Tweaking sauce, I have an idea, need some suggestions...

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vikingbbq

Newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2014
6
10
So I have been working on a thicker, sweeter sauce. I have the flavor and consistency spot on... the one issue i have now is a grit issue. Due to the heavy amount of various chili powders, paprika, and cayenne used it has a somewhat slightly gritty texture that is just noticeable enough to bug me. I have heard of using finer ground spices, however I would like to limit if not eliminate the solids from all spices besides the black pepper. I am thinking of making a homemade tincture of the chili blend with some grain alcohol and using that in the spices place, anyone tried this or have any thoughts either way if it will impart the same flavors? Does anyone have a better idea?
 
You will have to send out samples 

Gary
 
I have that issue when using a lot of cumin. Have you tried cooking the sauce.
You can try infusion or steeping. Use coffee filters and steep in a warm liquid like tea bags. You can use a fruit juice that will compliment your sauce or plain water. Even vinegar if its in your recipe.
 
Once I have it just the way I would like it I'll send you a sample gary. I'm gonna try the tea bags and steaping it as well as making a tincture and using that, we'll see which one wins out. Thank you for the input!
 
some spice is water soluble . others are only soluble  in alcohol, so you need to tailor the method to the spice.

i haven't tried making tinctures but i've had good results infusing both vinegar n olive oil with spices..
 
I usually strain my sauces through a fine mesh strainer. If you want you can add in anything you do want to be suspended (like the pepper you mentioned) after straining. Essentially while simmering, the flavors are infused into the sauce itself so no real need to steep in separate liquids etc...
I like to eliminate as many extra steps as possible to keep things consistent.
Another possibility would be to run your spice mixture through a spice (coffee) grinder or food processor to reduce it to a fine powder.
 
Fine powders no matter how fine can result in a gritty texture, I have had this problem with Cumin, cooking will usually alleviate this issue with some spices.

I agree on the extra steps but we are not sure if he is heating the sauce as this was not answered. Some sauces are just ferments and the liquid is poured off.

If he's cooking his sauce finely grinding is another extra step if straining.

I personally don't mind the extra steps because many of my sauces may ferment up to  months depending on my yield from the plants.

I usually chop or pure', ferment, cook, separate the liquids from solids, dehydrate, coffee grind the solids and use as a thickener or for a spice of its own.

It all depends on what the OP is looking for, hell if its a sauce to be used like a barbecue sauce everything goes in a pot and cooked.

If he's going for a tabasco type sauce or red hot, then there's also a ton of variables there as well.

Below is one way I do spices and hot sauce.







this batch was coarse crushed through a colander for a seasoned salt, the puree was dehydrated then smoked.(my best to date)


 
Thanks for the input, SQWUIBs last post really inspired me to mess around with this recipe a bit more. I tried steeping the spices in the liquids, using finely ground spices, and straining the sauce. I am now going to try a tincture of the spice mix. What I have found to be the best solution so far is steeping the spice solution in the liquids prior to combining the remaining ingredients and cooking, then adding a small portion of those spices back into the sauce for appearances. One mistake I made was removing the pureed onion from the sauce. By removing the pureed onion I brought the sauce slightly out of balance in flavor while only minimally improving the texture and sheen of the sauce (the tomato paste seemed to come through in the after taste slightly when the onion was omitted). I will keep playing around with this sauce and I will report back when I find the best solution I can.
 
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