Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Good old Southern Pepper Sauce


Good old Southern Pepper Sauce … we put that ____ on everything.  LOL  Pepper Sauce is not to be confused with Hot Sauce … Pepper Sauce is a vinegar based sauce with a dirty water sorta look whereas Hot Sauce, which is also vinegar based, is made using red peppers and paprika, hence the red tomatoey color.  There is a difference in flavor between the two.

No Southern table is complete without a bottle/jar of Pepper Sauce and we literally put it on everything … well at least some of us do … collard greens, turnip greens, kale, mustard greens, black eyed peas, field peas, white acre peas, purple hulls and zipper peas and whatever else you feel like splashing it on.

Now normally I make mine with Thai Chile Peppers but this year I couldn’t find any plants for that particular pepper so I grew Cayenne … I’m sure it will be just as good, just not quite the kick of the Thai Chile Peppers.  Depending on the type hot/spicy pepper you use … the flavor can be different … from mild to blow your head off HOT!

I reuse my bottles … GLASS bottles … let me rephrase that … Clear Glass Bottles (cause you want to see what’s inside plus the peppers look pretty through the clear glass) … from things such as malt vinegar or red wine vinegar since they have the little sprinkling cap on the top, otherwise, the sauce would just come pouring out.  You don’t want to use plastic bottles … for many reasons.  Now I’ve seen some that use mason jars and that’s fine too but you might need a spoon to dip it out cause pouring from a mason jar just wouldn’t be pretty.



This year my pepper plants didn’t produce quite as many peppers as usual.  I really didn’t have enough to completely fill (tightly pack) my bottles.  This is fine but the sauce won’t be near as potent.  You really need to pack ‘em in as tightly as possible.  I really prefer the Thai Chile Peppers for several reasons (1) they are much more potent than the cayenne that I grew this year (2) they are much smaller … growing to about 2-3 inches and (3) they are multi colored … red, green and yellow.



Another helpful hint, if your sauce begins to run low from harvesting season to harvesting season … just pour in a little more vinegar mixture to get you through the year!

It’s easy to make your own and besides that you know where the peppers came from.  Mine are totally organic … I do not use pesticides in my gardening ~ I use companion plants when necessary.  I had some today (after it sat for a few days) on my kale and man was it good!


Pepper Sauce

1 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 tsp Sugar
Thai Chile Peppers

Tightly pack your glass bottle with chile peppers which have been stemmed to within one inch from top.  Bring vinegar, salt and sugar to a boil over medium heat, stirring until salt and sugar are dissolved (about 3 minutes).  Remove from heat and let stand for about 5 minutes.  Pour hot mixture over peppers in jar.  Whalaa … you’ve got yourself some homemade Pepper Sauce … its just that easy!  Hint: You might want to wear rubber gloves when working with hot peppers.

One Recipe = one bottle (if peppers are packed in as tightly as possible)


10 comments:

  1. I'm for sure making this:) I love pepper sauce.. Never realized how simple it was to make.. I'll let you know how it turns out!!

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  2. Hello Fellow Atlantan,

    Planning to use your Good old Southern Pepper Sauce recipe soon...just purchased nice pyramid keeper bottles and want to use red wine vinegar...(festiver)...is that OK ?

    Dr. Chip
    Atlanta

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    1. Red wine vinegar should be fine but it will give it a different flavor since apple cider vinegar and red wine vinegar are made from two different sources. Hope you enjoy it ... so easy to make and awesome on greens. Thanks for checking out my blog.

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  3. Once the sauce is gone can you reuse the peppers to make more?

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    1. I do, especially in the winter months when I do not have fresh peppers but just know that each time you do the peppers lose their intensity.

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  4. Once you pour the viniger mixture, do you refrigerate, let it stand out? Will the peppers spoil? I had this sause while hunting in Georgia 20 years ago. Haven't had it since but never forgot it. Thank you for sharing with a Northerner.

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  5. No need for refrigeration since it contains vinegar it will not spoil.

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  6. Is it easy to remove old peppers as the bottle mouth is small? Also can I cut the peppers in half instead of whole for more intensity?

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  7. Yes easy to remove because they become soft after a while. It would be fine to cut them but I'm not sure it would make it hotter, depends on type of peppers used.

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  8. Adding olive oil will increase the intensity if you want them hotter. Not sure that cutting them in half does.

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