Hot Sauce Making and Cooking Tips

Making hot sauce at home is darned fun and pretty easy once you get the hang of it, but even easy cooking endeavors are not without their challenges. After years of experimenting with chili peppers of all types, we've learned a thing or two about what works for us. Here are a few sauce making tips to help you get started.

Tip #1: Wear Gloves When Cutting Chili Peppers

I get many emails from folks who have burned their skin when cutting chili peppers. Or they've cut chili peppers and rubbed their eye, resulting in a stinging burn. The best way to avoid getting the chili pepper oils on your skin is to wear rubber or latex gloves when handling the peppers. Personally, the oils do not bother my skin at all, but I have felt the burn in the eye on occasion, and it isn't pleasant.

Tip #2: Remove the Seeds and Innards for Less Heat

If you love the flavor of chili peppers but not quite the heat, you can easily remove the seeds and innards to reduce the heat. Most of the chili pepper heat resides in the placenta, or the white areas inside the peppers. Removing them and only eating the fleshy part of the pepper will still add a bit of kick, plenty of flavor, but will avoid that heat that you can't handle.

Tip #3: How to Roast Chili Peppers

Roasting chili peppers brings a delicious sweetness out of the peppers. Click Here to learn how to roast chili peppers over at Chili Pepper Madness.

Tip #4: Open a Window or Turn on the Oven Fan

Chili peppers and hot sauces can release a lot of fumes that will sometimes make it hard to breathe. Keep a window cracked or the oven fan running to air out the room. Quick note: Sorry about that, Jalapeno Miss.

Tip #5: Keep the Basic Tools and Ingredients Handy

You'll need more as you progress into more complex hot sauce making, but at the start, you'll pretty much always need the following:

Chili Peppers, of course
Kosher or pickling salt
Vinegar (not all hot sauces use vinegar, but many do)
Latex gloves for sensitive hands and skin
Food processor (a knife will work if you don’t have a processor, but it will take longer)
Jars
Large metal pot
Goggles if your eyes are sensitive

Share your Hot Sauce Love: