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Crock of Time
@crockoftime.com

Got enough ripe chilies plus some stored in the freezer to finish the main #HotSauce this year, along with smoked and dried chilies from September and vacuum bag #fermented mash from August. Just need to put it all together.

Crock of Time
@crockoftime.com

It was a long day and posting progress updates would have made it longer, so I'll summarize after the fact. First batch in August was fermented, September smoked/dried, and October added fresh. bsky.app/profile/croc...

Crock of Time@crockoftime.com

There was no 2024 hot sauce 😥 but I've been thinking about it until I finally got some in the garden this year. I've simplified the process: ferment a batch, smoke and dry a batch, and when I'm ready, I'll combine the 3. This simplifies the timeline and means I can do the smoking in cooler weather.

Crock of Time
@crockoftime.com

Introducing yet another variable, I decided to go straight to the blender this year. Previously I've used (and almost broken) a food mill attachment for my stand mixer. I do think starting in the blender is the way to go, but straining was difficult and I ended up using my hand mill.

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Crock of Time
@crockoftime.com

The smoked and dried chilies were rehydrated in an amount of barely simmering water based on the weight they lost. Left this longer than I meant to and had to add more water before blending. Salt and vinegar were also added.

Crock of Time
@crockoftime.com

With these I removed as many of the seeds as I could and the difference was striking. Almost no solids remained after milling. The seeds leave space for the good stuff to hide within.

Crock of Time
@crockoftime.com

Each part has a different consistency. Fermented and smoked chili sauce is thick and luscious, fresh sauce is thin. Altogether I made 4 quarts of hot sauce. This is about double my previous record of 2L. I do have a dedicated chili garden bed now, so... I have reserved the solids for another use.

Crock of Time
@crockoftime.com

The combined consistency is perfect. I do add a bit of xanthan gum to keep things homogenized, but not enough to really affect the texture. Also since xanthan gum is hard to blend smooth in water but mixes easily with oil, I use this opportunity to use very flavorful black truffle oil.