Making Pepper Sauce

Given that the gardens back home are coming in—and I've never canned anything—I decided it was time for a pepper sauce lesson. Here's how that went:

Mama: "Why there's nothing to making pepper sauce. All you've gotta do is stuff a jar with peppers and pour vinegar over it."

Me: "Can I use balsamic vinegar?"

Mama: "Of course not. You use distilled white vinegar."

Me: "What kind of pepper? Hot? Mild? Bell? Banana? Green? Red?"

Mama: "It has to be cayenne or something hot, but you knew that already."

Me: "Okay, so if I pour vinegar over a jar full of hot pepper, I'll get pepper sauce?"

Mama: "Yes. But you know to heat it first, don't you? And if that vinegar's not at least 5% acidity, your pepper sauce won't taste worth a flip."

Apparently, there are some critical details involved here. I recruited ace Goin' Down to Mama's photographer, Jenny, to trek out to Mama's kitchen with me for a lesson. Turns out, there are all kinds of pepper sauces, some more involved than others. But my mother's basic version really is easy. And it's guaranteed to add a little Southern kick to your black-eyed peas, butterbeans, and greens.

COOKIN' IT UP

Step 1: You'll need to pick, well, not quite a peck of hot peppers. We were making a mini batch, so we only needed enough to tightly pack three jars. Also, I noticed that Mama used several tools that came in very handy: Playtex gloves (never EVER handle pepper, she says, without gloves), plus a jar lifter and magnetic lid lifter (available at freshpreservingstore.com). She ordered hers, plus some more canning tools, from a Ball catalog.

Step 2: Prepare jars. Wash them and make sure there are no nicks around the rims.

Mama Says: "I only use canning jars—no peanut butter jars or jelly jars or anything like that. They tend to break when you sterilize them."

Place clean jars, mouth down, into a boiler of water; bring to a boil and sterilize for 10 minutes. Turn off heat; remove jars (using jar lifter) and and set aside; drop flats (lids) into hot water. Leave them there till you're ready for each one. (Take note of the steam rising in the picture of the flats. That's not part of the recipe, but Jenny was awfully proud of it, and we should be, too.) 

Step 3: Wash pepper and remove stems. DON'T FORGET TO WEAR GLOVES.

Me: "I never can remember to wear rubber gloves in the kitchen."

Mama: "If you work with pepper, you BETTER remember. It'll take three days to get it off of your hands if you don't."

Step 4: For a small batch like this, bring 3 1/2 cups of distilled white vinegar just to a boil. (Basically, you need enough hot vinegar to fill each jar.)

Step 5: Break a few pods into the bottom of each jar to give it extra heat and flavor, then pack whole pods in, just as tightly as you can. 

Step 6: Use a small dipper to carefully fill each jar of pepper with hot vinegar. Immediately remove a flat from the hot water (using lid lifter) and place it on top of jar. Seal with jar ring. Sit closeby and have a cup of coffee while you listen for the "pop" sound your jars will make when they seal.

Step 7: Leave pepper sauce sealed for at least two weeks before you open it so it'll have lots of zip for your summer veggie plates. It will deepen in color as it ages. Check out these two jars of pepper sauce. The one on the left has aged, while the one on the right is brand-new.

Step 8: Might as well go ahead and brush up on your cornbread recipe.

Comments

[Jenny Rowe]

But the most fun of all was all the talking going on among the three of us. We have such a great time. ( I believe someone else has been taking pictures. Don't try to take my job.) My pepper sauce is still sitting out on the counter, just like Nannette told us to do.

[valerieluesse]

Ha! Mine too! I would never try to take your job:) It just dawned on me that I had a big pepper plant in my yard and I could make an artistic statement by plopping my pepper sauce in front of it! I enjoy our "studio time" so much!

[candace hicks]

I don't believe I've seenthis one before, can hardly wait to try making these peppers. Thanks soooooo much for sharing. :)
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX :)