George Shirley wrote:

> Scott wrote:
>
>> In article >,
>> George Shirley > wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I put them through the food processor and coarsely chop them. The
>>> salt goes on top of the peppers, preferably in a crust. Don't have
>>> any idea about what a lb of peppers weigh. The red sauce I just made
>>> had about 6 gallons of peppers, that's six gallon zipper bags of
>>> peppers, that almost filled a 3 gallon crock to the top.
>>>
>>> I don't worry about "how much" until I get to the point of processing
>>> the stuff into a slurry and then run it through the food mill.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Just chopped up a pound of peppers, and it yielded even less than I
>> expected, about 2 pints. I put them into a mason jar, and plan to get
>> a couple more pounds tomorrow. Figured that 2 tablespoons of salt
>> won't do much of a job covering the mash.
>>
>> They were mainly green peppers, with the sole red habanero mixed in.
>> I'll see what I dig up tomorrow.
>>
> Watched a John Ratzenberger "Made In America" episode the other day
> about making Tabasco. John was "Cliffie the mailman" in Cheers.'
>
> Once Tabasco has the crushed/chopped peppers in the wooden barrel, all
> the way to the top, they put the lid on and put the last hoop on it. the
> lid has holes drilled in it and the people then layer on about a 2 or 3
> inch layer of salt. With them the idea is to exclude air so the peppers
> will ferment naturally. At the end of about 3 years they break the salt
> crust, dump it and then process the barrel contents. they also talked
> about the discolored peppers at the top of the barrel where air got to
> them as "oxidized", ie oxygen in the air turned them dark. those peppers
> get dumped too. I do much the same thing but on a zillion times smaller
> scale. To avoid getting over salty sauce I would throw away the salt at
> the end of the fermentation period, that's what I'm doing nowadays and
> it makes a better sauce. At least I think it's better. Barb, Bob, what
> say ye?
>
> George
>

I never tasted your earlier works to compare, but the sauces are very nice.
The red is a lot thicker than Tabasco, not nearly as hot, and a much
better flavor. It's similar to the best of the commercial "Louisiana
style" hot sauces. The salt content is just about right. Not too vinegary.

The yellow ("yeller") sauce is a lot closer to Tabasco. I don't know if
that's what you were shooting for.) It's thinner and a lot hotter than the
red. The heat lingers longer than the red. It tastes a lot better than
Tabasco.

Both sauces are keepers, and they are quite different -- not just different
colors.

BTW, I opened that jar of Kumquat Rosemary Marmalade this morning.
Wonderful stuff. It's not very bitter like that seville orange marmalade
that I made, but since I'm not British I don't like marmalade to be overly
bitter. I can taste the kumquat in it; not just a vague citrus taste. I
don't taste the rosemary, but I smell it and it goes very well with the
citrus flavor. The sprig of rosemary in the top of the jar was a nice touch.

I'm making whole wheat bread today; planning to eat a lot of toast next week.

Best regards,
Bob