Introduction: Some Like It Hot Sauce
for the remix contest i chose to remix an instructable on how to make hot sauce by lemonie, an author that i can totally recommend, for reasons like the cheese buttons , an instructable on how to eat catfood and many, many more awesome and funny projects.
i used his instructable as a basis for my hot sauce, but added some spices and lime, since that fits so well with the fruity taste of the habanero chillies.
caution: this sauce is very hot, a few drops will be enough for most persons!
Step 1: Ingredients
for 200 ml of hot sauce you will need:
6 habanero chillies
4 limes
3 big cloves of garlic
100-150 ml of vinegar
salt & brown sugar
some coriander, allspice and cloves and a pinch of cinnamon
and you need:
a blender, a pan, a sieve, a measuring cup, something to zest the limes and a bottle that holds 200 ml, it's best to use an old, cleaned condiment bottle that has a little that lets only some drops at a time come out of the bottle since the sauce is going to be very hot. i used an old fish-sauce bottle.
Step 2: Preparations
since habenero chillies are incredibly hot i recommend that you use some kind of gloves. i didn't have any at home so i stuck my hand in a freezer bag - it worked like a charm.
when i had my first encounter with habaneros back in the day while backpacking through mexico i didn't know just how hot those chillis where that i just bought, the end result was an inedible meal because of too hot and my fingers burnt for what felt like a week!
cut the chillies in half and remove the seeds - the sauce will still be hot enough afterwards, belive me.
peel the garlic.
wash the limes and zest two of them. then squeeze all of them and put the juice into the measuring cup. add vinegar so that it makes 200 ml in total.
Step 3: Blend & Cook
put the vinegar and lime mixture, the garlic, the lime zest and the chillies into the blender and blend until smooth.
transfer to the pan, add the spices and sugar and salt. i uses 3 teaspoons each, but you could also use more or less.
put the pan on medium heat and cook the sauce for about 10 minutes.
Step 4: Strain, Reheat & Bottle
strain your sauce through a fine mesh sieve into the measuring cup. if the obtained sauce is less then 200 ml, add some more vinegar. at this point it is good to tase the sauce and add a bit more sugar or salt if necessary.
reheat the sauce and then put it in the bottle, using a funnel or a measuring cup.
when you clean the used equipment, be carefull, because even small amounts of chilli will burn a lot, especially if you get it on your hands an then touch your eyes or so.
Step 5: Enjoy!
if you feel like it make a nice label for your sauce and enjoy (with moderation).
the sauce will be very hot, so if you like a milder sauce, you could use a different kind of chilli, since habaneros are really towards the upper end of the scoville scale. or you could use less chilli and add half a regular bell pepper instead.
about storing the sauce: you could put it in teh fridge, but i think that won't be necessary since it is so hot that it will defeat all possible bacteria. my experience with chilli stuff in general is that even if you use raw ingredients it will stay good outside the fridge for a long while whitout going bad.
i hope you liked my instructable, and since it feels like i've got pro memberships to last a lifetime, as a little special, i'm giving away a free three months pro membership to the first three people to comment on this instructable!

Participated in the
Remix Contest
38 Comments
9 years ago
Well crap I just put in 3 teaspoons of each spice
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
yeah, well, i hope it will still taste good!
9 years ago on Introduction
too late for a pro membership :=( but it looks like it's worth doing. I r beez confuzzled though, did you want us to use 3 tspns of each spice and sugar and salt? 3 teaspoons is a tablespoon, so again I quizz thee of the Hot Pepper Wrangler Clan, a tablespoon of each spice, as well as sugar and salt?
This is not a critique btw just being sure. This stuff looks far more evil then it appears in the monitor!!!
thanks
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
i used three teaspoons each of salt & sugar and much less from the spices, about as much as you can see in the photo: 3 allspice berries, a few cloves and have a teaspoon of coriander. but you could totally change that amount up to your taste.
9 years ago on Step 5
When making hot sauce, is it best to use fresh peppers or could I use the dried cayenne peppers I've got? Also, were the cloves and corriander ground in or removed when strained?
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
In making hot sauce (i have made quite a bit) dry or fresh as long as the dry is not "old" will be hot enough to set fire to your face!
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
if you use dried peppers you should soak them in hot water first, but then it should work. maybe you have to add some of the soaking water to make the sauce the right consistency.
and i didn't grind the spices, i just put them in whole and removed them while straining.
9 years ago on Introduction
You can leave the seeds in.They have no capsaisin.It's mainly in the white web area where the seeds are attatched.Per Wiki: "Capsaicin is present in large quantities in the placental tissue (which holds the seeds), the internal membranes and, to a lesser extent, the other fleshy parts of the fruits of plants in the genus Capsicum. The seeds themselves do not produce any capsaicin, although the highest concentration of capsaicin can be found in the white pith of the inner wall, where the seeds are attached.
Also see :
http://web.archive.org/web/20070504035555/http://spectre.nmsu.edu/dept/academic.html?i=1274&s=sub
9 years ago on Introduction
Another wonderful Instructable!!! This should hold well outside the fridge due to the vinegar. I make a tomato and japaleno salsa and never have a problem.
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
sometimes i make raw hot sauce with tomato and dried chilli and even that doesn't go bad, even with no cooking and no vinegar. i think really the capsaicin does kill a lot of germs...
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
Im sure you are right. Thanks again for the wonderful ideas!!!
9 years ago on Introduction
This looks really good. But I find cooking peppers makes them lose some of their potency. Also, a lot of habanero sauces, even commercial ones, get a rubber flavor after awhile. Does yours?
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
at least for me the sauce still has enough potency even after cooking. if the sauce is too hot, then you can use really only tiny amounts and then all the other flavours that are so much less potent then the capsaicin don't stand a chance.
i didn't have the rubbery taste problem yet, but with some comercially bought sauce i once had i had the feeling that the older it got the less hot it became.
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
Thanks for this reply. I have always just dried my habaneros b/c I was afraid of the rubbery flavor eventually taking over. Seeing as I have a bush full and ready to be harvested, I might try your recipe! Thanks for posting it.
BTW - I also find that if something is too hot that table salt will give a LOT more relief than bread or milk. I brought my kids up using this. It works very well.
9 years ago on Introduction
I always love adding lime to whatever I'm eating in addition to the hot sauce. This way I get both. Will definitely be trying this recipe.
9 years ago on Introduction
This looks great. To get the capsaicin of your fingers, wash your hands with soap, water, and stainless steel (a spoon will work). This also works with oniony or garlicky fingers!
9 years ago on Step 5
I think instead of the sugar I am going to try canned pineapple. Looks like a good recipi. Nice and simple.
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
good idea with the pineapple, i think it will fit very well with the sauce!
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
Just finished up a batch with the pineapple. I think it will go perfect with ham or even on top of some collard greens. Thanks for the Instructable.
9 years ago on Introduction
Recently saw on one of my favorite cookin' shows that bleach will denature the capsicum. Trust the show, but I haven't tried it for myself though.
Suzanne in Orting, WA