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bottling bottling hot sauce for maximum shelf life??

C

canuckheat

Ok so last time I made sauce it lasted about 3 months refrigerated before souring on me. This time I have a few people who would like some and I would like to maximize shelf life as long as possible. I know recipes can vary in terms of shelf life so here are my recipes for this year since my peppers should be ready with in the month

Reaper sauce
Carolina reapers
Bhut jolokia
Apple cider vinegar
Sugar
Salt & pepper
Garlic & onion
Spices

Habanero blend
Red habanero
Orange habanero
Fatalii
Red scotch bonnets
Apple cider vinegar
Garlic & onion
Sugar
Salt & pepper
Spices

Trinidad (with a sweet twist)
Trinidad butch T & morouga
Pineapple/papaya
Mango
White vinegar
Orange juice
Salt & pepper
Spices

Those are basic recipes I'm sure I'll add things to taste.
Anyhow as said what will maximize my shelf life both opened and unopened and what is a simple way of doing this for the noob sauce maker?

Thanks everyone

Ken
 
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Weeell..... the first question is....
 
 
how are you processing/preserving???? 
 
pressure canning
HotPack/Hold
Cold pickled/preserved
 
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I am in sort of a similar situation; I made a sauce last weekend (my second attempt, ever) and while the sauce is good, I did a less than perfect job of keeping things sterile and up to temperature while hot-packing. Rather than pour everything back into a pot and recook, I'd like to just treat the bottles as if they were opened. I only made 3 bottles.
 
How long does a vinegar-based sauce keep once opened? I tested Ph with litmus paper, so it's not really precise, but it measured as slightly less than 4.0.
 
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Sorry for the late reply working all day.

I'm wondering what the best method Of preserving the sauce is for a rookie. I know canning isnt overly difficult nor is bottling but don't really know the over all process of canning and shelf life once canned be it opened or unopened. Any tips would be great. If I could keep it for a year or more that would be ideal cause by then the next batch would be ready to go
 
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KT421- :welcome:   Since you only made 3 bottles and the pH is in a pretty good range, I'd suggest keeping it refrigerated and it should be good for a long while.  6 months or more.  Hopefully you'll have it all et up by then. 
 
canuck- check out the link above for hot sauce basics.  Here's the Ball canning website, they have "approved" recipes which can be customized if you use common sense.  For Example, I used one of their pickling recipes and substituted my choice of peppers and veggies.  I'm not a food scientist, so use your own judgment when following advice given on the interwhebz. 
 
The Ball site and other university extension service sites have good basic instructions for HWB and pressure canning if you want to use regular canning jars.  Otherwise, follow the steps in Hot Sauce 101 for using the typical hot sauce woozy bottles.
 
For shelf life, a product that has been properly pressure canned or Hot Water Bath canned is usually good for 2 years.  It can go way longer than that if the seal isn't compromised and the jars are stored in a cool dark location.  Heat and light will deteriorate the color of the product, but doesn't really effect the safety of the product.  The same notes apply to Hot Fill-Hold bottles, cool dark location.
 
Have Fun!  Post pic~~~  (we like pics  :cool: )
 
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Thanks! Exactly the answer to the question ;) I will be posting pics in a month or so as I have a few just starting to ripen so I'd expect to harvest in the month. I like the woozy bottles for appearance but the canning seems to be more "tried and true" in terms of shelf life etc. Its a big (little) decision
 
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