• If you have a question about commercial production or the hot sauce business, please post in The Food Biz.

Making a Sauce with Nuts

Does anyone have any experiencing making a hot sauce using nuts? Either, pureeing or leaving some in cheesecloth while cooking just for flavor.
 
Would the shelf life be the same if the ph was as low as a regular sauce and refrigerated after opening? 
 
Thanks
 
And to touch on the shelf stability, I have read to be careful when using ingredients that have a considerable amount of fats and oils (like nuts). They can apparently turn rancid pretty easily.
 
Peanut butter seems okay in a jar. ;)
 
There's no issue if done properly. Satay sauce (nuts), salad dressing (oils/cheeses), wing sauces (butter/cream) etc.
 
What were you referring to when you say I shouldn't have any issues if done properly?
 
Do you mean that all will be fine if I just use the proper amount of vinegar/lemon juice and salt/sugar?
 
I had an idea for a hot sauce using pistachios, or at least the flavor of pistachios but I just want to make sure I do it as efficiently as possible.
 
I'm still fairly new to the art of hot sauce making. Do you have any suggestions for this? Do you think maybe roasting the nuts and then putting them in cheese cloth and put into the sauce while cooking is a good idea? I figure the nuts will be pretty fragrant, but I won't necessarily need to puree the nuts in this case.
 
Any help you could provide is greatly appreciated. 
 
Thanks!
 
 
 
Unless the rest of the flavors in the sauce are pretty light, I don't think you would get any flavor from nuts in a cheese cloth.  There are some commercially available pastes and flavor extracts that could be utilized.  Tahini comes in plain ground and toasted ground.  Might be able to find some toasted pistachio paste.
 
Be aware when labeling that some people are extremely allergic to nuts and anything containing nuts should be very clearly labeled.
 
Follow all the basics of Making Hot Sauce 101. 
 Get a good pH, bottle properly but DO NOT SELL it unless you are properly licensed, inspected, approved, etc.... Things containing nuts are a critical factor (like dairy) and there may be additional requirements for the processing other than making a typical hot sauce.
 
Good luck and have fun!
SL
 
Edmick said:
And to touch on the shelf stability, I have read to be careful when using ingredients that have a considerable amount of fats and oils (like nuts). They can apparently turn rancid pretty easily.
+1, unless it's a "fresh" (refrigerator) sauce. Seems risky to me. Commercial setups that put out products like that have tested and 'approved' recipes through a Process Authority (and possibly special canning/bottling equipment?) for that stuff. I'd be hesitant to "wing it," and make a shelf stable canned/bottled sauce w/ nuts in it, as a hobbyist

$0.02
:cheers:
 
This place I get tacos at fries their taco shells in peanut oil or something and they are amazing. I have been thinking of a sauce with peanut butter in it. Maybe just a personal refrigerated batch or something. If you end up making this sauce let us know how it turned out. If you don't I will just assume you died from it and cancel my peanut sauce plans lol
 
I think I'm gonna skip the nuts in the sauce. Had an idea fro a sauce with pistachios, but its not worth the risk as I'd want to sell the sauce. Thanks for all the info and feedback.
 
You are quick to abandon an idea in the face of a challenge. If you are going to sell "legally" your process authority will help you make sure your recipe is safe. Here is a hot sauce using pistachios. I say go for it. Why give up so easily when you haven't even seen if it is possible? Internet naysayers?
 
All you have to do is keep your homemade creations refrigerated until you know if this is possible commercially. Whip up the sauce you are talking about and find out.
 
Thanks for the PA info.
 
It's not that I'm abandoning it. I'm just keeping it on the back burner.
 
I'm in the early stages of starting a hot sauce company and I'm trying to master about 4 sauces before labeling, licensing, and all the technical things before I open for business. I have 1 that is a finished product, and 2 that need just a little tweeking at this point, so something a little more complex like using pistachios, can wait until I'm a bit further along.
 
The Hot Pepper said:
If you are going to sell "legally" your process authority will help you make sure your recipe is safe. I say go for it. Why give up so easily when you haven't even seen if it is possible?
 
All you have to do is keep your homemade creations refrigerated until you know if this is possible commercially. Whip up the sauce you are talking about and find out.
Totally agree. I wasn't trying to scare you out of the idea, TV_LI_111. Like Edmick said, I'd just be cautious trying to bottle it (especially for SALE) before your P.A. let's you know if it's safe or not, that's all.

Boss is giving you good advice; run the recipe through the PA, and see what kind of feedback you get. Worst case scenario, you're out a little bit of money for having them test it. On the other hand, it could work out just fine, and that sauce could be a homerun, and you end up making you millions ;)

You're not gonna know unless you try :cheers:

I guess my main point is: not enough hobbyists do enough homework on basic food/canning safety. "I saw it on the internet" doesn't mean it's safe (I'm not implying you're saying that!). People think they can just tweak recipes left and right... then the 'tweaked' recipe gets tweaked.... then THAT recipe gets tweaked, and so on. Next thing you know, the recipe has been 'tweaked' into a slice of f**king meatloaf, jammed into a woozy bottle, and people are trying to HFH the fucking thing :rofl:
 
Edmick said:
And to touch on the shelf stability, I have read to be careful when using ingredients that have a considerable amount of fats and oils (like nuts). They can apparently turn rancid pretty easily.
 
I can second this. I make my own beer and fats and oils are a touchy subject. I would just steer away from it.
 
Interesting idea and I hope it doesn't get abandoned. Back burner and talk with your PA.

Once you get the first couple sauces through the processes and into production, you will be a lot more comfortable with things.

Making a sauce with nuts will likely require you to be Better Process Control School certified. It's an investment, so again maybe down the road.

Good luck with everything.
-inserttheYouCanDoItgifthingy-. Lol
SL
 
One more thing about nuts is they can ferment as well although I don't know if this'll help your sauce idea.  I have friends that use cashews to make nut cheeses, a vegan product and their methods are very similar to fermenting a chili sauce.  
One hears vegan and will say yuck as I once did, but these cheeses are really good.  They are using my dried chili mash as a coating for one of their varieties, Chili Pesto Cream NutCheese.  Made me really happy to see my chili product put to such a delicious use!
 
ChiliPestocreamNutCheese.jpg
 
Back
Top