Spicing up a batch of hot sauce

[bmillin]

My first attempts at fermenting sauce is going OK. Currently I have two ready for fine tuning.

The first is all Fresno chili - nice bright red color, great flavor but a bit mild. Need to add a touch of heat.

The second is a Habanero Carrot mix. Again the flavor is good but just that, no heat to speak of.

I can add more Habanero to #2, maybe something like Serrano to #1.

Also have not tinkered with adding salt or vinegar. How do you folks fine tune things?

[Johnny Booth]

I am seriously curious. Looking for the proper mix of carrot to Habs. Also want to try straight-up Serrano peppers.
let me know how things go?

[Michael_in_TX]

It's been awhile since I've done hot sauces, fermented or not. I do like your combination of carrots and habaneros; those go so well with each other. I am surprised it lacks heat? For most of the habanero sauces I've done, I wish I had used less...and I thrive on spicy stuff!

Fresnos are quite mild....at least the ones I have had (they are not common down here), but for a reliable, predictable heat dose I use seranos, as you intend to do.

[58limited]

My fermented hot sauce has some habanero in it but the base pepper is Thai Birdseye peppers from the local Asian market. They are similar to Tabascos and cayennes (and I think they can be interchanged). It is plenty hot for me.

Adding serranos is a good idea, not sure why the carrot habanero isn't hot - typically habanero peppers are way too hot for me so I use them sparingly.

[bmillin]

Thanks for the feedback. I am heading out to pick up more serrano, habanero and fresno peppers. The idea is to make a bigger batch of fresno peppers for a base, then a batch each of habanero and serrano to blend in. That should help me get repeatable results if I can for once remember to take notes.

[Jerod Broussard]

Just post what you do here. "The Pitmaster Notes" work great!