Puree Making Questions

UrbanNoir75 · Sep 5, 2014

In an effort to cut down on thread redundance, as well as broadcasting my noobishness in this department, I looked around (I'm following a few threads on this subject, including AlabamaJack's fairly comprhensive topic on this), but I'm still a bit confused on a few things regarding puree making. I think I may be conflating two different techniques.

I guess I should just ask straight away: can I simply blend the pods, add vinegar and a pinch of salt, and pour it all into a pot to boil for a bit, test the PH to make sure it's under 4.0, then pour that into sterilized jars? Or do I have to pressure can/ water bath it too?

Thanks in advance to whoever knows about this.

SadisticPeppers · Sep 5, 2014

Pressure canning in water baths has the effect of not only creating a partial vacuum inside the jars, but also making sure any remaining bacteria that may have survived cooking get killed off

UrbanNoir75 · Sep 5, 2014

Thanks for the feedback. I understand that it's optimal, but I guess I'm wondering if it's necessary. Is pressure canning a mandatory step in puree making?

SadisticPeppers · Sep 5, 2014

It's not mandatory if you'll be using it in the short term, but for long term storage, then it is most definitely mandatory!

UrbanNoir75 · Sep 5, 2014

SadisticPeppers said:
It's not mandatory if you'll be using it in the short term, but for long term storage, then it is most definitely mandatory!

I guess I'm wondering what the difference is between hot sauce and puree making then. Obviously you're traditionally adding more ingredients and spices to a hot sauce, but the hot sauce isn't pressure canned, and it keeps for as long as you like. So what's the distinction?

SadisticPeppers · Sep 5, 2014

In short purees are made primarily for preservation and as ingredients in other recipes

UrbanNoir75 · Sep 5, 2014

SadisticPeppers said:
In short purees are made primarily for preservation and as ingredients in other recipes

It's all naming convention? So basically if hot sauce making is what I mentioned in my first post, I could just call it "hot sauce" then, and skip the pressure canning.

JoynersHotPeppers · Sep 5, 2014

FireAlchemy75 said:
It's all naming convention? So basically if hot sauce making is what I mentioned in my first post, I could just call it "hot sauce" then, and skip the pressure canning.

If the PH is 3.5 or less just hot pack it and test it out. I hot packed my last stuff in 4 oz jelly/jam jars and inverted them like they were hot sauce bottles. Worked perfectly fine.

I am no expert nor do I claim to be so perform at your own risk! There are plenty of threads on this technique on the board.

juanitos · Sep 5, 2014

hot sauce lowers ph to make shelf stable
puree you're not adding vinegar / acid and testing for low ph.

JoynersHotPeppers · Sep 5, 2014

juanitos said:
hot sauce lowers ph to make shelf stable
puree you're not adding vinegar / acid and testing for low ph.

Not true, AJ's puree recipe uses vinegar.

100 grams fresh peppers
60 ml 5% White Distilled Vinegar
1 tsp agave nectar
1/4 tsp sea salt

I'll test the PH on the next batch to see where it stands....might not be low enough but won't know until I test.

UrbanNoir75 · Sep 5, 2014

juanitos said:
hot sauce lowers ph to make shelf stable
puree you're not adding vinegar / acid and testing for low ph.

Right, that's what I'm saying. According to the main thread on hot sauce making, it should be as easy as lowering and strictly controlling PH, no matter what you call it (puree, hot sauce, etc.) Obviously purists will have their strict definition of what consititutes a "puree," but in my case, I'm really just trying to preserve a bunch of peppers for future use, and taste isn't so much of a factor, as I'm mixing it into things later anyway.

Really, I would like just just eschew the whole pressure canning thing, and I have a crap load of 5% white distilled vinegar, ph test strips, sterilized jars, and a blender. i should be able to do this without water baths.

salsalady · Sep 6, 2014

FireAlchemy75 said:
Right, that's what I'm saying. According to the main thread on hot sauce making, it should be as easy as lowering and strictly controlling PH, no matter what you call it (puree, hot sauce, etc.) Obviously purists will have their strict definition of what consititutes a "puree," but in my case, I'm really just trying to preserve a bunch of peppers for future use, and taste isn't so much of a factor, as I'm mixing it into things later anyway.

Really, I would like just just eschew the whole pressure canning thing, and I have a crap load of 5% white distilled vinegar, ph test strips, sterilized jars, and a blender. i should be able to do this without water baths.

Pressure canning is totally different than Boiling Water Bath processing which is totally different than the HotFill/Hold used for hot sauces in woozy bottles!!!

Pressure canning utilizes pressure for preservation,
Boiling Water Bath utilizes heat/pressure and acidity for preservation
Pickling utilizes acidity for preservation.

I need read all these post again...

PUREE (like the word MASH) is a description of consistency, not a definition of pH content or anything else. What is the consistency of "hot sauce"?

BRB after reading posts again.

FireAlchemy75 said:
In an effort to cut down on thread redundance, as well as broadcasting my noobishness in this department, I looked around (I'm following a few threads on this subject, including AlabamaJack's fairly comprhensive topic on this), but I'm still a bit confused on a few things regarding puree making. I think I may be conflating two different techniques.

I guess I should just ask straight away: can I simply blend the pods, add vinegar and a pinch of salt, and pour it all into a pot to boil for a bit, test the PH to make sure it's under 4.0, then pour that into sterilized jars? Or do I have to pressure can/ water bath it too?

Thanks in advance to whoever knows about this.

"I guess I should just ask straight away: can I simply blend the pods, add vinegar and a pinch of salt, and pour it all into a pot to boil for a bit, test the PH to make sure it's under 4.0, then pour that into sterilized jars? Or do I have to pressure can/ water bath it too?"

Pressure canning and Boiling Water Bath processing are totally different.

UrbanNoir75 · Sep 6, 2014

salsalady said:
Pressure canning is totally different than Boiling Water Bath processing which is totally different than the HotFill/Hold used for hot sauces in woozy bottles!!!

Pressure canning utilizes pressure for preservation,
Boiling Water Bath utilizes heat/pressure and acidity for preservation
Pickling utilizes acidity for preservation.

I need read all these post again...

PUREE (like the word MASH) is a description of consistency, not a definition of pH content or anything else. What is the consistency of "hot sauce"?

BRB after reading posts again.

"I guess I should just ask straight away: can I simply blend the pods, add vinegar and a pinch of salt, and pour it all into a pot to boil for a bit, test the PH to make sure it's under 4.0, then pour that into sterilized jars? Or do I have to pressure can/ water bath it too?"

Pressure canning and Boiling Water Bath processing are totally different.

Thanks for the clarification. I have several years experience deyhdrating and grinding, but next to none of it comes to bear in making sauces. When it comes to purees and hot sauce, it's like first day in grade school all over again.

In any event, taking the cue from the original thread on hot sauce making (and the explication in this thread), I used the method i mentioned in my first post. I guess we'll see how it goes. The PH and sterilization were strictly controlled, and I "hot filled" the jars (not ambitious enough to use woozy yet, but I am using mason jars). Here's the final outcome of that:

JoynersHotPeppers · Sep 6, 2014

Lovely color and keeping it pure....so many uses later