Q: Dear Fellow Hothead,How do manufacturers extract the capsaicin from the pepper to make a hot sauce hotter than a habanero?Matthew Michel A: Hello Matthew:Hot red chile peppers are dried, ground, and pelletized. They are treated with hexane, a petroleum distillate that acts as a solvent, and the result is oleoresin capsicum, a thick, reddish oil. The oil is heated …
Resellers interested in Chiltepin Products wanted
Dave,Do you know if anyone out there has a presence in the chiltepin market? I was thinking about possibly selling the seeds of hard to find chiletepins. Or maybe sell powders/rubs? Also: I was also wondering if you could take a look at this link: http://www.reimerseeds.com/item.jhtml?UCIDs=612825%7C1115340&PRID=681133 and tell me what you think? They claim to have a yellow chiltepin. Your …
Hot Sauces and Refrigeration
Dave:Do all hot sauces need to be refrigerated after opening? If not, how can you tell which need referigeration and which don’t?Thanks, RobertRobert:I am very cautious about food spoilage, so I recommend always refrigerating all liquid products after opening.–Dave
Improved Hot Sauce Flavor through Sunlight Exposure?
Aloha Dave:This may or may not sound a bit strange. I had a customer come in to the store today and commented."By leaving an unopened bottle of hot sauce in the sun for a week, you’ll have a better tasting product than when first purchased. This will give the hot sauce a more intense flavor." Now my question is this: …
Drying Chiltepins
Dave:I have been growing a couple of chili tepin plants from seed. We picked them after that were red and let them air dry. The first year they seemed to be fine. Last year when stored in a jar they grew a mold and were useless. What is the best way to harvest them? How should they be handled after …