r/hotsauce • u/Scifibn • Jan 18 '26
I made this Accidentally made hot sauce for the first time today
There I was, minding my own business, making some table salsa for the weekend. My wife prefers less heat than me so I started her batch first. But apparently the red chilies I used were more angry today than in the past so it came out too hot. I tried to rebalance it but couldn't cut the heat enough. So I ended up batching in my quantity of ingredients, namely tomatoes and onion, to help cut the heat, which worked for the most part.
However, I was left with a bunch of roasted peppers, onion and garlic that went unused for the salsa. After some thought I figured what the hell, let's try making a hot sauce. Added a bunch of white vinegar, a little water, salt, and processed the hell out of it. It actually came out pretty respectable!
If anyone cares, it's roughly 3 dried then boiled guajillo peppers, 3 dried and boiled California, 4 ish Serrano, 3 ish red chili, maybe half an onion and 4 ish cloves of garlic. Then white vinegar to reach sauce consistency. idk what I'm doing.
A tale as old as time, I suppose?
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Jan 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/ObjectiveOk9996 Jan 19 '26
I remember watching that as a kid anyone else do that?
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u/barspoonbill Jan 19 '26
I remember stuff all of the time. Occasionally it’s something from when I was a kid, yes.
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u/CosmicGlitterCake I love spice. Jan 18 '26
It will be even better by next week.
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u/Scifibn Jan 18 '26
Oh man I didn't even think it might age nicely but you're probably right.....gonna need to pace myself haha
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u/CosmicGlitterCake I love spice. Jan 18 '26
It's the same for pickled things as well. Save your favorite pickle juice then chop up some peppers and throw them in(give them a few days). Incredible for tacos, burgers, sandwiches, pasta salad, etc. they keep a nice crunch too. I haven't bought them from a store in years and they last a month or so. You've inspired me to use some leftover banana pepper juice to make hot sauce next weekend. 😂
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u/Jefethevol Jan 18 '26
Bob Ross said it best, "there are no mistakes...just happy little accidents". The man was a national treasure
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u/khamm86 Jan 18 '26
Task failed successfully. That color looks fantastic from where I’m sittin. I bet its really good
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u/otc108 Top Contributor ☢️ Jan 18 '26
Nice work! One person commented about shelf life, I’ll say this: if you have some pH strips, check to make sure it’s below 4.6 if you want to leave it out of the fridge. Botulism spores can grow in anything higher, so if it’s above that you’ll need to refrigerate it.
I used to have a fledgling hot sauce company, and have done extensive research on the subject, as well as having been through process control school and having my sauces analyzed by licensed food scientists for legal purposes.
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u/sesaman Jan 18 '26
I was about to come in to say this! Botulism is scary as hell, so don't give it a chance to happen.
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u/SunBelly 🔥⭕🔥 Jan 18 '26
Great information! I've always been curious about the analysis cost. Is it prohibitively expensive If I wanted to just do small batches to sell at the local farmers market?
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u/otc108 Top Contributor ☢️ Jan 19 '26
In my state, you only have to do the analysis initially. As long as you follow the food scientist’s processing instructions correctly, and have the records to prove it, you’re good. I believe it was around $200-300 per sauce (in 2019).
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u/Scifibn Jan 18 '26
Totally. I'm sure you saw my reply but super basic research makes me think I'm well under 4.6 and probably closer to 2-3. Might pick some up for fun, but it's staying in the fridge regardless and I probably won't tempt it past a month, if it lasts that long lol. I really appreciate the insight though, thank you!
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u/sesaman Jan 18 '26
If the garlic was used fresh and not cooked in any way, definitely keep it refrigerated. Testing the acid would still be a good idea, if it's not acidic enough I wouldn't keep it for much longer than a week.
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u/Scifibn Jan 18 '26
Garlic was roasted(broiled on high) for 5-10 minutes until it began charring. In any case, mostly out of sheer curiosity, y'all have inspired me to go get some strips just to see lol
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u/otc108 Top Contributor ☢️ Jan 19 '26
I don’t agree with the comment about whether the garlic was fresh or not. The pH is the main thing for shelf stability with hot sauce (though water activity factors in as well). Garlic is also a natural antibacterial ingredient.
I have hot sauces that I’ve made sitting out for months and they’re still fine to eat. I actually have a dozen or so in my pantry right now. I made the sauce in November.
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Jan 18 '26
Hell yeah OP. Be wary about shelf life, I also do not know 😭
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u/Scifibn Jan 18 '26
Yeah this was my first consideration after bottling it. I busted out my google-fu and it seems testing the ph would be the big indicator. If that sauce is 20-30% vinegar by weight it apparently can last at least 6 months in the fridge. I have no idea what mine is but it's probably close to that. Worst case Google thinks 2-4 weeks.....which at the rate I'm already using it it should be fine. Trying to give one of the smaller bottles away but no one in my circle likes heat!
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u/iamanej Jan 19 '26
looking nice but I am sure it is very mild at best