added the lime juice, add the second Tablespoon of vinegar...

* A word here about vinegar....be careful with the amount of vinegar you use, one of the biggest mistakes people make when making hot sauce is using too much vinegar... you need the vinegar, because it is a preservative and make your hot sauce stay fresh longer, also if you use a good malt or cider vinegar it enhances the flavor as long as you don't use too much.

Now go ahead and have fun with the blender, because blenders are just fun, start out with a nice chop...then go ahead and hit mix, then go crazy and hit puree, then mix, and maybe throw in a grate and some more puree....weeeeeeeeeee!

Now your almost finished sauce should be nice and smooth like in the photo.

Go ahead and pour it all back into the original pot, and bring it to a boil again...now is when you can add more water again if you want a thinner sauce...you can even add a little more vinegar if you think it needs it, some people like a more vinegary sauce... once you have it just the right thickness for you, let it boil a couple of minutes...then turn off the heat and you are done!

Now let it cool and pour it into a plastic container or use a funnel and pour it into a washed out bottle, like a used catsup ot hot sauce bottle and refrigerate.

This sauce stays fresh in the refrigerator at least 3 months, it probably stays good even longer than that, but we've never had a batch that didn't get all eaten up by then.

Okay, so now you should pretty much know the basics on how to make hot sauce, so making my version of the popular Orange crush sauce should be a snap.

INGREDIENTS

1.) 15-20 habanero peppers (cut off the stems)
2.) 2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced
3.) 1 small onion, diced
4.) 1 tsp. minced garlic
5.) dash of salt and pepper
6.) 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
7,) 2 cups water
8.) 1 cup orange juice

INSTRUCTIONS

1.) Place all ingredients except orange juice in a sauce pan and bring to a boil, reduce heat to a slow rolling boil and cook until carrots are tender enough to mash...DO NOT ADD more water, you want the water to boil down to almost gone.

2.) Let everything cool about 20 minutes then pour it into a blender, add orange juice and chop, blend, puree & mix until completely pureed.

4.) transfer back into sauce pan and bring to a boil again, now add more water if you want thinner sauce or keep boiling until it is the thickness you want if you like thicker sauce.

This sauce is delicious and my hubby swears it tastes just like the real Orange Krush habanero sauce.