Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce!!!

[Retired Spook]

I love ghost pepper hot sauce but unfortunately I bought seedlings from Pepper Joe's this year instead of starting from seeds and the pepper plants are not producing - I am pretty sure they have Virticillium wilt, which is bad news because that means the potting soil is going in the garbage.

Nevertheless, I think ghost peppers make the best tasting best smelling hot sauce of all, so I wanted to start a thread dedicated exclusively to ghost peppers. I like super hot but not so hot that it overpowers everything else - thus my omission of Carolina Reapers. In my opinion, Ghost Peppers are the best because while still very hot, they do not sacrifice taste for the sake of overwhelming heat.

I will start with some photos from previous years peppers and hot sauces, including my very simple recipe.

These are a few ripe peppers from a grow 2-years ago - I have since learned to let the plants wilt before watering them to produce the typical wrinkled look associated with ghost peppers and other super hots. Nevertheless, these were very hot and tasted great!

A few peppers starting to turn (this is from 3-years ago):

And this is a jar of some great ghost pepper hot sauce!

My recipe:

12-ghost peppers - seeded
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup yellow onion
1/2 medium carrot chopped
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3 tbs apple cider vinegar
Juice from 1/2 lime

Put everything except the apple cider vinegar and lime juice in sauce pan, cover with water, open the windows and turn on the exhaust fan, be preparred to choke, bring to boil, cover and simmer 20-minutes.

Strain ingredients but reserve the water. Add ingredients, apple cider vinegar and lime juice to food processor and process till smooth. Add tablespoons of reserved water to achieve desired consistency.

Jar and refrigerate over night but leaving it to rest in refrigerator for a week or more is much better.

Just fantastic on a plate of chips with some melted sharp cheddar:

I ordered some dried ghost peppers from Amazon that will be delivered today. Once I rehydrate and make a batch of hot sauce I will post photos and a review.

Lets hear your ghost pepper opinions and recipes!

 

[02ebz06]

I'm sure those fumes would be nasty.
Probably best to do on a grill outside and still wear goggles and a mask. haha

Thanks for posting the recipe.

 

[JLeonard]

Thats a great looking sauce. My 15yo son would be all over that!

Jim

 

[jcam222]

Looks good! I'm looking forward to using th ghost peppers I'm growing.

 

[tx smoker]

This is something along the lines of what I'd make. Love the stuff Jeff and others are doing but I don't have the experience, patience, or equipment to do long term fermenting. I sure couple put together a batch of this, put it in a needle, and shoot it into my arm though

Robert

 

[Retired Spook]

This is something along the lines of what I'd make. Love the stuff Jeff and others are doing but I don't have the experience, patience, or equipment to do long term fermenting. I sure couple put together a batch of this, put it in a needle, and shoot it into my arm though

Robert

My hot sauce is never around long enough to require/benefit from the ferment method. Furthermore, anytime I make more than one jar I simmer the sauce after it is all processed, then immediately fill clean jars, cap with clean lids, invert the jars and leave them on the counter till they reach room temperature, then refrigerate - the 210-degree hot sauce sterilizes everything it touches and has worked for me for years. Nevertheless, a jar never lasts around here for longer than 3-months max because I love the stuff!

Hell, I put that **** on everything!

 

[KBFlyer]

Last year I bought seedlings and they never produced one pepper. Dug them up in the fall, potted them and brought into the house for the winter. This spring they have tons of peppers. They are now back outside to see what they will do.

 

[jcam222]

Last year I bought seedlings and they never produced one pepper. Dug them up in the fall, potted them and brought into the house for the winter. This spring they have tons of peppers. They are now back outside to see what they will do.

Man I sure hope mine don't do the same! I've got a ton of plants in including 3 ghost. I hear some of the superhots are very temperamental. I'll be hitting them with Fox's Tiger Blo once they start to flower. Perhaps I should say IF they flower. Did yours bloom and drop the flowers or just not bloom at all?

 

[Retired Spook]

Last year I bought seedlings and they never produced one pepper. Dug them up in the fall, potted them and brought into the house for the winter. This spring they have tons of peppers. They are now back outside to see what they will do.

Mine are stunted - they have LOTS of flowers but not one single pepper. They are going in the trash and I will start from seeds I have, next year. Heck - maybe I will try for a "fall crop" like they do with tomatoes here in the ninth circle of hell. The idea is plant on 4 July and harvest in November. It is so hot here that tomatoes stop setting fruit in the summer, so this is their work around.

The dried ghost peppers I ordered are here - they sure smell smoky!!! I made up a small test batch but I goofed, I should have removed the seeds BEFORE reconstituting the peppers in hot water, so this test batch has seeds in it, and it is beaucoup hot.

Cooling on the counter right now I'll have a better idea of results tomorrow morning after a night in the fridge.

 

[crazymoon]

RS, Your sauce looks delicious and way too hot for me . :)

 

[Retired Spook]

RS, Your sauce looks delicious and way too hot for me . :)

If you remove the seeds and the membrane the seeds are attached to you get a MUCH better tasting hot sauce, in my opinion, that will surprise you. Still hot, for sure, but not over the edge - very nice!

 

[Retired Spook]

OK I tasted the dried ghost pepper hot sauce... it is hot. It smells great but a full dunk with a tortilla chip is serious business not for the faint of heart.

Next test batch I will remove the seeds BEFORE I reconstitute the peppers!

 

[KBFlyer]

Mine are stunted - they have LOTS of flowers but not one single pepper. They are going in the trash and I will start from seeds I have, next year. Heck - maybe I will try for a "fall crop" like they do with tomatoes here in the ninth circle of hell. The idea is plant on 4 July and harvest in November. It is so hot here that tomatoes stop setting fruit in the summer, so this is their work around.

The dried ghost peppers I ordered are here - they sure smell smoky!!! I made up a small test batch but I goofed, I should have removed the seeds BEFORE reconstituting the peppers in hot water, so this test batch has seeds in it, and it is beaucoup hot.

Cooling on the counter right now I'll have a better idea of results tomorrow morning after a night in the fridge.

Well I can tell you I had all kinds of flowers the first year and not one pepper. My daughter said it was a pollinating thing but I think there is something up with these peppers. To bad we live so far apart as I would take those plants off your hands.

 

[Retired Spook]

KBFlyer I have grown them before from seeds and had great luck with them - this year I was a little lazy and bought seedlings from Pepper Joe's, and they struggled since the day they arrived. They are stunted and wilting bad - they have some kind of virus. I have a habanero plant not 10' away that is so big it is falling over and it has lots of great looking peppers on it.

Hey, there's always next year (but I am thinking about a fall crop as mentioned - I may start some seeds in a day or two we'll see how I feel), but if you were not in Canada I would ask you to send me some of those peppers you got going on! Plants look real nice and healthy!!! What kind of peppers are they?

 

[Retired Spook]

I made another batch from the dried ghost peppers and this time I removed the seeds first! Still blazing hot but it is a nicer hot - I don't know how to describe it, it is still serious business but its not overwhelming, and the flavor and aroma comes through better without the seeds in there.

 

[Retired Spook]

The dried / seeded ghost pepper hot sauce improved imensily after a night in the fridge - still not fresh ghost pepper good but very good nevertheless. Seems like the heat matured a little and not so harsh. Curious to see how it tastes after a week in the fridge as past experience flavor seems to improve over time.

 

[KBFlyer]

Plants look real nice and healthy!!! What kind of peppers are they?

Ghost peppers

 

[Cajun Smokes]

Well I can tell you I had all kinds of flowers the first year and not one pepper. My daughter said it was a pollinating thing but I think there is something up with these peppers. To bad we live so far apart as I would take those plants off your hands.View attachment 668416View attachment 668417

I also enjoy and grow the ghost. Last year was a struggle to keep the flowers on as well. A little research revealed the ghost are a little more sensitive to heat / sun than typical peppers. Moved them under a tree which only allowed about 3hrs of sun in the morning. Started adding epsom salt around the plants every couple of week (1 Tbls per foot of plant, i never measure exact). They began to hold flowers and produced beautiful fruit until winter. This year I started off the same way. All of my plants are holding most flowers and first pick of the year is just a couple weeks around the corner. Not certain if that would work for everyone, just thought I would throw that out there. This recipe will be my first batch. Thank you for sharing.

 

[gmc2003]

RS those nachos look great. I like heat, but have never tried the ghost.

Point for sure
Chris

 

[Retired Spook]

I also enjoy and grow the ghost. Last year was a struggle to keep the flowers on as well. A little research revealed the ghost are a little more sensitive to heat / sun than typical peppers. Moved them under a tree which only allowed about 3hrs of sun in the morning. Started adding epsom salt around the plants every couple of week (1 Tbls per foot of plant, i never measure exact). They began to hold flowers and produced beautiful fruit until winter. This year I started off the same way. All of my plants are holding most flowers and first pick of the year is just a couple weeks around the corner. Not certain if that would work for everyone, just thought I would throw that out there. This recipe will be my first batch. Thank you for sharing.

I am moving the containers to a shady spot tomorrow AM, they will get a few hours of sun late morning / mid day then be in the shade of a tree for the rest of the day - we'll see what happens.