Cooking with hot sauces

[Alan]

I love cooking with hot peppers (cayennes and habaneros) and have been wondering about the
hot sauces.

I tried hot wings with a "kamikaze sauce" at one restaurant and after about five, I could feel my
stomach muscles violently churning and could eat no more - I felt like I wanted to throw up. It
wasn't the cayenne peppers in it that bothered me, I've eaten much hotter (wings breaded and
sprinkled very generously with cayenne or habanero then baked), it was just the sauce had so much
vinegar in it that it was like drinking gasoline.

I have noticed that vinegar seems to be a staple in these sauces and what I am wondering is, if I
mix the hot sauce into my food (say ground beef) or marinate the wings or steaks in it BEFORE I cook
them rather than putting it on after they are cooked, will the heat of cooking remove the vile
vinegar taste? To me, the food should produce a warming (or fire) in the mouth not giving one the
feeling one wants to vomit.

Alan

 

[Siobhan Perrico]

On Fri, 30 Jan 2004 13:48:19 -0500, "Alan" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I have noticed that vinegar seems to be a staple in these sauces and what I am wondering is, if I
>mix the hot sauce into my food (say ground beef) or marinate the wings or steaks in it BEFORE I
>cook them rather than putting it on after they are cooked, will the heat of cooking remove the vile
>vinegar taste? To me, the food should produce a warming (or fire) in the mouth not giving one the
>feeling one wants to vomit.

Some vinegar will evaporate, but if you don't like the taste of vinegar, stop using sauces that have
it as a primary ingredient. Use ground, dried peppers. Penzey's has a wide variety and you can add
them to dishes with impunity. If you need it liquid, then make your own sauce out of it without
vinegar.

--
Siobhan Perricone
The actions taken by the New Hampshire Episcopalians are an affront to
Christians everywhere. I am just thankful that the church's founder, Henry
VIII, and his wife Catherine of Aragon, his wife Anne Boleyn, his wife Jane
Seymour, his wife Anne of Cleves, his wife Catherine Howard and his wife
Catherine Parr are no longer here to suffer through this assault on our
"traditional Christian marriage."
- Owen Keavney

 

[Steve Wertz]

On Fri, 30 Jan 2004 13:48:19 -0500, "Alan" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I have noticed that vinegar seems to be a staple in these sauces and what I am wondering is, if I
>mix the hot sauce into my food (say ground beef) or marinate the wings or steaks in it BEFORE I
>cook them rather than putting it on after they are cooked, will the heat of cooking remove the vile
>vinegar taste? To me, the food should produce a warming (or fire) in the mouth not giving one the
>feeling one wants to vomit.

Veinegar evaporates at at the same temperature as water,so yes - cooking something in vinegar will
remove much of it. The downside being that marinating meat in vinegar will partially cook the meat.

-sw

 

[Jmcquown]

Siobhan Perricone wrote:
> On Fri, 30 Jan 2004 13:48:19 -0500, "Alan" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I have noticed that vinegar seems to be a staple in these sauces and what I am wondering is, if I
>> mix the hot sauce into my food (say ground beef) or marinate the wings or steaks in it BEFORE I
>> cook them rather than putting it on after they are cooked, will the heat of cooking remove the
>> vile vinegar taste? To me, the food should produce a warming (or fire) in the mouth not giving
>> one the feeling one wants to vomit.
>
> Some vinegar will evaporate, but if you don't like the taste of vinegar, stop using sauces that
> have it as a primary ingredient. Use ground, dried peppers. Penzey's has a wide variety and you
> can add them to dishes with impunity. If you need it liquid, then make your own sauce out of it
> without vinegar.

Agreed! Doesn't sound like it's the taste of vinegar that is bothering him but the acidity. If he
must use the bottled stuff, then I'd suggest some Pepcid AC first

Jill

 

[Rodney Myrvaagn]

On Fri, 30 Jan 2004 13:48:19 -0500, "Alan" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I love cooking with hot peppers (cayennes and habaneros) and have been wondering about the
>hot sauces.
>
>I tried hot wings with a "kamikaze sauce" at one restaurant and after about five, I could feel my
>stomach muscles violently churning and could eat no more - I felt like I wanted to throw up. It
>wasn't the cayenne peppers in it that bothered me, I've eaten much hotter (wings breaded and
>sprinkled very generously with cayenne or habanero then baked), it was just the sauce had so much
>vinegar in it that it was like drinking gasoline.
>
>I have noticed that vinegar seems to be a staple in these sauces and what I am wondering is, if I
>mix the hot sauce into my food (say ground beef) or marinate the wings or steaks in it BEFORE I
>cook them rather than putting it on after they are cooked, will the heat of cooking remove the vile
>vinegar taste? To me, the food should produce a warming (or fire) in the mouth not giving one the
>feeling one wants to vomit.
>
At this time of year we don't get locally harvested peppers, and I often use some hot sauce if I
want to warm up something I am cooking. Some are better than others, but the hotter the sauce, the
less vinegar you will add.

Another possibility is make your own sauce when peppers are in season near you. Then whatever
happens you can't blame anyone else.

Rodney Myrvaagnes J36 Gjo/a

The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of
discouraging rational inquiry.
- Richard Dawkins, "Viruses of the Mind"