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Acidifying an acidic sauce?

Edmick

Edmick

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So I have this sauce that we make which consists of roughly 10 smallish tomatillo, 3 jalapenos, a couple Anaheim's, a couple pasilla, 5ish serranos, half an onion, water and a couple cloves of garlic. The ingredients are roasted, blended then heated for a short time to get the flavors to marry. The final ph at room temperature comes in at 3.9. Would seems like a good ph but I know the low ph is primarily just from the tomatillo and the USDA calls for it to be acidified further so what ph should I shoot for to make this "shelf stable"?. Just something I can use the "hot fill hold" method with and refrigerate after opening. I'm quite fond of the flavor and would like to use as little vinegar/whatever else as possible to make it safe. Thoughts? Here's a pic of the sauce.. cuz yea, I know everyone likes pictures..
 

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If it's stable at 3.9, you should be good to go with respect to the FDA. I think the magic number for them is 4.2. If a food is naturally below that number, no further acidification is required.

If you do add something for the sole purpose of lowering the pH, then it becomes an "acidified food" and opens up a whole new can of worms for registering your product with the FDA.

I haven't had to deal with registering an acidified food in three or four years, so this info may be dated. If so, I'm sure someone will be along shortly to correct me.
 
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Sawyer said:
If it's stable at 3.9, you should be good to go with respect to the FDA. I think the magic number for them is 4.2. If a food is naturally below that number, no further acidification is required.

If you do add something for the sole purpose of lowering the pH, then it becomes an "acidified food" and opens up a whole new can of worms for registering your product with the FDA.

I haven't had to deal with registering an acidified food in three or four years, so this info may be dated. If so, I'm sure someone will be along shortly to correct me.
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Thanks for the advice buddy. The only thing that had me worried was the requirement of "additional acidification" on tomatillo. Not trying to sell the sauce legit or anything but I would like to give some away in bottles stored at room temperature filled bottles without worry of anything nasty happening. Friends dont poison friends lol
 
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Edmick said:
The only thing that had me worried was the requirement of "additional acidification" on tomatillo.
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I guess I missed that point. Do you have a link for that requirement? It's not obvious to me why it would matter if the acid came from a tomatillo as opposed to a tomato or lemon, as long as it's below the magic number.
 
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Sawyer said:
I guess I missed that point. Do you have a link for that requirement? It's not obvious to me why it would matter if the acid came from a tomatillo as opposed to a tomato or lemon, as long as it's below the magic number.
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This is the article I read about further acidification.https://www.healthycanning.com/home-canning-tomatillos/ Scroll down to the section that addresses it. Theres a few other articles I've seen mention it too.
 
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I think I see what's going on. That link actually references a suggestion for acidifying tomatoes, too. Tomatoes do, in fact, vary right around pH 4.2, depending on variety. It seems like they're making a "better safe than sorry" recommendation for home canning where a pH meter may not always be available.

If you have a meter, know how to use it and keep it calibrated, just make sure the pH is below 4.2 for every batch you make and you should be in good shape. You can add an acidulant to lower the pH if needed, but pH 4.2 is the target.
 
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FruitFresh is ascorbic acid and citric acid in powder form, it does contain anti-caking stuff, but it is readily available in most grocery stores that have canning supplies.  There's a lot of sources for buying ascorbic and citric acids online.  PureBulk has some. 
 
Fruit Fresh Ingredients:  Dextrose, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Citric Acid, Silicon Dioxide (Anti-caking).  Contains no sulfites.
 
In a recent discussion with a new sauce maker, they said their inspector (WSDA) was wanting 3.9 pH or lower.  I don't know if this is new regs or just this particular inspector.  3.5 is a good pH to shoot for and gives a reasonable margin for error.  
 
I love those green salsas/sauces, usually get them from the taco wagons.  Evan and I bought a small jar to go but left it out on the counter and within 2 days, it was spoiled.  :(  Should of kept it reefered.  Or just eaten it faster.  :lol:
 
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