Florida Survival Gardening: A DIY Smoked Hot Pepper Sauce Recipe

I love spicy foods so much I grow my own peppers.

However, as frosts sweep through in the fall and winter, sometimes you're stuck picking a whole bunch of peppers all at once in order to save them from the cold.

Since peppers are edible and tasty in all stages of growth, why not make yourself a big batch of hot pepper sauce?

Even better, why not make yourself a big batch of SMOKED hot pepper sauce?

Last week I showed you how I turned my StoveTec rocket stove into a makeshift smoker.

Today I'll show you how to take your smoked peppers and turn them into a hot sauce that's so savory and incredible that it would make Chuck Norris cry. That is, if he had tear ducts.

Ready? Let's make it!

A Smoked Hot Pepper Sauce Recipe

First, start with a batch of smoked hot peppers.

Red and green cayennes, jalapenos, habaneros, paprikas... I even threw in a handful of green tomatoes.

Now chop off the stems. I use my pair of small Felco picking shears. (RANDOM PRODUCT PLACEMENT!!! EVIL CAPITALISMS!!! Hehhehheheheheheh)

Throw your peppers in the blender.

It doesn't have to be a grungy hard-water-marked thrift store blender like mine. It can be a nice new blender. Any blender will do, really.

Now cover the peppers in vinegar. If you like cider vinegar, use that. I've used white wine vinegar and it was excellent. This time I only have white distilled vinegar, so I used it. It still will taste amazing - trust me.

After you've covered your hot peppers with vinegar, run the blender!

I know, that stuff looks like a baaaaaaaaaaaaad college weekend, but stick with me.

Now it's time to add a tablespoon of salt.

Then a tablespoon of sugar.

And finally, a tablespoon of garlic powder. Unless you thought to add some garlic cloves to your smoker when you did the peppers... mmm.

That's a really weirdly surrealistic image.

Thank you, Mrs. David The Good.

Wow.

Really strange.

Okay, now you blend the sauce a final time to mix it all in, then pour your freshly minted smoky homemade hot pepper sauce into Mason jars for canning.

At this point you can either throw your hot sauce in the fridge (it will keep for a long time that way, thanks to the vinegar) or you can go ahead and can it. I opted for the latter.

This sauce has a rich, smoky-hot flavor that will make you want to eat more and more of it. I've been enjoying it on my eggs every morning, as well as in my chili... on my chicken... in my ice cream...

It's really good. Try and see. Homemade pepper sauce is pretty simple... but it will have your guests raving over your incredible culinary skills.

So long as they don't see the grungy blender you made it in. That's our little secret.