I like to garden and I do grow some vegetables, in particular tomatoes, and a varied assortment of chili peppers all from seed.

So today was the day for a giant batch of hot sauce.

My base recipe comes courtesy of The Pioneer Woman.

https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a86328/how-to-make-hot-sauce/

Makes 2 1/2 cups sauce. Prep time does not include 1 to 7 days resting time.

• 1 lb. Fresh Chiles, Such As Jalapeno, Serrano, Fresno, Poblano, Habanero, Or A Mix
• 1 Tbsp. Minced Garlic
• 1/2 c. Diced Onion
• 2 Tbsp. Kosher Salt
• 1 1/2 c. Distilled White Vinegar

Pulse chiles, garlic, onions and kosher salt in a food processor until you have a rough puree. Transfer to a 1-quart glass gar, loosely cover and let stand at room temperature overnight.  

Add vinegar, stir and loosely cover. Let stand at room temperature for 1 to 7 days. The longer you let it stand, the more the flavor develops.  

Pour mixture into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Store in the refrigerator up to 4 months.  

Note: Hot sauce may separate. This is normal; shake before use.

I make my hot sauce in my Breville blender. Much the way I make my gazpacho. Where I am different from this recipe is all I do everything the same day and then I let it ferment loosely covered for 7 days.

I also add 2 to 3 Tablespoons of minced garlic and I use a combination of red onion and shallots and it’s probably closer to 3/4 of a cup, not 1/2 cup.

I do not mess with the salt because the salt called for in the original recipe is perfect, but often I will use a Tuscan salt blend, or add a little fresh basil.

How I put my sauce together is I start with the salt, vinegar, basil, garlic, and onion and I blend until liquified. Then I add my chili peppers chopped up into chunks a little at a time until liquified. Each batch makes about 2 1/2 to 3 cups of hot sauce.

I will admit that sometimes I add slightly more than a pound of peppers. It just depends what I’ve grown. Today I did a double batch because that’s what was ripe and ready. I filled 3/4 almost of a number 4 crock. I actually do use vintage crocks for this – I have friends who make sauerkraut too and there is nothing like the sound of sauerkraut, fermenting in old stoneware crocks. You literally hear the pop pop pop.

I do not do a hot water bath on this hot sauce. It is a hot sauce that is refrigerated and it has a shelf life of a few months, but to be honest people love it so much it doesn’t last that long. 

I get little bottles off of Amazon that I wash really well before using. I bottle my sauce and I label each bottle including the date. I made the sauce and a special sticker to say keep refrigerated and I am good to go. It’s a really simple recipe and homemade hot sauce tastes so much better than bottled.

This year in my sauce I have Hungarian chilies, long, Joe’s long hot cayenne chilies, New Mexico hot chili pepper , Aleppo peppers, Cyklon, and something called Georgia flame pepper.

Anyway, people always ask me how I make my hot sauce . This is how I make it.