Smaller chili peppers tend to have a higher concentration of capsaicin, making them hotter.
Although it's true you can get some good quality hot sauce in a bottle at specialty stores and restaurants, save yourself some money and experiment with making your own hot sauce at home. Hot sauce is a great addition to all kinds of dishes, such as hot wings, steaks and tacos. Chili peppers are the star ingredient in hot sauces because of the oil inside of them, known as capsaicin. Different types of chili peppers provide different levels of heat as well as flavor. You should always handle chili peppers with care when preparing to cook them.
Instructions
1. Select the type of peppers you want to use in the sauce. If you're more interested in flavor and prefer a very mild heat, choose Italian peppers, which are more sweet than hot, or use the Anaheim pepper for just a dash of heat. Peppers that will give you a medium level of heat include the poblano pepper and jalapeno peppers. But if you are looking for peppers that will make a sauce that will set your mouth on fire, choose Thai chili peppers or habanero peppers, the hottest peppers you can find.
2. Wear gloves when handling peppers, especially for the hottest peppers, like habaneros. The capsaicin oil can stay on your skin long after washing your hands, which will be extremely painful if you rub your eye, or if it gets in your mouth or nose.
3. Rinse the chili peppers and chop off the stem. Cut out any bad looking spots on the peppers.
4. Cut the pepper in half. Remove the seeds and the membranes, which is where the highest concentration of capsaicin is found. This is optional if you want to try to tame the heat a little bit. The peppers are now ready to be used to make a hot sauce according to whatever recipe you may have. You can place them in a food mixer with vinegar and blend them, or you can throw the chopped peppers into a pot of vinegar and other seasonings, such as garlic and brown sugar, and simmer them together.
Tags: chili peppers, that will, concentration capsaicin, hottest peppers, make sauce, your mouth
