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preservation Natural preservatives??hmmm

Scorpion

Scorpion

hello hello....As alot of you know i make whole foood natural sauces with vinegar, lime and lemon as the natural preservatives. Basically I am looking for another natural preservative that will help extend shelf life.

Some people talk about citric acid, malic acid and tartaric acid....along with pomace and so on. On average most of my sauces are stable at 4.1 ph for 6 months kept refrigerated after opening.

Has anyone got any ideas to assist with this so that i can extend the shelf life. Using only other natural products?

Cheers greatly
 
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Vinegar is your best bet, and you can experiment with many different types (date vinegar and honey vinegar, just to name a couple unique ones). I have a couple I love for sauces, but I like to keep them as my secret ingredients. All of these will alter the flavor, and vinegar is the most acceptable for a non-distinct flavor, since everyone expects it with a hot sauce. Citric acid = sour (like a lemon), malic = tart (think pucker). They are good for fruit based sauces.
 
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Cheers for that hotpepper.

Do you think though increasing from the minimum of 20% acid (vinegar etc) will substantially increase shelf life. For instance would it be safe to assume the higher percentage the acid the longer shelf life? Has anyone got a scale maybe? Or thoughts on that? Another way of looking at it could be ph/shelf life ratios?

Thanks also for the info on citric.....sour and italian dont go so well...good trick for neil though he he !
 
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I don't know about that. What I have seen is a combination. Vinegar, with a small amount of citric acid so it doesn't affect the flavor so much, but adds a second defense of preservation. This is where tasting is important to figure out the balance. Hope this helps, that's about the extent of my knowledge here ;)
 
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thehotpepper.com said:
I don't know about that. What I have seen is a combination. Vinegar, with a small amount of citric acid so it doesn't affect the flavor so much, but adds a second defense of preservation. This is where tasting is important to figure out the balance. Hope this helps, that's about the extent of my knowledge here ;)
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Thanks mate...will give it a crack.
 
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By the way, if by Italian you mean tomato based, then citric acid will work without impacting the flavor too much. Tomatoes are already acidic, so you don't need that much. In fact, some canned tomatoes have citric acid in them.

Experiment, you'll get it right.
 
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thehotpepper.com said:
By the way, if by Italian you mean tomato based, then citric acid will work without impacting the flavor too much. Tomatoes are already acidic, so you don't need that much. In fact, some canned tomatoes have citric acid in them.

Experiment, you'll get it right.
Click to expand...

Ill just make sure i give the taste testers to the girl friend he he he...ok i'll be sleeping with the dogs...;)
 
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Have you tried Fermenting yet? It's one of the oldest forms or preserving foods there is and it's all natural. The resultant it Lactic Acid and typically my ferments come at a Ph of 3.4  to 3.6.  Take a look at the Fermenting 101 pinned at the top for more information.
 
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