While we were on the road with NASCAR, our customers were constantly asking us for recipes as well as giving us their own recipes from different areas throughout the country. We finally sat down and complied with their wishes.
We're not trying to build a "food network" What we are trying to do is give people new and innovative ways to prepare meals, and if they like the results, to share these recipes with their friends and family.
We were given an air fryer as a gift last Christmas and since, have learned to love its' magical powers so much that we have upgraded to bigger and better. We have taken our recipes and converted them to be used with an air fryer oven (which will drastically cut down the amount of time you spend in the kitchen)
We all know that family life has become more and more hectic lately with little league, dance lessons, etc, etc.
We feel that these recipes will not only cut down time in the kitchen, they will provide you with a healthy way to prepare your meals. And who doesn't like "healthy" ? We've incorporated our dips and sauces into most recipes. Our sauces add all of the flavor you need to any meal. There is no need for you to bring out the salt and pepper shakers, or any other spices for that matter.
If you sign up for our newsletter we will let you know when we have a new recipe to share with you. OR come back often to the website to look for new recipes.
Grill Master Sauce Recipes
These recipes were designed with a PepperHead in mind. Our Grill Master Sauces come in both medium and hot flavors, from grilling and dipping sauces to wing sauces.
Air Fryer Oven Recipes
The Air Fryer Recipes have been created to help folks, whether young or old, to eat a healthier diet while leading a busy lifestyle. These recipes are ready in minutes with little or no clean-up.
Numerous people have asked us how they can make Hot Sauce or get into the "Hot Sauce" business.
This is where you start...........
The history of Hot Sauce is about as old as we can find traces of civilization. Clues of Hot Sauce containers, and the use of it, have been dug up in archeological digs,
and when dredging up sunken ships. Mexico used chili peppers as far back as 7000 BC. They began cultivating them probably before 3500 B.C. These peppers were used not only for flavor,but also for medicinal purposes and today research labs are still finding ways to use peppers for medical purposes.
and when dredging up sunken ships. Mexico used chili peppers as far back as 7000 BC. They began cultivating them probably before 3500 B.C. These peppers were used not only for flavor,but also for medicinal purposes and today research labs are still finding ways to use peppers for medical purposes.
Old School Hot Sauce Making
Ingredients
• 3 1/3 pounds chili peppers
• 1 ounce kosher salt
• 2 cups water (use water with no chlorine in it)
• 3 ounces oak cubes (optional)
• 4 cups white wine vinegar
• Clean and sanitized mason jars
• Rubber gloves
Instructions
1.Roughly chop the chili peppers in a food processor or blender with the salt and water until you get a rough paste or slurry,depending on how muchmoisture there is in the peppers themselves. I keep the seeds in the chili peppers, but if you want a milder sauce, remove them.
2.Put the mash into quart mason jars and cap them loosely. "Burp" the caps at least once a day to let out escaping gases and let air in.
The chilis will ferment like this for at least a week, and sometimes up to 3 weeks. When the chilis settle down, add the oak cubes,
distributing them evenly throughout the jars.
Tighten the lids and store the jars in a cool, dark place.
*Tabasco keeps their mash barrels at ambient temperatures, which in Louisiana can top 100°F. Don't let the mash freeze, however.
3.Keep the mash like this no less than 3 months, and up to 2 years. When you are ready to make your sauce, mix the mash with the vinegar and let it age another month.
4.Shake the jars every day for a month and then strain out the pulp and seeds.
Or keep all that pulp, which will give the sauce body and thickness as well as more heat.
If you choose second method, you will need to really blend the sauce and stabilize it -- otherwise the sauce will eventually separate and will need to be shaken up before each use.
To do so, dissolve xanthan gum powder in 2 tablespoons of water and add it to the blender.
Blend for a solid minute. Let the sauce rest for 1 hour before bottling so any trapped air in sauce (from the blending process) can escape. Bottle and store.
The sauce will keep for a year or more.
Helpful Hints and Tips
There is a difference between aging and fermenting and your not making beer!
Fermenting happens in warm conditions only
Aging happens in cool conditions
A good finish PH is 3.0
Vinegar lowers the PH
City water has PH of over 7.0 Use distilled water
If you want to make a smoky flavor sauce, wash and put the raw peppers in a BBQ smoker for about a two hours. They will pick up a smoke ring.
It's best to make a great tasting sauce then a real hot one. You can make anything HOT. Learn to make a good taste before you go to HOT.
How do I make money making hot sauce? It's easy! Just Find a Taste that everyone likes and a heat that everyone wants. That's all there is to it!
Fermenting happens in warm conditions only
Aging happens in cool conditions
A good finish PH is 3.0
Vinegar lowers the PH
City water has PH of over 7.0 Use distilled water
If you want to make a smoky flavor sauce, wash and put the raw peppers in a BBQ smoker for about a two hours. They will pick up a smoke ring.
It's best to make a great tasting sauce then a real hot one. You can make anything HOT. Learn to make a good taste before you go to HOT.
How do I make money making hot sauce? It's easy! Just Find a Taste that everyone likes and a heat that everyone wants. That's all there is to it!
Drying Peppers in a Air Fryer Oven using the Dehydrator Function
This is a quick and easy way to dry peppers.
NOTE:Face mask and gloves are important when working with peppers because the oils from the peppers can burn your skin, and the pain can linger.
NOTE:To make everyone happy and for safety, move air fryer away from family and pets. Fumes can cause odor, burning eyes and burning skin.
Once you have the Air Fryer Oven set up in a well-ventilated area, it’s time to dry your peppers.
First, wearing gloves wash and dry your chili peppers. Choose only fresh peppers. If they show any signs of rotting, throw them away.
Next, wearing gloves remove the stems and slice the thicker peppers into rings and thinner peppers in half.
If the peppers are medium or large in size, put them length-wise and place them on the Air Fryer tray with plenty of space around each piece for good airflow.
Smaller peppers (1 inch or less in length) can be left whole to dry.
Place the Air Fryer Oven Dehydrator temperature setting between 135 and 145 degrees.
Let the peppers lay in the dehydrator for 8 to 12 hours.
Check every so often to see if the smaller or thinner pieces have dried out.
Larger pepper pieces may take a few additional hours to dehydrate.
After drying is complete you have two choices: keep the peppers whole or grind them into powder form.
If you are keeping whole peppers, put in a mason jar or a zip lock bag to prevent moisture from getting on them.
If you are going to make a hot sauce or jelly or add to salt or garlic, you need to grind them up using an electric coffee grinder or spice grinder
Coffee grinders work well. For a fine powder choose one with a shallow blade height
De-seed or not to de-seed?
De-seeding before Air Frying is easy if you are drying peppers like jalapenos.
I use the Air Fryer Oven to dehydrate first and then scrape most of the seeds aside before grinding.
If you grind the peppers, seed and all, you will be dealing with a much hotter product.
There is no question that you will get Capsaicin on your skin or in your eyes.
Here are some first aid tips to help relieve some of the pain of Capsaicin on your skin.
Use Dairy
Consider using milk, yogurt, sour cream or cream, or even ice cream to soak the burning skin.
Oils
Dab some olive oil or any other vegetable oil onto your burning skin with cotton balls or a napkin. Soak or wipe the skin.
Dish Soap and Water
Dish soaps are meant to help clean oily plates, so they may be effective in washing away the chili oil from your burning skin.
Weak Bleach Solution
This is according to Alton Brown of “Good Eats”. He says to douse your already burning hands in a mild solution of 5 to 1 water to bleach.
The bleach helps wash away the capsaicin that hasn’t yet absorbed into your skin.
Baking Soda or Corn Starch Paste
Starches can help draw out the oil from your burning skin so you can wash it away and possibly neutralize it.
Selecting the right peppers for you
Selecting the right chili pepper to grow and eat sounds very simple.
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Forget about where you are in the world, soil conditions, whether you are growing in a garden or growing in a pot on a porch.
Grow a pepper that you enjoy eating. That is the correct answer.
What are you going to do with it at the end of the season? That's the next question.
We all grow two types of peppers: the type we like to eat and the type we like to have fun with (the HOT one).
We grow the very hot peppers for fun and for some recipes for cooking.
“What are the uses of peppers?”
1. Pickled chiles
2. Dried seeds for sale
3. Chili powder
4. Pepper sauce
5. Hot sauce
6. Jams
7. Fresh salsa
These are just a few ideas. There are actually 100's of uses for chili peppers.
What is the best soil for growing peppers?
The soil you use in growing your peppers is important not only for proper growth of the pepper, but also for flavor.
While with NACAR we met a man who used horse hockey and Florida dirt/sand to grow peppers on his back porch.
He said the smell was kinda bad for a week or so.
Other people buy dirt from the big box stores while others bring dirt back home from vacation.
The right soil is very important. If you're growing chili peppers in containers, maybe potting soil is the way to go.
Make sure you turn the pot 90 degrees weekly providing direct sunlight for the entire plant.
*Tip
Adding Epsom salts to the soil will add magnesium which helps pepper plants thrive.
They will also need to have rich compost added to help the roots grow. Keep watering to a minimum. This is especially best for hot peppers.
How to Plant and Sprout Hot Pepper Seeds!
Plant pepper seeds in pre-moistened seed starting mix or light potting soil.
You should plant the seeds flat, and then cover lightly with soil.
Pepper seeds should be started indoors, or in a greenhouse, and then transplanted once they are large enough and it is warm enough outside.
For best results, you should not plant pepper seeds directly outside.
Water carefully as needed to keep the soil moist but not drenched. Do not water from below, as this can adversely affect germination.
Covering your seed starting pots with Saran wrap or something similar to increase humidity will help the seeds to sprout.
Keep your planted seeds in a fairly warm spot while sprouting, as peppers won't even sprout if temperatures are much below 60F!
If you have a seed starting mat or warm spot, 80-85 is an optimum temperature for peppers and will speed-up sprouting. Otherwise,
try to keep the planted seeds at least at 70 or above. Depending on the variety, you may see your first sprouts in about 7-14 days,
but hot peppers can take as long as a month or more to come up. Pepper seeds are notorious for taking their time to germinate,
or germinating at different times, and it is not unusual for some of them to surprise you and sprout several weeks after the first ones.
Selecting the best seeds to replant
Selecting the best flavor peppers from the best plant is a big step to producing the same pepper year after year
Peppers on the sunny side of the plant are the best.
Drying chili pepper seeds for planting
1.Harvest the peppers after they have fully developed. When they are mature, the skin begins to wrinkle.
Peppers must mature on the vine to develop viable seeds.
2.Cut the pepper in half with a clean knife. Shake the seeds out of the pepper halves and into a bowl. Dislodge any seeds that cling to the flesh with your fingers.
Remove any vegetable pieces that fall into the bowl so only the seeds remain.
3.Line a plate with a paper towel. Spread the seeds out on top the towel in a single layer, arranging the seeds so they do not touch each other.
4.Set the plate in a dry, well-ventilated area away from direct sunlight. Allow the seeds to dry for one to two weeks. Replace the paper towel if it becomes damp before the seeds dry.
5.Transfer the dry seeds to an airtight container. Label the container with pepper variety and harvest month and year. Store in a dark, cool place, 32 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit,
until spring planting.
*Tip
The refrigerator provides proper storage temperature for pepper seeds, which helps them stay viable.
-Warning-
Wear gloves when handling hot peppers and their seeds. The oils on these pepper varieties can irritate the skin and/or eyes.
Peppers on the sunny side of the plant are the best.
Drying chili pepper seeds for planting
1.Harvest the peppers after they have fully developed. When they are mature, the skin begins to wrinkle.
Peppers must mature on the vine to develop viable seeds.
2.Cut the pepper in half with a clean knife. Shake the seeds out of the pepper halves and into a bowl. Dislodge any seeds that cling to the flesh with your fingers.
Remove any vegetable pieces that fall into the bowl so only the seeds remain.
3.Line a plate with a paper towel. Spread the seeds out on top the towel in a single layer, arranging the seeds so they do not touch each other.
4.Set the plate in a dry, well-ventilated area away from direct sunlight. Allow the seeds to dry for one to two weeks. Replace the paper towel if it becomes damp before the seeds dry.
5.Transfer the dry seeds to an airtight container. Label the container with pepper variety and harvest month and year. Store in a dark, cool place, 32 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit,
until spring planting.
*Tip
The refrigerator provides proper storage temperature for pepper seeds, which helps them stay viable.
-Warning-
Wear gloves when handling hot peppers and their seeds. The oils on these pepper varieties can irritate the skin and/or eyes.
