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How to turn a sauce into a seasoning?

21K views 16 replies 14 participants last post by  someday 
#1 ·
How do I make a sauce into a pepper-like substance (dried and in small flake-form)?

Do I just dry it and then do something else to it?

I want to make one of my favorite sauces into a pepper-like thing, and then put it in a pepper shaker so I can sprinkle it on food.

Please tell me how to do this.
 
#3 ·
I'd be surprised if this is something that can be done at home. Commerical outfits with the ability to flash-freeze/freeze-dry foods might be able to produce such a condiment, but in the home kitchen, without the specialized chemistry of the big guys, how would you keep it from clumping, or becoming rancid, or loosing flavor quality over time [if it can be done at all]?
 
#5 ·
Backpackers do something kind of similar. However, the flavor shifts some in the process and it may not keep that well, particularly, if it has fats/oils in it. Fats/oils can even go bad during the drying process in some cases. Not every sauce can be treated this way.

You'll need a food dehydrator and the sheets used for making fruit leather. The time it takes to completely dry will vary with the type of sauce and how much you're making. Then the sauce is broken up. For your situation, you may want to use a food processor or clean coffee/spice grinder to get the right grind.

It's entirely possible the flakes/powder will not hydrate fast enough on table food to create the flavor you want either. You may also have clumping problems.

I don't have a reference link, but if you google on terms like 'backback' 'dehydrator' 'sauces' you should find some references.
 
#6 ·
You're looking for a form of "deydration." There are a few traditional cooking techniques, and of course in the commercial realm there's freeze drying -- which is a way of vacuum dehydrating as and after the food freezes.

However, most sauces don't take well to these processes. If you think about how few dried sauces are available in the supermarket, you'll come to the same conclusion on your own.

Furthermore, some sauces which do freeze dry adequately wouldn't be suitable for your application, because they take a while to fully reconstitute.

On the other hand, a variety of artificial flavorings are available, such as sour cream, onion, vinegar, ranch, barbecue, chili-lemon -- think of flavored "snack" foods. Most of these can be purchased in relatively small quantities, but it's going to take you some research to find suppliers.

You didn't mention which sauce you had in mind. Sometimes reticence is a sign that people are thinking of a commercial development and don't want to give away their inspiration. If so, I suggest an extensive online search to see if there's anything at all like what you have in mind already available, and talking with a food chemist.

BDL
 
#7 ·
I trust you are not a chemist or in a lab of any type. (As you state," cant boil water") You are looking for trouble, if your concoction did work the slightest bit of humidity based moisture or condensation would render it ideal culture for bacteria and therefore food poisoning. As BDL mentioned buy it from a flavoring company instead. They do it with correct equipment.:lol:
 
#9 ·
I would not recommend going the route of drying a wet sauce, I would try to recreate it using dry ingredients.
It really comes down to the base.
Tomato based?
Dried tomato powder.
With your garlic and onion powders, and all of your dried spices, you should be able to come close.
If you use honey, you might have to adjust to brown sugar, etc.
I would think that with a little experimentation you should be able to come up with something that is close to the original.
It would be difficult to come up with something spot on.
 
#13 ·
You can very easily get vinegar powders, pepper powders and all the other seasonings you will need to make this in the store. Be careful when using them, because they are dried they are also concentrated so they are much stronger and when you start to mix dried hot sauces they get in the air and can burn your eyes, make sure you have a simple mask and are in a well ventilated area.
 
#14 ·
If you were using a fatty sauce I would recommend investigating tapioca methyl-cellulose (willpowder is a good source). If you can't quite match the flavours of your wet sauce with a dry spice blend (which seems to me to be a entirely workable method) you could try flavouring salt with your sauce.

--Al
 
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