Peter's Hot Sauce Experiments (Making Mash)

Peter is taking this winter to create his perfect hot sauce.  For this experiment he is making 5 jars of different mixtures of peppers (the mix of peppers and salt is called a mash, he will be trying a few different mixes of flavors and aging methods).  We will then be tasting each one to find the perfect mix.  He is starting with two pounds of Habaneros, Red Jalapenos and Serrano's. 

To start with he is sanitizing the area and tools.  We then stem and reweigh the peppers and wash them. 

Add 5% of the pepper mash weigh in kosher salt. 

Then take a well cleaned food processer and run the peppers through for no longer than 20 seconds, let it rest for 90 seconds (the blades cannot get hot, or it will damage the peppers) and repeat until peppers are mashed to your liking.

Put this into your sanitized containers, no more than 2/3 full.  Put on the cover of your choice.  We use cheese cloth covered in salt.

Age these jars.  We are trying two methods.  In the first one, age the mash in a warm dark place (we use our closet) for 6 weeks, then add vinegar and use a rolling boil to seal the can.  Continue aging these cans.  In the other age the mash until you are ready to add the vinegar and eat it.  This can be up to  3 years.  We will be discussing turning mash into sauce (like salsa or like tabasco sauce) later, after our mash has aged.