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Help! Do I toss it all or safe to keep?

cajunmama

cajunmama

Hi there. I'm an infrequent poster but I lurk a lot. And now I need some help. 
 
The day after Thanksgiving, I canned about 40 4 oz. jars of hot sauce (Alabama Jack's recipe). It took forever for my pressure canner (Presto 16 quart with the 3-piece regulator) to lock and the regulator always rocked too fast.  Then, as I was cleaning up, I discovered that my vent pipe was loose. It was probably loose the entire time and the cause of all of my problems. Now I'm not sure what pressure I was at. My goal was 10 pounds of pressure for 15 minutes. If I was too high, then no real issue. So I need to know if my sauce was canned safely  :party: or if I should just toss the whole lot  :tear: . 
 
Thanks,
M
 
hogleg said:
I can my 8oz sauces in boiling water bath for 15 min (dont have a pressure canner). If your PH is at a safe level and your water was boiling for 15 min. I think you'll be fine. Best to wait and see what Salsalady says though.
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+1 on both statements
 
Did you make a hot sauce with the addition of acid (vinegar or lemon) or are you referring to AJ's puree recipe?  I remember reading his thread on the puree but not the recipe.  If my memory serves me right (and I count on that less and less anymore) his puree was just pureed peppers and as such would not be acidic enough to safely water bath process.
 
cone9 said:
Did you make a hot sauce with the addition of acid (vinegar or lemon) or are you referring to AJ's puree recipe?  I remember reading his thread on the puree but not the recipe.  If my memory serves me right (and I count on that less and less anymore) his puree was just pureed peppers and as such would not be acidic enough to safely water bath process.
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AJ's puree recipe has vinegar, which I followed closely. And I pressure canned, not water bath.
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
I would not worry, the PH in mine I want to say was around 3.7
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I would tend to agree with Chris. It has been a few years since I did the AJ puree recipe but I remember the pH being fairly low.
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
Did the tops seal?
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cajunmama said:
 
Yes, every single one.
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I'm not a process authority, but I think you are OK.  Not sure what the issues with the canner were, but it's likely you had some pressure canning happening but maybe not at the 10 pounds you were looking for?  If the lids are down/sealed, I'd keep it. 
 
I've done many batches of the puree with the boiling water bath with perfect results.  As a side note, if the jars are not sealed and the pH isn't correct, they will "explode" in 4-6 weeks.
 
AJ recipe is pretty solid.  MANY people have followed it doing a boiling water bath with good results. 
 
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