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Vinegar in Hot Sauce 101: The Essential Guide
- Last Updated: October 6, 2024
All of Your Vinegar in Hot Sauce Questions, Answered.
If there was a trinity of hot sauce, it would be chili peppers, vinegar and salt (but if you’re needing to watch your salt intake, check out my other blog on the Best Low Sodium Hot Sauce). Also, this trinity is not to be confused with Irazu Unholy Trinity Hot Sauce which is comprised of Ghost (Naga Jolokia), Trinidad Scorpion and Carolina Reaper peppers. Vinegar in hot sauce is the second most important part of that trinity.
In this blog, we’ll cover:
-A brief history & science of vinegar.
-Why we need vinegar in hot sauce.
-The 6 best types of vinegar for a hot sauce.
-What to do if you hate vinegar in hot sauce.
By the end, you’ll have an impressive understanding of all things vinegar. And you’ll know enough about it to up your sauce-making game with more diverse and complex flavors.
Let’s dive in!
What is Vinegar?
The best place to start is with the name, which comes from vyn egre. “Vyn” means wine and “egre” means sour. And just about everything you need to know about vinegar is summed up in that name — sour wine.
You see, vinegar is basically just fermented alcohol. It’s second generation booze. And if you want to get more technical, we can say that it is,
Water (90-95%) + Acetic Acid (5-10%) = Vinegar
And this acetic acid is what you get when you let a little organism called aceto bacteria get drunk off your liquor. It can be any liquor too, not just wine. You could have your aceto bacteria feed off cider, grain alcohol, grape must, coconut and more.
The basic formula is:
-Add a grain or sugar (potato, rice, grape, apple) to water
-Let yeast turn the sugars into ethyl alcohol
-Put some aceto bacteria in the mix to feed off the alcohol
-Collect the acetic acid they produce as waste
-Dilute it with some water
And voila, there’s your vinegar! You can make it from just about any kind of sugar that’s been turned into an alcohol (which gives you all of the different vinegar flavors that we’ll talk about in a moment).
This is all interesting, but it does beg the question…
“Why Do We Need Vinegar in Hot Sauce?”
Well, for two reasons:
1 – To preserve it.
2 – To drive its flavor.
Acetic acid kills microbes that cause foods to spoil and allows it to last longer. This is why you see bottles of Cholula® sitting out on the tables of Mexican restaurants for what seems like years on end (but remember, we’re not talking refrigeration, that’s a whole other topic you can read about here).
The FDA classifies vinegar as an “acidified food,” which means that it’s heavily regulated. And according to FDA guidelines, an acidified food has to maintain a pH level of 4.6 or below. One of the only ways to achieve this is by using vinegar, hence why it’s so common.
But vinegar also drives the flavor of most hot sauces. It adds that unmistakable sour, tangy, and lip-smacking quality. For many, that flavor is indispensable.
If you are wondering how much vinegar to use to preserve hot sauce, the standard recommendation Is 20-30% (by weight).
Different vinegars also add unique flavors to a sauce. And, if you know how to use them, vinegar in hot sauce can bring incredible depth to them. Which leads us to…
The 6 Best Vinegars for a Hot Sauce
There are as many types of vinegars as there are sugars to ferment. Which is basically a way of saying that there’s a lot of different kinds! Potatoes, rice, corn, fruit — any of these work for making vinegar.
But when it comes to hot sauces, not all vinegars are made equal. And some have established themselves as the quintessential hot sauce vinegars.
So, without any further ado (and in no particular order), here are your Top 6 Hot Sauce Vinegars.
1. White Vinegar
All hail the king of vinegars! White vinegar in hot sauce is by far the common vinegar used. Really, the most common in all of cooking.
It’s made from a grain alcohol similar to vodka, so it has the most neutral taste out of any vinegar. This makes it perfect as a foundation for other ingredients.
You can think of it as a blank slate that allows other flavors to shine through. Despite its neutral flavor, though, white vinegar is still strong, sharp and forward.
There are countless sauces that use white vinegar as a base, but Fresco Sauce Chipotle & Habanero Hot Sauce is one of my favorites.
This great sauce was featured on the hit YouTube show Hot Ones Season 12.
Example hot sauce containing
White Vinegar:
Fresco Sauce Chipotle & Habanero Hot Sauce
Ingredients: Habanero Peppers, Chipotle Chili Powder, Carrots, Distilled White Vinegar, Olive Oil, Garlic, Salt, Organic Sugar, Black Pepper, Water.
Other Great White Vinegar Hot Sauces
2. Apple Cider Vinegar
Since this vinegar is derived from apple cider, it has a sweeter, fruitier taste. It also has an incredibly distinctive flavor (as anyone who’s tried Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar straight-up can attest), while still being softer than white vinegar.
Apple cider vinegar pairs best with a sweeter hot sauce. For example, those containing fruit like mango or pineapple.
For example, one of my favorite hot sauces that uses it is Earthquake Spice’s Space Dust, which pairs an apple cider vinegar base with habaneros and pineapple for a taste that’s out of this world!
Earthquake Spices Space Dust Hot Sauce
Original price was: $9.99.$7.99Current price is: $7.99.In stock
Example hot sauce containing
Apple Cider Vinegar:
Earthquake Spices Space Dust
Ingredients: Pineapple, Habaneros, Sweetness Carrots, Apple Cider Vinegar, Cumin, Cinnamon, Brown Sugar, Red Onion, Xanthan Gum
Other Great Apple Cider Vinegar Hot Sauces
3. White Wine Vinegar
This vinegar is taken from white wine and has a sweeter, more mellow taste. It’s tart, but doesn’t have the same bite as a white vinegar. It’s perfectly in the middle — not too sour, not too sweet.
Because it has a lower acidity, though, you’ll see it often blended with another vinegar. However, a great example of a sauce without another vinegar mixed in is Bravado Spice Co.’s Pineapple & Habanero.
Bravado Spice Co. Pineapple & Habanero Hot Sauce
Original price was: $8.99.$6.99Current price is: $6.99.In stock
Example hot sauce containing
White Wine Vinegar:
Bravado Spice Co. Pineapple & Habanero Hot Sauce
Ingredients: Pineapple, Habanero, Yellow Bell Pepper, White Wine Vinegar, Garlic, Sea Salt.
Other Great White Wine Vinegar Hot Sauces
4. Rice Wine Vinegar
Rice Wine Vinegar in hot sauce has a very delicate flavor. Out of all vinegars, it probably has the mildest flavor. Sweet and not overwhelming.
If you see just “Rice Vinegar” on the label, don’t be confused, rice wine vinegar is the same thing as rice vinegar.
It is best to pair rice wine vinegar with another type such as apple cider or white.
There are quite a few hot sauces that incorporate rice wine vinegar. One of my favorites is High River Sauces Foo Foo Mama Choo Hot Sauce which is made with the hottest pepper on earth, the Carolina Reaper.
Example hot sauce containing
Rice Wine Vinegar:
Foo Foo Mama Choo Hot Sauce
Ingredients: Roasted Red Peppers (roasted peppers, water, salt, citric acid), Fire Roasted Tomatoes (vine ripened tomatoes, tomato juice, salt, citric acid), Rice Wine Vinegar, Reaper Peppers, Onions, Brown Sugar, Garlic, Soy Sauce, Ginger Root, Salt, White Pepper, Secret Herbs & Spices.
Other Great Rice Wine Vinegar Hot Sauces
5. Red Wine Vinegar
Red wine vinegar in hot sauce is a little less common than other vinegar but it still works great for some hot sauces. A lot of people love the distinct flavor, which is slightly fruity.
It mixes great with other vinegar too.
One of my favorite hot sauces to use Red Wine Vinegar is from one my favorite hot sauce companies, Fresco Sauce out of California.
Example hot sauce containing
Red Wine Vinegar:
Fresco Sauce Chile de Arbol
Ingredients: Water, Red Bell Peppers, Red Wine Vinegar, Mangos, Garlic, Arbol Chiles, Salt, Black Pepper.
Other Great Red Wine Vinegar Hot Sauces
6. Balsamic Vinegar
Balsamic vinegar in hot sauce? This is the wildcard of hot sauce vinegars, and you won’t find it used that often. If you can find it, it’s an amazing addition when it’s used right.
Made from grape must, real balsamic vinegar is an art form. It has to be made with a very specific grape from Modena and aged in progressively smaller barrels for 15-25 years. Our Flower City Flavor Company Dark Traditional Balsamic Vinegar is one of the best available on the market.
But even some (semi-) knock-off balsamic vinegars can go great in hot sauce. Because their flavor is so powerful and distinct, though, it’s usually best to dilute it with another vinegar, like apple cider.
You have to dig a little bit to find a sauce that uses balsamic. The one that really stands out In my mind is Angry Goat Pepper Co.’s Chocolate Habanero, Balsamic & Black Garlic Hot Sauce.
Example hot sauce containing
Balsamic Vinegar:
Angry Goat Pepper Co. Chocolate Habanero, Balsamic & Black Garlic
Ingredients: Chocolate Habanero Pepper Mash (peppers, vinegar), Balsamic Vinegar, Apple Cider Vinegar, Smoked Vermont Maple Syrup, Water, Black Garlic Powder, Granulated Garlic, Sea Salt.
Other Great Balsamic Vinegar Hot Sauces
“What if I Hate Vinegar in Hot Sauce?”
You’ll often hear people complain about the vinegar taste in hot sauce.
This is especially true of some of the bigger brands like Tabasco®, which are sometimes lovingly referred to as “vinegar bombs.”
Vinegary hot sauce can be too forward and overpowering. And there seems something cheap about its quality (which is true), so they write off all hot sauces with vinegar.
So What Can You Do?
Well, a few things.
First, it’s worth pointing out that most people (even if they say otherwise) actually do like vinegar in their hot sauce — that sour bite makes all the difference. They just hate when the vinegar is too aggressive and tastes cheap.
So the first thing you can do is stop buying cheap hot sauce and get yourself something nice from Flower City Flavor Company (shameless plug alert)! I guarantee you’ll change your mind.
If that doesn’t work, I’ve got a couple more solutions for you.
#1 Mask It
If vinegar is an issue, you can use other ingredients to mask the flavor. Look for hot sauces with added fruits, juices or honey that can help cancel some of the acidity and hide the sharp flavor.
#2 Avoid It
Pay attention to the order of ingredients on any hot sauce. The rule-of-thumb is the further down the list you find something, the less of it there is.
So look for hot sauces that list vinegar as the second, third or even fourth ingredient, where the flavor will be less forward.
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