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I am a wife, mother and grandma who enjoys the many aspects of homemaking. A variety of interests and hobbies combined with travel keep me active. They reflect the importance of family, friends, home and good food.
Cook ingredients that you are used to cooking by other techniques, such as fish, chicken, or hamburgers. In other words be comfortable with the ingredients you are using.
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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce Copycat Recipe

As a result of milder fall temperatures the pepper plants were still producing nicely through the mid portion of last week.  The plants were still loaded with a lot of green cayenne peppers mid-week (Oct. 20).  The extended weather forecast showed a low of 0ºC on Wednesday and -3ºC the following day.  The daily low temperatures would be hovering around the freezing mark for the rest of the week. With the chance of frost nearing I decided it would be prudent to pick all the green cayenne peppers so as to not lose them.  Once they turn red I will go ahead and preserve them as well.

cayenne peppers
Cayenne peppers are so pretty on the plant when they turn their showy red colour!   Cayenne peppers range between 30,000 and 50,000 Scoville units or about a tenth as hot as habanero peppers.  They are rather easy to preserve by stringing to dry.  Once dried cayenne peppers can be powdered in a blender if desired. 

Another popular way of preserving cayenne peppers is making a cayenne pepper sauce.  I picked all of the red cayenne peppers to make a test batch of a hot sauce copycat recipe I am creating.  Aren't they gorgeous? 

Frank's RedHot Sauce Clone
Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce is a key ingredient in the traditional hot sauce for chicken wings.  Ingredients listed on the bottle are aged cayenne red peppers, vinegar, water, salt and garlic powder.   I made the first batch (pictured) using cloves of garlic instead of garlic powder.  It tasted fairly close to Frank's Hot sauce freshly made.

Hot sauce mellows over time once the flavours have had a chance to blend well.  I will make the second batch using garlic powder as a comparison.  Hot sauce does not need to be canned as it will keep for quite some time in the refrigerator.  I can mine to save space in the refrigerator.  The small 125 ml (4oz) jars are perfect for this as when mixed with the same amount of butter there is just the right amount of traditional hot wing sauce for a family sized meal.

Frank's RedHot Original Copy Cat Recipe

18 red cayenne peppers
2 c white vinegar
3 cloves garlic
½ tsp sea salt

Wash and cut the stem end from the cayenne peppers.  Place in a stainless steel saucepan.  Add vinegar, salt and garlic.  Bring just to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a low simmer.  Simmer until peppers are soft.  Pour mixture into a blender.  Blend well.  Pass through fine mesh metal strainer.

If canning: Pour into prepared jars.  Wipe rim.  Adjust lids.  Processing in boiling water bath canner 10 minutes.  Remove from canner.  Allow to cool then test for seal, label and store.

If refrigerating:  Allow the strained sauce to cool.  Pour into clean bottle and cap.  Refrigerate.


17 food lovers commented:

stainless steel banding said...

Going out to any restaurants can be an be more expensive, especially if you have a few kids with you. Why not make your favorite dishes yourself. You will be surprised how easy it is to cook great meals, after you learn the secrets. Mastering some of the secrets can save you a lot of money and time by cooking your own meals at home.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for this post!

I had no idea it was this simple (and CHEAP) to make great tasting Hot Sauce :-)

I had to get a little 'creative' with your recipe as I don't have fresh peppers or garlic handy, but I tried using ground cayennes and garlic powder instead and 'guesstimating' your recipe's ratio and it still turned out pretty good (if a little garlic-y).


Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for this recipe!
How much will this yeild?

Anonymous said...

how much will this yield? Thanks

Anonymous said...

Awesome. I'm going to try it this weekend. If I don't burn down the house I'll make a big batch for Christmas presents. Thanks.

Unknown said...

How much garlic powder would I use

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the recipe. I'd like to make it for my husband, who uses a lot of hot sauce.
Do you know if you can double the recipe when canning it? Or would I need to make individual batches, like I do with jam?

Garden Gnome said...

Hi Anonymous, yes you can double or even triple the recipe. Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

The 3 cup yield sounds right (2 cups of vinegar + the peppers), however 3 cups would take more like 6 125ml jars. 125ml is just a hair over 1/2 cup.

Garden Gnome said...

The yield is three 125 ml jars as pictured.

Renee said...

I made this recipe several times last year and it was a huge hit! The only thing I didn't like was how thin it was. I was wondering if you'd ever used pectin or any thickeners in this? If so, have you canned a thickened version? Thanks for the great recipe!

Monica C said...

I am going to be making a version of this recipe tonight- but with ghost chilis- wish me luck !!!

iir said...

Hello! I was wondering how strong vinegar are you using? 5%?

Garden Gnome said...

Hi iir :) Yes, I use 5% acetic acid by volume vinegar.

Unknown said...

How did your sauce turn out? I'm going to try to make this using my hoke grown Carolina Reaper. I'd like to create something with a flavor similar to Frank's with a bit mlre heat...

Unknown said...

This is AWESOME!!! I had no idea that you could make your own version of the RedHot sauce, it's literally my husband's favorite! This past year we grew some jalepenos, and they turned out sooo much better than expected. I think I'll try some cayenne peppers next year! Thanks for sharing <3

Unknown said...

Hi...I am wondering about the salt content. I'm looking for a very similar recipe for Frank's because I'm obsessed with it but the amount of sodium for a tsp is kind of high when you're drowning almost everything you eat with it. How do you think it would taste if I were to completely omit the salt? Thanks in advance.