preservation Best way to preserve a home hotsauce?

[DudeThtsBad]

Hey THP!
 
My grandpa invited a homemade hot-sauce about 25 years ago that we use in our family restaurants in the Los Angles area. Unfortunately, this sauce only has a shelf life of a 3-7 days. It has been out a family goal to sell this hot sauce on a larger scale, hopefully starting off in local markets, or something along those lines, but the shelf life makes it unreasonable..
 
[SIZE=12.727272033691406px]In the past we hired chemists that we got in contact with through food shows. Their job was to add preservatives to this hot sauce, keeping the flavor as close to the [/SIZE]original[SIZE=12.727272033691406px] as possible, but everything they came up with, altered the flavor and we didn't really get what we were looking for.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12.727272033691406px]I know many of you guys make your own sauces, so I was wondering if there was a secret ingredient that worked as a tasteless preservative or anything. We've been trying to do this for quite some time, so any suggestions would help. Our goal is to achieve around a 6 month shelf life.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12.727272033691406px]Or better yet, if any of you guys live in the LA area, we'd be happy to hire you to try to see what you can do with it![/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12.727272033691406px]Thanks in advance everyone! :] [/SIZE]

 

[Brain Strain Pepper Head]

It is all about correct PH when it comes to Hot Sauces. Preserving your sauce by lowering the pH is a crytical part of making homemade sauces, ideally a pH of around 3.4 will create an acidic solution that wil prevent the growth of bacteria. To create an acidic Hot Sauce you can either use limes or lemons, vinegar or you can ferment the Hot Sauce.
 
Testing the pH of your sauce can be done by taking a sample of your Hot Sauce from the cooking pot after all ingredients have been cooked down, wait for the sample to cool then with either food grade litmus strips or with a food grade pH meter test the Hot Sauces pH.
A general rule of thumb is that a Hot Sauce recipe with at least 20% vinegar added will lower the pH to a safe level for preserving.
 
Another method of lowering the pH of your home made Hot Sauce to preserve it is by fermentation. If you want to make a homemade hot sauce without vinegar then fermenting the sauce is another way of preserving you hot sauce, It’s definitely a time consuming method compared to the addition of an acidic ingredient.

 
To make a fermented Hot Sauce you will need a Lactobacillus bacterial starter, Lacto-bacillus is an acid loving bacteria which breaks down the natural sugars in the Hot Sauce ingredients and converts them into Lactic acid. I’ve used a sour dough starter in the past but some people just buy starters from their local chemist. For the bacteria to survive it will need sugar, the peppers contain natural sugars that the bacteria will consume, mashing or at least finely chopping the chilli peppers will increase the available surface area for the bacteria.
 
All equipment including the fermentation vessel needs to be thoroughly sterilized, this is done to retard the growth of any bad bacteria and it will hopefully allow the bacterial starter to get a unopposed start.  To keep the fermenting Hot Sauce mixture from being contaminated an airlock is needed, a brewers airlock should be inserted into the lid of the fermentation jar to allow CO2 out without letting any contaminated air back in.
 
Fermented sauces are stored in a cool dark location from 3 weeks up to a number of years. Once the pH of the sauce has reduced to a safe level (under 4) then the sauce can be boiled to halt the fermentation and then it can be bottled, instead of boiling the sauce some Hot Sauce makers will transfer the fermenting sauce into their fridge (with the brewers air lock removed) and use as they please.
 
Hope this answers your question.

 

[salsalady]

Hey, Dude~
 
To expand a bit further on what BSPH said,
 
when dealing with a commercial packaged sauce, the pH's are a bit different.  Depending on the ingredients of the sauce and how it is packaged, sometimes the pH is not an issue.
 
Most hobby saucers use the Hot Fill/Hold method of processing and in that situation, pH is critical and most should shoot for a pH of 4.0 or below.  The ratios PepperHead posted are good to start with.
 
There's a difference between packing the sauce to be shelf stable, and making the sauce itself shelf stable. 
 
For your situation of trying to sell your restaurant's sauce, the sauce can be pressure canned by a co-packer and the sealed jars will have a shelf life of up to 2 years.  That type of process will work with your existing recipe, no changes.  BUT!!! once the customer opens the jar, it will still have the 3-5 day window you described. 
 
Based on what you said, I'm understanding that you asked the food scientists to make the sauce last for 6 months.  They were trying to make the sauce itself last for 6 months unrefrigerated.  That would require a ton of vinegar, ascorbic/citric acid or other preservatives.  Might be why nothing's worked out on that front. 
 
If the sauce is pressure canned by a licensed person/co-packer, the next issue would be the time it's good after opening.  I'd suggest adding just a bit of some kind of acid to the sauce.  Depending on the other ingredients, there's lots of options.  Even something along the lines of 3/4 cup vinegar per gallon of sauce might be enough to give the sauce more than 3-5 days after opening.  I'm sure you could find something that would work with the flavor of the original sauce.   
 
If you do something along these lines, the label could say something like "Refrigerate after opening & Use within [5-10?] days after opening".   
 
All of this is subject to the approval of the Process Authority who will ultimately sign off on your sauce. 
 
 
 
Hope this helps~
SL

 

[impending_bending]

I think only about 10% of SL's posts are something she hasn't posted before at one time or another, yet every time she goes the full mile and writes a novel. Class act

 

[SL3]

I am also interested in this topic, as I have to make salsa every two weeks to keep family and friends happy. I would much prefer to make it once a month or every two months. I only fear cooking my ingredients might change the flavor. Can you seal your jars effectively without boiling the recipe? I mean do you have to use a co-packer or is there a way for the little guy at home to can without all the heat?

 

[Lando]

Gamma radiation? They do this with fruit and Shellfish(not sure if I would want to eat it afther that but it should keep for ages)

 

[impending_bending]

Gamma radiation? They do this with fruit and Shellfish(not sure if I would want to eat it afther that but it should keep for ages)

Is that common practice with fruit and shellfish? I have never heard of it for food but no reason why it wouldn't work... why wouldn't you want to eat it?

 

[DudeThtsBad]

It is all about correct PH when it comes to Hot Sauces. Preserving your sauce by lowering the pH is a crytical part of making homemade sauces, ideally a pH of around 3.4 will create an acidic solution that wil prevent the growth of bacteria. To create an acidic Hot Sauce you can either use limes or lemons, vinegar or you can ferment the Hot Sauce.
 
Testing the pH of your sauce can be done by taking a sample of your Hot Sauce from the cooking pot after all ingredients have been cooked down, wait for the sample to cool then with either food grade litmus strips or with a food grade pH meter test the Hot Sauces pH.
A general rule of thumb is that a Hot Sauce recipe with at least 20% vinegar added will lower the pH to a safe level for preserving.
 
Another method of lowering the pH of your home made Hot Sauce to preserve it is by fermentation. If you want to make a homemade hot sauce without vinegar then fermenting the sauce is another way of preserving you hot sauce, It’s definitely a time consuming method compared to the addition of an acidic ingredient.

 
To make a fermented Hot Sauce you will need a Lactobacillus bacterial starter, Lacto-bacillus is an acid loving bacteria which breaks down the natural sugars in the Hot Sauce ingredients and converts them into Lactic acid. I’ve used a sour dough starter in the past but some people just buy starters from their local chemist. For the bacteria to survive it will need sugar, the peppers contain natural sugars that the bacteria will consume, mashing or at least finely chopping the chilli peppers will increase the available surface area for the bacteria.
 
All equipment including the fermentation vessel needs to be thoroughly sterilized, this is done to retard the growth of any bad bacteria and it will hopefully allow the bacterial starter to get a unopposed start.  To keep the fermenting Hot Sauce mixture from being contaminated an airlock is needed, a brewers airlock should be inserted into the lid of the fermentation jar to allow CO2 out without letting any contaminated air back in.
 
Fermented sauces are stored in a cool dark location from 3 weeks up to a number of years. Once the pH of the sauce has reduced to a safe level (under 4) then the sauce can be boiled to halt the fermentation and then it can be bottled, instead of boiling the sauce some Hot Sauce makers will transfer the fermenting sauce into their fridge (with the brewers air lock removed) and use as they please.
 
Hope this answers your question.

 
 

Hey, Dude~
 
To expand a bit further on what BSPH said,
 
when dealing with a commercial packaged sauce, the pH's are a bit different.  Depending on the ingredients of the sauce and how it is packaged, sometimes the pH is not an issue.
 
Most hobby saucers use the Hot Fill/Hold method of processing and in that situation, pH is critical and most should shoot for a pH of 4.0 or below.  The ratios PepperHead posted are good to start with.
 
There's a difference between packing the sauce to be shelf stable, and making the sauce itself shelf stable. 
 
For your situation of trying to sell your restaurant's sauce, the sauce can be pressure canned by a co-packer and the sealed jars will have a shelf life of up to 2 years.  That type of process will work with your existing recipe, no changes.  BUT!!! once the customer opens the jar, it will still have the 3-5 day window you described. 
 
Based on what you said, I'm understanding that you asked the food scientists to make the sauce last for 6 months.  They were trying to make the sauce itself last for 6 months unrefrigerated.  That would require a ton of vinegar, ascorbic/citric acid or other preservatives.  Might be why nothing's worked out on that front. 
 
If the sauce is pressure canned by a licensed person/co-packer, the next issue would be the time it's good after opening.  I'd suggest adding just a bit of some kind of acid to the sauce.  Depending on the other ingredients, there's lots of options.  Even something along the lines of 3/4 cup vinegar per gallon of sauce might be enough to give the sauce more than 3-5 days after opening.  I'm sure you could find something that would work with the flavor of the original sauce.   
 
If you do something along these lines, the label could say something like "Refrigerate after opening & Use within [5-10?] days after opening".   
 
All of this is subject to the approval of the Process Authority who will ultimately sign off on your sauce. 
 
 
 
Hope this helps~
SL

 
Thank you guys so much! I'll definitely look more into both these methods and I'll keep you guys updated on how it goes! 
I really appreciate the tips! 

 

[salsalady]

Dude~~, please keep us posted.  It's always interesting to find out how it works out.
 
 

I am also interested in this topic, as I have to make salsa every two weeks to keep family and friends happy. I would much prefer to make it once a month or every two months. I only fear cooking my ingredients might change the flavor. Can you seal your jars effectively without boiling the recipe? I mean do you have to use a co-packer or is there a way for the little guy at home to can without all the heat?

SL3- There's no way to get jars to seal, which makes them shelf stable, without heat/cooking.  "Shelf stable" means it can be stored at room temperature, without refrigeration for an extended time. 
For your salsa, adding just a bit of vinegar (3/4 cup per gallon of sauce) and then keeping the sauce refrigerated would probably work to get 3-4 weeks out of it, without knowing what other ingredients are in your salsa.  I'm assuming it's a typical tomato-pico style salsa, no shrimp or other funky stuff    
 
 
 
ps- thanks, impending~, just trying to help~

 

[impending_bending]

 just trying to help~

"trying" nothing
 
 

There's no way to get jars to seal, which makes them shelf stable, without heat/cooking.

Apparently, there is a way. It is completely impractical unless you are the biggest badest salsa/sauce producer THP has ever known, but it exists.
http://uw-food-irradiation.engr.wisc.edu/Process.html
I had no idea until I just googled the gamma irradiation thing. I don't know food, but I do know and love physics, and the two overlap much more than I previously knew. I found this very interesting. (Although they are wrong on a couple of the physics aspects )

 

[SL3]

Dude~~, please keep us posted.  It's always interesting to find out how it works out.
 
 
SL3- There's no way to get jars to seal, which makes them shelf stable, without heat/cooking.  "Shelf stable" means it can be stored at room temperature, without refrigeration for an extended time. 
For your salsa, adding just a bit of vinegar (3/4 cup per gallon of sauce) and then keeping the sauce refrigerated would probably work to get 3-4 weeks out of it, without knowing what other ingredients are in your salsa.  I'm assuming it's a typical tomato-pico style salsa, no shrimp or other funky stuff    
 
 
 
ps- thanks, impending~, just trying to help~

Yep 2/3 Fresh Peppers and onions, 1/3 Tomatoes and Tomatillos. Nothing strange, pretty straight forward. Thanks I'll try the vinegar, although not a huge fan of it, I'm sure my wife will welcome the taste. I already use lots of lime, and it seems to get it to last right at about two weeks (refrigerated) before I'll trust it anymore, thus the bi-monthly batch. 

 

[salsalady]

Thanks for that info, impending~.   Still not sure how all that would work with salsa....but I guess in theory, the salsa could be irradiated and then packaged in jars without cooking/heat packing?     I'll keep that in mind for when I have a spare $3-5million laying around the salsa coffers.  
 
 
SL3- try some vinegars other than white vinegar.  Rice vinegar has a smoother taste and won't be so noticeable.  Pay attention to the % acidity though.  It the acidity is lower than 5% (typical white vinegar level) a bit more may be needed. 

 

[DudeThtsBad]

Thanks for that info, impending~.   Still not sure how all that would work with salsa....but I guess in theory, the salsa could be irradiated and then packaged in jars without cooking/heat packing?     I'll keep that in mind for when I have a spare $3-5million laying around the salsa coffers. 
 
When you say "pressure canned" does that include being packed into glass containers as well?
Would cooking a sauce change it's flavor? To what temperature does it need to be cooked? We just keep ours fresh. 
 

 

[impending_bending]

If you're really serous about it, there are irradiation services (you don't have to buy the equipment). You can package your salsa, give it to them to gamma it, jar and all, and you'll be good. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that is still only going to be economically viable with a bit larger of a batch than you normally whip up in your kitchen... At least you wouldn't have to cook it though

 

[DudeThtsBad]

If you're really serous about it, there are irradiation services (you don't have to buy the equipment). You can package your salsa, give it to them to gamma it, jar and all, and you'll be good. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that is still only going to be economically viable with a bit larger of a batch than you normally whip up in your kitchen... At least you wouldn't have to cook it though

We definitely are that serious about it, and that's an option we are considering. How would one go about finding a service that gamma irradiates & packages the sauce in glass bottles/jars?

 

[impending_bending]

We definitely are that serious about it, and that's an option we are considering. How would one go about finding a service that gamma irradiates & packages the sauce in glass bottles/jars?

Holy crap, you ain't f'ing around!! I'm no expert on this and only mentioned it because I saw services offered when I did a search about irradiating food. Just google something along the lines of "food sterilization gamma irradiation service" and you'll find a lot.
Love this one's name: http://www.nordion.com/gce/irradiation_services.asp
One with locations in Cali: http://www.sterigenics.com/food1.htm
Lots more if you look. The second link seems like a good place to start looking - they say they will work with you to determine the most appropriate method etc.
 
Definitely let us know how this goes. I've never read about anyone doing this kind of thing on THP and I'm sure a lot of people would be interested.
 
Good luck!

 

[salsalady]

"When you say "pressure canned" does that include being packed into glass containers as well?
Would cooking a sauce change it's flavor? To what temperature does it need to be cooked? We just keep ours fresh."
 
 
 
 
 
Pressure canning would in essence be cooking the sauce.  The temp of the product gets up to about 240F during the canning process.  Cooking the sauce may or may not change the flavor of it. 
 
 
Can you describe the sauce in question?  Basic ingredients? Texture?  You said your grandpa invented a "hot sauce", I think most of us were thinking is was some kind of a smooth sauce that pours from a bottle as opposed to a chunky salsa that you dip with a chip.  Whether or not cooking will change the flavor, you just have to try it.  If it's a smooth sauce, it very likely will cook just fine.  If it's a chunky salsa, cooking would definitely change the texture.   

 

[beerbreath81]

Imp--Bending is correct and it is an option, but in reality Im not sure how well it will work for you. You say your sauce is only good for 3-7 days. So unless you live near a facility that irradiates food your shipping charges are going to get pretty high for expiditing a heavy product. (Not to mention the irraiation charges) Ask anyone on here about shipping costs. Also if you do choose to go down this road the FDA requires that the label must contain the words "Treated with Radiation" or "Treated by Irradiation" and display the irradiation logo. Not sure how this will fair with consumers..most people dont have any radiation knowledge other than the fact its bad, creates mutations, its green blah blah blah.  Either way I agree keep us in the loop.
 
P.S. I deal with gamma rays in my industry, we use as a form of NDE (Non-Destructive Testing), we use to "x-ray" pipe welds. I personally have not directly dealt/taken gamma shots since school.
 
Long story short, I would rule this out if it were me, too small and the costs would eat you up

 

[salsalady]

Check out This Thread for basic processing info.  It will help you as you move forward.  It would be good for you to get ahold of a Process Authority and discuss the sauce with them.   They are the ones who will ultimately sign off on the sauce.  Also, I think you have to get FDA approval for the product to be irradiated and that takes a loooooooong time.  Afaik, BigBoy companies are still waiting for FDA approval for hot dogs and lunch meats. 

 

[impending_bending]

Not sure how this will fair with consumers..most people dont have any radiation knowledge other than the fact its bad, creates mutations, its green blah blah blah.  Either way I agree keep us in the loop.

lol "its green" - classic. There are different kinds of radiation. Alpha and beta are the ones that can potentially leave your food "green" (hazardous). As bearbreath was getting at, gamma radiation is high-energy electromagnetic (think 'ultimate flashlight') and while it changes the molecules it wont leave your food throwing out alpha and beta particles after the treatment.
 
BB - does FDA require those labels even when stuff is not going to be distributed?
 

P.S. I deal with gamma rays in my industry, we use as a form of NDE (Non-Destructive Testing), we use to "x-ray" pipe welds. I personally have not directly dealt/taken gamma shots since school.

That is cool. I had no idea you could inspect with gamma. What does it offer that xray doesn't when it comes to welds?
 

Long story short, I would rule this out if it were me, too small and the costs would eat you up

+1 - Thats what I meant when I said "if you're serious" but I guess the point didn't come across. Or maybe you just really hate making salsa
LMAO did a google search and this image illustrates the point a bit