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This recipe should be taken as a rough guide to making the sauce. Each batch I make is different, dependent on which peppers I'm growing in the garden and which fruits are ripe and available. Don't use wimpy peppers like Jalapenos! I've also toyed with the idea of adding unusual ingredients, such as horseradish root. Be creative!
Cut up enough peppers to fill a mayonaise jar. Include the seeds, but no stems. Fill jar with vinegar. Cap and let sit at room temperature for at least 2 weeks.
Put pepper and vinegar mixture in blender or food processor (you may need to do this in batches). Add garlic, salt, sugar, persimmons, and pulp and juice of lemon. Puree.
Pour into saucepan. Open windows! Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered until it reaches the consistency of tomato juice (about an hour). When in doubt, simmer longer, since a thin sauce separates in the bottle and is insufficiently hot.
Force mixture through a strainer to separate liquid from solid. Be sure to press pulp until all liquid comes out. I use a wooden spoon for this purpose.
Bottle sauce and refrigerate. This can be the most tedious step because of the tiny mouths of hot sauce bottles.