Chillies = wear gloves....

[fatbloke]

Ok, so in my stupidity and lack of ideas last year, when my chillies were finally ripe, I'd pickled the jalapenos but the rest of them were blitzed and then soaked in vodka.

They've had like 9 or 10 months for the capsaicin to dissolve.

I've just tried to strain the pulp in a fruit/jam straining bag, a bit unsuccessfully i.e. it's an old style cloth and seems to have absorbed some of the capsaicin so I had to try and "wring" it.

Anyway, I've managed to press as much spirit/capsaicin out of the pulp as possible, but currently have the pulp simmering in water to try and dissolve any more capsaicin that might still be present in the umbilical tissue and seeds.

Now I doubt whether many of us here at WAH are into chilli and sauce etc like I am, but if you are, then a word to the wise........ wear some disposable gloves.

The types of chilli I've used are vvv hot ones and right now, it feels like the backs of my hands are on fire, well at least, like the chilli pulp, simmering gently.....

I've tried rubbing my hands with butter and then washing it off, I've tried straight soap, I've even tried alcohol wipes to try and stop it - all to no avail!

I'll just have to wait for it to wear off - enjoying a nice cold bottle of becks in the mean time!

hey ho! we all live and learn!

regards

a complete idiot!

p.s. Oh and if you're suffering any "nasal congestion", I can confirm that simmering chilli pulp is as effective, if not more so, then menthol

[NorthernWiner]

Now I doubt whether many of us here at WAH are into chilli and sauce etc like I am

John,

I'm a pepper head myself. I grow several different varieties on my patio garden, some hot, some mild, and some that are just plain insane (scotch bonnet).

Oily compounds such as butter (as you mentioned) or vegetable oil provide some relief. Petroleum jelly also works great.

As you are also probably aware, use some caution when going to the toilet as capsaicin will be transferred from your hands to... um... anything your hands touch.

[fatbloke]

John,

I'm a pepper head myself. I grow several different varieties on my patio garden, some hot, some mild, and some that are just plain insane (scotch bonnet).

Oily compounds such as butter (as you mentioned) or vegetable oil provide some relief. Petroleum jelly also works great.

As you are also probably aware, use some caution when going to the toilet as capsaicin will be transferred from your hands to... um... anything your hands touch.

It's good to know that I'm not the only one with asbestos taste buds.....

The butter didn't work and I haven't got any petroleum jelly so it's just "leave it alone" time.

And yes, I know of the "toilet issues"...... I made that mistake before.....

The actual chillies that have been processed, are "dorset naga", bhut jolokia and a couple of different habanero's (this year plants are more dorset naga, zimbabwe bird pepper, "long john" habanero's and there's 2 more but I can't remember the name of those).

In fact, the only real reason why I started to finish the processing was because I ran out of hot sauce (it was called "dragons blood").

I found an absolutely wicked (UK based) online supplier which looks like it's got some excellent sauce.... so I won't have to go through the hassle of doing mail order from the US (it's not the prices, but the shipping that's the killer)!

The stuff that's simmering at the moment was really weird though, when I was wringing the straining cloth, there was this oily/waxy dark liquid that would run down my hands....... I can only guess that there is a small amount of oil/wax that comes off the skins and seeds (the capsaicin itself is white/clear crystaline but would have been in solution mainly, in the spirit).

Can't wait to try it once it's reduced down and it's got a bit of oil and vinegar in it to finish. It'll be my very first batch of home brew chilli sauce - the hotter the better

regards

JtFB

[fatbloke]

Ok, so after just about 36 hours of the warm burning sensation of chilli, on my hands (no, none of the so called remedies seems to have worked to remove or neutralise the capsaicin), it would seem that my efforts to make a hot chilli sauce have worked.

So, to start with, I just blitzed the chillies and stirred them into vodka, that was last september/october and sealed them into a couple of kilner type jars.

Yesterday, I strained them and wrung the straining cloth out. The remaining pulp was them placed in a pressing bag and that was put into the press - before pressing I rinsed the pulp in vodka again, then pressed the pulp collecting the resulting liquor and adding it to liquor collected from straining earlier.

That part of the process took about an hour.

The pulp was then placed in a pan with water and brought to the boil, then simmered to reduce it by half.

Then I used a sieve to remove most of the pulp, leaving a small amount so that the end product might have some texture.

Then the first jar of vodka (would that be described as "tincture of chilli" ?) went into the pan, that was then reduced by half. The second jar of vodka/chilli liquor was a large one as it was the strained liquid, plus the extra bit that I'd rinsed the pulp in (whether rinsing the pulp in vodka actually recovered any more capsaicin ? I don't know) well half of that went into the pan and was reduced by half, then the final part of the vodka/chilli liquor went into the pan and was reduced by 2/3's.

This ended up as a rather murky orangey brown liquid which had 4 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of salt, 5 fluid Oz's of vinegar and olive oil each added and then stirred. Finally to give it some thickness, half a pint of water with 3 heaped teaspoons of ground arrowroot was added and it was all whisked together.

The result, a kilner jar that holds about 1 3/4 pints of fluid, except the sauce is like a slightly jellified murky orangey brown, semi-set gunk!

So it's not that appealling to look at, but did my efforts work ?

The answer is a categorical YES! It doesn't quite have the depth of flavour that some of the proprietary commercially made chilli sauces have but it's turned out hotter than satans ring-piece after a visit to the hades curry shop!

It has to be used with great caution, in tiny quantities. So if I can find decent jars to put some in, it will make ideal birthday/crimbo presents for both my brother and nephew, both of whom think that "they can do hot chilli sauce". Ha ha!, they're gonna learn differently......

regards

JtFB

p.s. and yes, while I don't know why the removal of the capsaicin/chilli extract from my hands didn't work, I can happily confirm that extracting the capsaicin with vodka does work - very well!

Just thought you'd like to know.....

[fatbloke]

Ha(:laughing at you in non derogatory/inscrutable oriental fashion smiley) if you are using your pickled chillies Don't, enjoy them!, they are best done in brine, save the vodie for sippers!, next time you want chili sauce try this.
sweet chilli sce

10 red chilli )
10 green chilli ) deseeded
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 lge onion chopped
2lb sugar
1pt vinegar
2pt water
100g fresh ginger scraped & chopped
4 head garlic peeled
200g tom puree

hot sce
keep seeds in chilies
only 1pt water
only1lb sugar

enjoy!

Nah! I pickled the jalapenos - the ones used for the sauce were Dorset Naga, Bhut Jolokia and 2 or 3 different habaneros - all vvv hot.

The hot ones don't make good pickled chilli - the jalapenos don't make good sauce but are brilliant pickled (and you really need a greenhouse that's got 8 or 9 foot of growing clearance - the jalapeno plant are very tall).

regards

JtFB

[grandmawoods]

For future reference, lemon juice will help take the sting out of the skin. This is a short term remedy. My hands stung for a week after doing habaneros a few years back. The best bet is rubber gloves, and don't knick the fingers or the juice still gets in.