How to make homemade fermented hot sauce

I am not going to list out weights/ratios for this because I’ve never weighed anything out beyond salt for the brine; which is a ratio anyway.

Required kitchen supplies:

Blender

Large mason jar

Bubble airlock

Metal Strainers

Metal funnels

Woozy bottles

Large pot/pressure cooker

Gloves (while working with the peppers)

Required ingredients:

Peppers, vinegar, salt, citric acid

Optional ingredients:

Xantham gum, garlic, fruit, misc. spices

First let’s start with pepper selection. Imo the best base hot sauce pepper is the chocolate habanero. It’s a very floral pepper with a strong color that holds up well to fermenting. You can go with any pepper you choose, but just keep in mind what you want the final sauce to be used for and remember that lighter peppers (such as Jay’s Peach Ghost or a lemon drop) will turn brownish/off color if you don’t augment it with additional flavors. More of that later.

Next you’ll want to choose your highlight pepper. This is one that has a super intense flavor/heat that you want to highlight, but can’t be used as the base pepper due to their heat/some other factor. Carolina Reapers, Bhut Jalokias, Jigsaws, Chocolate 7 Pots, Jays Peach Ghosts etc. all taste amazing but are way too hot to use as the base pepper. I always shoot for around a 75%: 25% ration when mixing my peppers, and sometimes I will use multiple highlighting peppers for a little more complex flavor. Depends on what the hot sauce will be used for.

One final note about the peppers, don’t be afraid to use peppers that are wildly hotter than you would typically consume. I’ve eaten a Carolina Reaper and it isn’t fun, however after fermenting for a couple months and cut with other flavors + vinegar the heat really mellows out. My last batch was a cornucopia of the craziest sounding peppers I could find at my local farmers market, mixed with chocolate habs, and my grandparents put my hot sauce on their quiche. If they can handle it you can too.

Now is the time to also decide whether or not you want to add garlic, spices and/or fruit. I’m not a huge garlic in hot sauce because I feel that it limits the uses of the final product, however I am a huge fan of adding little bit of fruit prior to, and after the fermenting process because the fruitiness goes really well with hab style peppers. I like dark cherries to go with the chocolate habs, but blueberries work really well too. Adding fruit can be a good way to correct the color as well. If you spring for a lighter color try and pair it with a darker fruit that will hold its color better throughout the fermentation process.

Start by sterilizing/cleaning as best you can. Fully sterilize a mason jar and whatever knife + cutting board you are going to use, and then whip up a batch of brine. I believe last time I used 15% salt but I just google it beforehand. It’s hard to frick this part up as long as everything is sanitized. Then, chop up your peppers lengthways and throw them into the sanitized mason jar. Use a small plastic bag full of brine water as the weight and MAKE SURE TO LEAVE ENOUGH ROOM. Do NOT fill it up to the top or you will have a mess on your hands as the fermenting liquid will push its way past the airlock and start spurting hot butt liquid all over your countertop. You can really pack the peppers in (as long as they can all be completely encased in liquid), but do not overfill the jar. Cut a hole in the top of the mason jar and install a fermenting airlock, which should be filled with cheap vodka or a bring solution so nothing grows in there during the fermentation process. It should look like this when you are done

Then, leave it on your counter for a couple months + and just let it ferment. Check on it around once a week to make sure there is still liquid in the airlock. You’ll know when it’s done fermenting because it’ll stop producing bubbles. You can tell by picking the jar up and turning it around in your hand. Bubbles will float to the surface as long as the fermentation process is still proceeding.

Once the fermenting process is done I will usually add a small handful of fruit into the finished product. This can restart the fermentation process due to the extra sugar, so at this time I also add citric acid to lower the pH and make it shelf stable. I also use a pH meter, but honestly that isn’t necessary especially if you plan on keeping the final product in the fridge where it can easily last 2 years without any noticeable degradation.

Now, sterilize your blender, funnels, woozy bottles, and strainers. Separate the peppers from the fermenting liquid and blend in the blender, then add vinegar.

Side note on the vinegar, hot sauce is like 90% vinegar so don’t skimp on the quality. I almost always go champagne for smaller batches and Prosecco for larger ones. Don’t fricking use white, red, or rice, or apple cider unless you have something very specific in mind otherwise you are going to ruin your hot sauce. Remember, hot sauce is about tasting the hot peppers not the vinegar. You want a vinegar that enhances the flavor of the peppers without getting in the way. A rule of thumb that I use is if someone were to taste your hot sauce and immediately know what vinegar you used, you fricked up.

While blending the pepper mash with the vinegar this is also the time to add xantham gum, which will stop the sauce from separating while it is sitting on the shelf. You don’t need to if you are sensitive to it, but I recommend it. Blend the pepper mash and vinegar mixture until it becomes completely liquid with no chunks/seeds and then transfer to woozy bottles. I try and shoot for the consistency in the picture below, a little thicker than Tabasco but very pourable.

My friend and I just got some land and will be starting a hot sauce company this summer/fall, so if people are interested I can make a much more in-depth post once I standardize everything.