Try Turbo-1's Habanero Sauce - Hot Stuff!

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Turbo's habanero sauce is highly anticipated, with a simplified recipe that includes 12 chopped habaneros, garlic, vinegar, salt, sugar, and molasses, boiled and processed in jars. The discussion highlights a recent canning session where various peppers and garlic were combined to create a flavorful pepper relish, described as a hot and tasty condiment rather than a traditional sauce. The participants shared their experiences with gardening, canning, and the challenges of sourcing ingredients, particularly during peak canning season. There is enthusiasm for experimenting with different recipes, including green tomato salsa, and a desire to increase production for personal use and potential sales. The conversation reflects a strong community spirit, with neighbors exchanging produce and supporting each other's gardening efforts. Overall, the thread emphasizes the joy of home canning, the importance of fresh ingredients, and the satisfaction of creating unique, spicy condiments.
  • #251
Evo said:
I don't know how you and astronuc can eat this stuff. For me there is a point where the heat prevents me from tasting the food.

Everyone has different tolerance levels. Things my mom and stepdad can't eat at all because they claim it's too spicy, I can't even taste heat in. They're going for the water and bread and I'm sitting there confused why they're having a problem because I don't taste any heat at all.

As for the flavor, I can still taste flavor even when the heat is approaching the limits of what I can tolerate, but of course there has to be flavor there in the first place. For example, I think of Buffalo wings. I've had ones that make my lips burn after eating the first one, yet can taste tons of flavor because they're made well with a very flavorful sauce. I've also had ones that are just mildly spicy, but have almost no flavor at all, because the sauce focuses on heat rather than flavors. It probably has to do with what peppers are used to make the sauce...sort of the pepper equivalent to the way tomatoes can either taste sweet and full of flavor when fresh from the garden, or they can be the flavorless things in the grocery store in the middle of winter. They can be all heat with no flavor, they can have lots of flavor but not much heat, or they can have both heat and flavor.
 
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  • #252
Astronuc said:
Blair's makes some good stuff. :-p

I tried one my hot Portugals last night. One tiny piece and it was firey. It was great!
What family are the Portugals from?
 
  • #253
Some Like It Hot! Making Hot Sauce from Homegrown Chile Peppers
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1543/

:biggrin:

turbo - I think the Portugals are like a cayenne - long and skinny.

I've got some Carribean Reds (variant of habanero - they are more red than orange) and those guys pack a punch. For some reason, they didn't do so well in the upper garden. The rain hasn't been too good either, and I should have watered them more often.

I have something called a 'Cherry Bomb', and I'll post some pics later.
 
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  • #254
Here is the link that Astronuc got by accident when posting about symbiotic fungi in How Does Your Garden Grow? It's pretty basic and those who have been following this thread and trying recipes may have moved past this level of recipe. It's a reminder, though that all the truck-stops that I frequented in the deep south had vinegar on the tables with chilis and (usually) garlic floating in the vinegar. The infused garlic and chili juices flavored the vinegar nicely - it was fantastic on collards and turnip greens. Their recipe is drop-dead simple, and I may have to keep little jar of this stuff in the fridge. I have a bit of a problem with timing - my peppers and garlic are ready when my favorite greens (spinach, Swiss chard, beet greens...) have gone by, bolted, or have gotten too tough to eat as steamed greens. I may still make a bit of the hot vinegar to eat with our frozen greens as we pull them out of the chest freezers after the garden slows.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1543/
 
  • #255
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/356/cherrybombs1006524ue8.jpg
A bowl of Cherry Bombs!

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/4914/hotpeppers1006525fm4.jpg

The big dark pepper is a Holy Mole, and the smaller ones on the left are hot Portugal's, which are hotter than cayenne. I'm not sure about the big red ones on the right (they are 6+ inches and 1-inch wide at the top) because I misplaced the tag.
 
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  • #256
Those look like fun, astro! If the ones on the right initially started growing pointing up, then started sagging as they got bigger, they might be related to the Super Chilies that we grew last year. They were very nice peppers - hotter than jalapenos with a very nice flavor. I used a lot of them to boost the heat of dill cucumber pickles.
 
  • #257
All those red one's were hanging. I do have 2 varieties where the fruit grows vertically. One is an Apache hot pepper. Unfortunately, they don't have the scientific names on the tags.

Most of the peppers are red. There is another one with long orange peppers, and I'm trying to find the tag for that one. The other long orange ones are a variety called Inferno.
 
  • #258
Next year I want to grow a variety of peppers. The jalapenos have been producing non-stop, much better than the bell peppers. I now chop at least one fresh jalapeno into everything I make. I now chop 4 jalapenos into my homemade potato salad. I can't believe that I never thought of it before.
 
  • #259
Have any of you ever taken a sip of coffee after ingesting jalapenos?
 
  • #260
Redbelly98 said:
Have any of you ever taken a sip of coffee after ingesting jalapenos?

We eat peppers that are a little hotter the jalapenos. I don't drink coffee, but my wife does, and she says that she doesn't recall anything special. Maybe we don't drink hot drinks (tea for me) right after a meal.
 
  • #261
I find hot coffee, when it follows jalapenos (actually medium-spicy salsa, I assume it's spicy from jalapenos), creates a spicy-tingly-almost-burning sensation in my tongue. Considerably more intense than the salsa by itself produces.

edit:
I didn't notice this until I was in my late 30's and had been a regular coffee drinker for 10 years.
 
  • #262
Evo said:
Next year I want to grow a variety of peppers. The jalapenos have been producing non-stop, much better than the bell peppers. I now chop at least one fresh jalapeno into everything I make. I now chop 4 jalapenos into my homemade potato salad. I can't believe that I never thought of it before.
Try to find seeds for Hungarian Wax peppers. They are extremely productive and the flavor is killer. They are not excessively hot, but the flavor... Did I mention the flavor...?

Hungarian Wax chilies are the point-man in a lot of recent stir-fries. Got onions, garlic, sweet sausages, Bell peppers, and summer squash? You've got the fixin's for a wonderful stir-fry with these Hungarian chilies. Season, stir-fry in peanut oil, and serve over a bed of rice or noodles. I love Basmati rice, and sometimes have to season that with Javin Brand curry powder. My wife and I have been exploring variations of this general team-up all summer.
 
  • #263
I made this today and it is one of my better ones.

Vegi hell.

One pepper
One carrot
Half red onion
2oo grm tin red beans in chili sauce
200 grm tin baked beans
2 spear chilis, these ones are about 3 inches long and quite hot
1 large potato
2 cloves of garlic
1 beef stock cube
200 grm strong cheese

Rough chop all the veg and layer in baking tin, chop garlic and add, crumble stock cube in,
add 1/4 cup water, slice potato thin and cover veg, season, drizzle olive over potato, add
cheese topping, bake for about 45mins at 160.
 
  • #264
turbo-1 said:
You'll taste it soon enough! It's pretty easy to make, since my wife decided to further simplify the recipe.

Chop 12 habaneros and 2-3 cloves of garlic in a food processor. Transfer to saucepan with 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1/2 tsp sale, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 tbsp molasses. Bring to a boil, then transfer to sterilized canning jars and process in a boiling-water bath for 15 minutes.

We doubled the recipe this time, and used a whole large bulb of fresh Russian garlic from our neighbor's garden. Mmmm!

I'd like to can some hot salsa, using habaneros but am allergic to vinegar. As you are quite skilled in hot sauce canning methods, I wonder do you know of any that are vinegar-free?
 
  • #265
Redbelly98 said:
Have any of you ever taken a sip of coffee after ingesting jalapenos?
I've had some in my hot cocoa. It give the cocoa a pleasant kick.
(I think it was a Mayan idea). Hmmmm I wonder how it would taste in brownies :-p
 
  • #266
Ouabache said:
I've had some in my hot cocoa. It give the cocoa a pleasant kick.
(I think it was a Mayan idea). Hmmmm I wonder how it would taste in brownies :-p

No one will take me seriously but, chili in cake is fantastic, i make a heavy cake with mixed fruit and chopped chilis in.
Also one with ginger powder and hot chili powder, honest you will not want ordinary cake
after trying one of these.
 
  • #267
Ouabache said:
I'd like to can some hot salsa, using habaneros but am allergic to vinegar. As you are quite skilled in hot sauce canning methods, I wonder do you know of any that are vinegar-free?
If I had to make a small batch for someone with a sensitivity to vinegar, I would ask if they could tolerate apple juice (for instance) and if so, I would substitute that for the vinegar. The apple juice would make the relish slightly acidic, but not acidic enough to can safely without really long processing times and/or the use of a pressure cooker, which would make the chopped chilies and garlic pretty mushy. In such a case, I would make a small batch, put it into reusable containers and make sure the recipient keeps the relish refrigerated.

You can get plastic lids for conventional canning jars, and that's what we use when making small batches of stuff that is not going to get boiling water-bath processing. I just finished up a small jar of unprocessed dill jalapeno and garlic pickle relish this morning with my breakfast.
 
  • #268
wolram said:
No one will take me seriously but, chili in cake is fantastic, i make a heavy cake with mixed fruit and chopped chilis in.
Also one with ginger powder and hot chili powder, honest you will not want ordinary cake
after trying one of these.
My wife makes apple bread from an old family recipe, and it's really good. The apples are coming in fast and furious, so if she decides to make some, I'll ask her to try making a loaf with chopped jalapeno chilies added. That might taste pretty good with the apples, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc. She uses chopped raw apples with the skins on, so the bread is pretty colorful already - chilies would add a touch, though.
 
  • #269
There is a hard frost forecast for tonight, so I'll have to pick all my chilies - ripe or not. Looks like relish-making is going to be a bit early this year. My habaneros got a very late start and with the dark, wet summer, the chilies on those plants did not do very well. Surprisingly, the jalapenos, Hungarian Wax, and Bell peppers all did very well and the cayenne peppers did OK. Most of my garden was trashed by the torrential rains and constant humidity - powdery mildew and other damp-loving pests got the best of my beans, tomatoes, and other crops. No fungal infections on the peppers, though. I made sure to tend the peppers FIRST before tending tomatoes and beans and other crops that were having infestations, and the peppers stayed clean and healthy.
 
  • #270
A lot of people I work with have gardens and they all said the lack of summer this year just ruined them. Most have already started pulling up their plants.

It's been a weird year. I have one jalapeno bush that is very compact and a heavy producer, it would be lovely inside. I think I am going to bring it in and set a grow lamp over it and see if it will do anything this winter.
 
  • #271
turbo-1 said:
There is a hard frost forecast for tonight, so I'll have to pick all my chilies - ripe or not. Looks like relish-making is going to be a bit early this year. My habaneros got a very late start and with the dark, wet summer, the chilies on those plants did not do very well. Surprisingly, the jalapenos, Hungarian Wax, and Bell peppers all did very well and the cayenne peppers did OK. Most of my garden was trashed by the torrential rains and constant humidity - powdery mildew and other damp-loving pests got the best of my beans, tomatoes, and other crops. No fungal infections on the peppers, though. I made sure to tend the peppers FIRST before tending tomatoes and beans and other crops that were having infestations, and the peppers stayed clean and healthy.

I would hose everything to get it very wet and then cover it up with big plastic sheets. That would protect against frost.
 
  • #272
Andre said:
I would hose everything to get it very wet and then cover it up with big plastic sheets. That would protect against frost.
That would work, Andre, but we're headed into a cold spell and I'd have to do that every night for a while. My wife will be able to help me with the processing this weekend, so the timing was right to pick them all. Now that the chilies are picked and chilled, I can take time this weekend to start making my chili relishes. It's going to be a big job, doing this all at once, and it will go quicker with another pair of hands. Last summer I made almost all the pickles, relishes, salsas, etc myself while my wife was at work, and I made LOTS of small batches.
 
  • #274
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  • #275
I love roasted peppers! Pure sweet heat. Its even done here in MI., but I've mostly seen it in Old and New Mexico.
 
  • #276
hypatia said:
I love roasted peppers! Pure sweet heat. Its even done here in MI., but I've mostly seen it in Old and New Mexico.
I love roasted chilies, too, but I don't roast them to peel them because I love the taste of the toasted skins. I put them in a long-handled clamshell-type vegetable basket and roast them on my gas grill.
 
  • #277
I wish I was physically closer to some PF members. I picked over a bushel of jalapeno peppers today, and had to give away a lot, and still have too much to process and can as relish.
 
  • #278
How do you make Turbo's Hot Stuff and what are some of the best uses for it? Could I possibly use it as a dip for corn chips?
 
  • #279
LightbulbSun said:
How do you make Turbo's Hot Stuff and what are some of the best uses for it? Could I possibly use it as a dip for corn chips?
I sometimes make pickles using chili peppers instead of cucumbers. My favorite recipe is to chop chilies and garlic (maybe 4:1) in a food processor, put that into a large stainless steel pot, and cover with cider vinegar. Measure the vinegar cup by cup and for every cup of vinegar you need to add to cover the chilies and garlic, add one tsp of sugar, one tsp of salt and a tbsp of molasses. You can add some chopped dill weed or dill florets (I often do) or some other herbs or seasonings - this is all up to you. Simmer the mix until the ingredients are at the desired consistency, spoon into sterilized canning jars and make sure that liquid covers the solids leaving 1/2" head-space, top with sterilized lids, and process and seal for 20 minutes in a boiling water bath. My description of the canning process is quite minimal here. If you have never canned before, I HIGHLY recommend that you buy a book on home canning by Kerr, Ball, etc, to learn how to can safely and in proper sanitary conditions.

If you make chili relish using this recipe, you will probably not want to use it for dipping - it is generally too hot for that unless you use very mild peppers. It's a great relish to dress hot dogs, hamburgers, sandwiches, etc, and to add to salads.
 
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  • #280
turbo-1 said:
I sometimes make pickles using chili peppers instead of cucumbers. My favorite recipe is to chop chilies and garlic (maybe 4:1) in a food processor, put that into a large stainless steel pot, and cover with cider vinegar. Measure the vinegar cup by cup and for every cup of vinegar you need to add to cover the chilies and garlic, add one tsp of sugar, one tsp of salt and a tbsp of molasses. You can add some chopped dill weed or dill florets (I often do) or some other herbs or seasonings - this is all up to you. Simmer the mix until the ingredients are at the desired consistency, spoon into sterilized canning jars and make sure that liquid covers the solids leaving 1/2" head-space, top with sterilized lids, and process and seal for 20 minutes in a boiling water bath. My description of the canning process is quite minimal here. If you have never canned before, I HIGHLY recommend that you buy a book on home canning by Kerr, Ball, etc, to learn how to can safely and in proper sanitary conditions.

If you make chili relish using this recipe, you will probably not want to use it for dipping - it is generally too hot for that unless you use very mild peppers. It's a great relish to dress hot dogs, hamburgers, sandwiches, etc, and to add to salads.

Thanks for the info Turbo. I look forward to trying it on a future hamburger.
 
  • #281
turbo-1 said:
If I had to make a small batch for someone with a sensitivity to vinegar, I would ask if they could tolerate apple juice (for instance) and if so, I would substitute that for the vinegar. The apple juice would make the relish slightly acidic, but not acidic enough to can safely without really long processing times and/or the use of a pressure cooker, which would make the chopped chilies and garlic pretty mushy.
Thanks for the tip! I really would like to can some homemade hot salsa and hot sauce, but need to steer clear of vinegar.. I did can 12 qts of tomatoes so far this season and used lemon juice to bring down the pH (most canning sites recommended 2 tbl per quart). I am tempted to use lemon or lime juice as my acid for the hot sauce.

If I had access to a lab, I would measure the pH of the recipe using vinegar (acetic acid) and see how much lemon or lime juice (citric & ascorbic acids) I would need, to bring it down to that pH. And also see how much that volume of lemon juice, affects the flavor. Unfortunately I don't have a pH meter at home, so will have to go on recommendations from respected sources. You apple juice idea sounds great, but as you noted, it would not be acidic enough for steam canning and I wouldn't want mushy salsa made with the pressure canner
 
  • #282
Ouabache said:
If I had access to a lab, I would measure the pH of the recipe using vinegar (acetic acid) and see how much lemon or lime juice (citric & ascorbic acids) I would need, to bring it down to that pH. And also see how much that volume of lemon juice, affects the flavor. Unfortunately I don't have a pH meter at home, so will have to go on recommendations from respected sources. You apple juice idea sounds great, but as you noted, it would not be acidic enough for steam canning and I wouldn't want mushy salsa made with the pressure canner
If you want a citrus taste (not just the low pH) I would suggest trying the apple juice for the bulk of the liquid, flavored with some lime juice. Chili relishes like this are OK to make up in tiny batches (one or two small jars at a time) until you settle on a mix of flavorings, herbs, etc that you like. With small batches, there is no need to sterilize and seal the jars - just refrigerate them promptly. One more tip - when you add your liquid to the chopped chilies and garlic, you don't have to cover them completely. As you simmer the relish, the solids will reduce in size a bit, and you'll probably have extra juice left after jarring the product - I usually have extra liquids after.
 
  • #283
I weaponized my habaneros and Russian garlic today. I only managed to get 8 jars canned. The crop was small due to the late start and the cool wet weather. Habaneros LOVE sunny heat - the other peppers thrived regardless. I still have a huge crop of jalapenos, cayenne peppers, and Hungarian wax chilies to preserve. I'm going to chop equal parts of each with a good portion of Russian garlic and make a combo relish out of them. I'm planning on using both dill and cilantro in that batch, too. Should be a good dressing for burgers and dogs.
 
  • #284
Evo said:
A tradition? Never, ever saw this in Houston, and I used to go to the Mexican markets and eateries down around Canal Street at least once a month. Must be a new tradition. :biggrin: Sounds good though.
I didn't know about green chile sauce until I met some folks from New Mexico, and apparently there, green chile sauce is the tradition. For some reason, it didn't catch on in Houston. I wonder if it's more popular in San Antonio.
 
  • #285
Keen cook died after eating red-hot chilli sauce as a dare
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article4842531.ece
An aspiring chef died after eating a super-hot chilli sauce as part of an endurance competition with a friend.

Andrew Lee, 33, challenged his girlfriend’s brother to a contest to see who could eat the spiciest sauce that he could create.

The fork-lift truck driver, who wanted to cook for a living, prepared a tomato sauce made with red chillies grown on his father’s allotment. After eating it, however, he suffered intense discomfort and itching. The following morning he was found dead, possibly after suffering a heart attack.

Toxicology tests are being conducted to try to establish if he suffered a reaction to the food.

An inquest was told that Mr Lee, from Edlington, West Yorkshire, was in perfect health and had just passed a medical examination at work. He was a keen cook and would often prepare meals for his parents. It is believed that Mr Lee had never prepared a dish as hot as the one he made the night before his death.

Mr Lee’s sister, Claire Chadbourne, 29, said that he took a jar of the sauce to the home of his girlfriend, Samantha Bailey, and challenged her brother Michael, 29, to see who could eat it. “Andrew just ate the chillies with a plate of Dolmio sauce,” she added. “It was not a proper meal because he had already eaten lamb chops and potato mash after work.

. . . .
Hmmmm. I wonder how hot it was?
 
  • #286
Astronuc said:
I didn't know about green chile sauce until I met some folks from New Mexico, and apparently there, green chile sauce is the tradition. For some reason, it didn't catch on in Houston. I wonder if it's more popular in San Antonio.
Could very well be, San Antonio and Houston are like two different worlds when it comes to Mexican cooking.

My little sister lives in Austin and it's very different.
 
  • #287
Astronuc said:
Keen cook died after eating red-hot chilli sauce as a dare
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article4842531.ece
Hmmmm. I wonder how hot it was?
That's sad. People don't realize how potent this stuff is and how different people tolerate different things.

There is some stupid trick that people are pulling, it has to do with those 600,000 scovil habanero potato chips. Some idiots are mixing them into bowls of regular potato chips at parties and someone unwittingly eats one. The morons think it's funny. The reaction that someone could have not expecting it could be dangerous.
 
  • #288
Evo said:
That's sad. People don't realize how potent this stuff is and how different people tolerate different things.

There is some stupid trick that people are pulling, it has to do with those 600,000 scovil habanero potato chips. Some idiots are mixing them into bowls of regular potato chips at parties and someone unwittingly eats one. The morons think it's funny. The reaction that someone could have not expecting it could be dangerous.
I never ever do crap like that! I warn people about treating my salsas like commercial salsas (They don't always listen!) and I make people try my salsas before they ever try my chili relishes. Last summer, my father asked if I could give him a jar of my hot stuff to give to his friend so that he could pass it on to his parapalegic son who loves hot stuff. I gave him a jar, and the son tried a bit of my relish on a chip, and it damned near killed him.
 
  • #289
turbo-1 said:
I never ever do crap like that! I warn people about treating my salsas like commercial salsas (They don't always listen!) and I make people try my salsas before they ever try my chili relishes. Last summer, my father asked if I could give him a jar of my hot stuff to give to his friend so that he could pass it on to his parapalegic son who loves hot stuff. I gave him a jar, and the son tried a bit of my relish on a chip, and it damned near killed him.
As long as they are anticipating it to be hot, they won't accidently choke.

I know with my esophagus that anything that hot would probably send me to the hospital.
 
  • #290
I have created a monster. My niece and her husband stopped in a couple of weeks ago and I gave them a jar of my 2008 chili relish mix (jalapeno, cayenne, and Hungarian wax chilies with LOTS of Russian garlic) and a jar of last season's tomato-based salsa. Her husband has always liked my tomato-based salsas, but he is addicted to this new relish creation. My niece has asked for the recipe so she can make a batch before the jar is gone. She says that she doesn't have to guess what he's eating when she hears him say "wow!" from the kitchen - it will be that garlic-y chili relish on corn chips.
 
  • #291

Some new additions. A Little Nukey is pretty good. :biggrin:

The Z bottle (middle) claims 4 million Scoville units (habanero based from CaJohns Fiery Foods), and that might be close. It's pretty hot. The bottle has a recommendation for 'one drop at a time'. I like to splatter it, so my first taste test was several splotches on the tongue - maybe about half a teaspoon or so. I slathered some on pizza tonight. It also warns to 'avoid contact with eyes or sensitive areas', and to 'keep away from children'. I've had similar stuff that warns - 'keep away from children and pets'.


The Apricot-Ginger glaze is really good. Not too spicy, but it's very tasty.


I was also given two bottles of Emeril's green and red pepper sauces. They are terrible. If he approved these, then he knows nothing about hot sauce. They have little pepper taste, no heat, and taste more like vinegar and salt water - way too salty!
 
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  • #292
Astronuc, you've got to come up for a visit. I've still got a bit of last year's red habanero relish tucked away, and it is killer on 'dogs. This year's milder chili relish with lots of Russian garlic has turned into a favorite. Luckily, I managed to can several quart jars before scaling down to the pints and half-pints, so we can probably make it through to next summer.
 
  • #293
The chili relish i made has lost it's heat, how long should it keep? is there any way to revitalise it?
 
  • #294
wolram said:
The chili relish i made has lost it's heat, how long should it keep? is there any way to revitalise it?
I keep mine sealed up in jars in the 'fridge and it keeps its heat well. Never ran into that problem.
 
  • #295
The title of this thread made me laugh because just as I was about to get my Ph.D., one of my by-then former, and not-on-my-committee professors called me "hot-stuff" at the department winter holiday party! :smile: (Don't worry, he was probably less than 10 years older than me, and pretty put together at the party himself, so I wasn't creeped out or anything.)

Hence, I thought someone was givin' turbo-1 a compliment on being hot stuff! But since they weren't, somebody's got to...

Hey everybody... Turbo-1's HOT STUFF!
 
  • #296
Aw, shucks! :redface:
 
  • #297
I got some new hot sauce called 357 Magnum (and it has a bullet literally tied to the bottle-neck).

The stuff is a blistering 600,000 Scovilles. Probably the best hot sauce I've ever had.
 
  • #298
On a different note: Does anyone have any good beef jerky recipes? I got a dehydrater a while ago and I haven't had the chance to make jerky with it.

I'm looking for a good sauce recipe to marinade the meat in before I dry it.
 
  • #299
Hi, MJ! I started making beef jerky one day and never finished. I cut up some nice tender strips of sirloin steak and marinaded them overnight in a mix of orange juice, beer, and some peanut oil. I added lemon juice for a little extra tartness, salt and pepper, and of course hot sauce.

I have a tall Brinkman smoker so I could put the grill on the top level and let the steak strips hang in the smoke. I fired up the charcoal, loaded the fire-pan with chunks of soaked hickory and hung the strips. I just stuck a toothpick through an end of each strip and used the toothpick cross-ways on the grill wires so the steak wouldn't fall into the bottom. I covered up the smoker and waited. In the meantime, my cousin and her family showed up for our yearly Christmas day all-day snack-fest. Her oldest daughter loved helping me cook and she likes hot stuff, so I asked if she wanted to check the "jerky". The meat was lightly cooked on the outside, tender and rare inside, juicy and delicious. We pulled all the meat out of the smoker ("testing" a few more in the process - quality-control, you know) and a new yearly favorite was born. Every year, I asked the girls what special treat they wanted for Christmas and every year after that it was smoked hot jerky - her sister always asked for my wife's fresh-made spicy shrimp eggrolls.

So sorry, no good jerky recipe, but if you want to experiment with marinades and smoking, you might come up with some really tasty hot stuff like this. If you don't go too nuts on the chili sauce, your family might really like it, too. Leave the 357 Magnum in the cupboard when you're cooking for others.
 
  • #300
turbo-1 said:
Leave the 357 Magnum in the cupboard when you're cooking for others.

I'm sorry. That comment is just so funny in too many ways.

I'll try your advice, thanks.
 
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