Cayenne Cooking Wine?

[WineNewbie]

I've read through some of the old posts where some have made Jalapeno and Habenero wines. I have grown lots of hot peppers this year (jalapeno, habenero and cayenne) and I seem to have an overwhelming surplus of cayenne and habenero (the jalapenos get used up in canning salsa and making poppers, etc)


Now the question: Any reason why I can't take the recipe and methods for making say a jalapeno wine and use cayenne instead? My favorite hot sauces are made with Cayenne (Franks Red Hot), so I figured why not try a cayenne wine to spice up my chili or to marinade some chicken.


Any thoughts on this? How many peppers do you think for a gallon? I have no shortage. Jack Keller calls for I think 16 jalapenos in his recipe, so I was thinking maybe 3-4 cayennes to one jalapeno, so maybe 48-64 cayenne's for a gallon. What about yeast? Montrachet? Any other body building ingredients?


I'm open to suggestions. Would like to get started in the next night or two. So far I've been freezing all the extra peppers.Edited by: WineNewbie

 

[smurfe]

I don't know what to tell you about the wine but why not just make your own hot sauce? I think it would be a much more versatile product if you are wanting this for cooking. Most home made hot sauces I have tried have been superior in flavor to the store bought variety available to most meaning the brand that is made in my area that is distributed world wide.


In regards to the wine, you might want to up the pepper volume if this will not be for drinking. Remember, for the recipe you are looking at is intended for drinking and will have a lighter flavor. I would think you would want a higher flavor profile for cooking as the alcohol will burn off with cooking and possibly not leave a lot of flavor.


If you go for it though, be sure to post up the progress and results here. I would really be interested in your results. Edited by: smurfe

 

[corn field]

Rember to look at the fact that cayenne peppers are way hoter than jalapeno peppers. Actually you should use less or it will be so hot you can not use it. Alcohol intensifies the heat. I would sugest 6-8 peppers per gallon just MHO. Cut or chop the peppers before they go into the ferminter for full heat

 

[WineNewbie]

Well since I have Smurfe suggesting to up the pepper volume and Corn telling me to cut the pepper volume, I took a happy medium and left the volume right where I orginally thought...about 60.


Chopped in food processor with a little water to puree. I dumped into a strainer bag. Didn't have a whole pound of raisins, so I used what I had (about half pound) and added a can of welches white grape concentrate. Topped up with water to a gallon (or a little more than a gallon) added sugar to SG of 1.078.Then added acid blend, campden tablet, nutrient, and a 1/4 tsp of tannin (what the heck).


Tonight will add Pectic Enzyme and will pitch yeast tomorrow. Probably Montrachet or Champagne.


This has turned into a real experiment. Have no idea how it will come out, but you never know. Doesn't cost me a whole lot to try. I did taste a few drips, and it is hot, but not so much that it had me running for a drink. I think the sweetness right now offsets the hot a little. Will be interesting to see if the heat rises once all the sugar is gone and the alcohol takes over. I know....I need to get better at taking pictures. Will keep this post updated if anyone is interested.


Smurfe: I do like your idea of making hot sauce, but have never tried. Still have lots of peppers left. Do you know of a recipe?

 

[smurfe]

Like I said, it all depends on what you are using it for. If for drinking, definitely use less. If for only cooking, use more. As I said, for cooking I would still just make hot sauce. I guess it is because I just use a regular white or red wine for cooking and add any spice or other flavor to layer the flavors.Here are a couple links from Masta's hot sauce making.


http://www.finevinewines.com/Wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=824


http://www.finevinewines.com//Wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2188&PN=1

 

[JimCook]

Appleman made that nuclear apple-pepper wine about a year and half ago or so - you could probably compare his volume with capsaicin levels in cayenne peppers to get an equivalent amount calculated (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale).


- Jim

 

[WineNewbie]

Transferred the Cayenne wine into glass tonight. These one gallon batches ferment so fast. 1.078 to 1.002 in 3 days. Had to use the old fashion method of getting the siphon going, so I got a mouthful. Whew it has some heat for sure

. Think it's going to be good. It's hard to tell what the color will end up being when it clears. I'm thinking sort of a Rose.


Here's a couple pictures. Left to right is a gallon of Apple, gallon of Cayenne, 3 Gallons of Welches Concord and the big on is my MM Renaissance Old Vines Merlot.