“Why Do We Even 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%.

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…

1. White Vinegar

All hail the king of vinegars! White vinegar in hot sauce is by far the common vinegar. 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.

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 PepperNutz Caribbean Rum Hot Sauce, which pairs an apple cider vinegar base with cayenne peppers, pineapple, mango and dark rum! It’s a taste of the Caribbean!

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 Ghost Pepper & Blueberry Hot Sauce.

This hot sauce was also on Hot Ones during Season 3.

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.

5. Red Wine Vinegar

Red wine vinegar in hot sauce is a little less common than other vinegars 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 vinegars too.

One of my favorite hot sauces to use Red Wine Vinegar is Rising Smoke Sauceworks All In which blends red wine vinegar with not one, not two, not three but four peppers: Smoked Carolina Reaper, Ghost Pepper, Smoked Habaneros and Cayenne. Divine!

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.

“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.

#3 Replace It
You’ve got a couple of options if you want to replace the vinegar in your hot sauce. Keep in mind that the point of vinegar (besides driving the flavor) is to act as a preservative.

This means you can replace it with the citric acid from lemons and limes. You’ll probably have trouble finding a brand that does this (I only found two — Tabanero and Rising Hy), so you might have to make your own if you want to use lemon or lime juice. Simply replace any vinegar in the recipe with an equal amount of juice.

You could also use alcohol itself as a preservative. This is pretty rare, but there is a brand doing it — Swamp Dragon out of Louisiana.

Finally, if you make it yourself, you can try fermenting your own peppers. It’s a safe, simple process that pulls out acid directly from the peppers themselves. But this is basically making vinegar from the peppers themselves, so it might defeat the point.

#4 Get Rid of It
Technically, you can just make your own hot sauce without any vinegar. Keep in mind though that you have to eat it right away or refrigerate it for a few days.

Vinegar in Hot Sauce: A Conclusion

That’s all she wrote! My vinegar diatribe ends. I hope you learned something and I hope you try out some of these great sauces! Now remember, regardless if a hot sauce has vinegar in it or not, the most important thing to consider is its FLAVOR.