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bottling Bottling Hot Sauce

JFK70

JFK70

I have been trying to find detailed instructions on how to safely bottle hot sauce so that it can be stored without refrigeration (until opening). I know that some hot sauces don't need refrigeration since they do not contain ingredients that are subject to spoilage. However I have been making hot sauce using fruits and vegetables (Fresh Bananas, peppers, onions, garlic cloves, pepper mash, etc).

After blending the ingredients I have been simmering them until they reach 180 degrees for atleast 5 minutes and then I pour the sauce into a 5 oz woozie bottle and place a new, paper lined cap on it before I submerge it back in a hot water bath for approx 15minutes.

The caps don't seem like they can take much more heat than that.

If anyone knows of any resources for me to explore or would like to offer any tips or suggestions it would be greatly appreciated. I just don't want to give someone a bottle of hot sauce to try unless I am confident that I have followed safe handling procedures.

Thanks

JFK
 
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Interesting........

my Washington State process authority letter states 170 degrees for bottling. I've always gone to 180 or more, but I just thought that was interesting.

And I sterilize the bottles with bleach water, then heat them in the oven before filling.
 
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bottling regulations

I don't think it's a state by state issue. The dept of Agriculture (federal) set the standard as I learned in my better process food safty class last summer. 190 dergees is what the product needs to be at when bottling. The containers are to be at that temp. or greater. I only use new bottles so the bleach is not needed. I boil them which gets them to 212, just right for pouring in 190 degree product.
 
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Thank you, Dave. Your reply to the original post has helped me tremendously. I was worried about capping a boiling sauce the other day because I thought the bottle might explode. Now I can put my worries to rest.

On that note, I'm ready to make another hot sauce!!!
 
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This isn't the exact page but wonder through here.. its Cornell University, theyve been real helpful for us, they have a lot of info, if you cant find what you need email them- Ive always gotten a response within a day


Good Luck!

xo Nicole
 
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The Chile Farm said:
I have some ideas that I would like to add to this discussion as I have been right where you are. Wanting to make a safe, tasty and cosistent product. First, If you cook anything it will change the flavor. period.Example: If you make a batch of fresh salsa with all garden fresh ingredients, and then put it in a pot and boil it, It will change the flavor and consistency. It seems to lower the heat from chiles slightly. it certainly changes the texture and consistency. so you need to figure out what you want it to taste like before..... then make the changes needed to retain that after cooking. I recently took a food science course at the university here in Oregon. Corvalis. In the course Two things taught were critical in making and bottling hot sauce BBQ sauce etc.... AKA Low PH/ High acid foods You need to get the product up to 190 degrees. It needs to be put into hot bottles at 190. Once the cap is on you turn it upside down in the box. This allows the 190 degree product to sterilize the cap and liner. It needs to be below 4.6 PH to be safe (not allowing bacteria to grow). However, since 4.6 is the cutoff #, The FDA wants BBQ and hot sauce to be at 4.0 going in to containers. You can buy a PH tester that will give you a good accurate reading for about
$ 85.00 you can get ph paper but for food and sauces it's hard to get a reading as the products has color to it. With the above criteria met you have bottled product that does not have to be refridgerated and has a shelf life of 2 years. I hope this helps, Dave
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I have been reading all these posts because I to am interested in bottling some of my sauce. In the past the wife and I have only canned the old fashioned way. Kudos to you because this reply has been the most detailed and easy to understand I have seen thus far in this thread. Good information.
 
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Hello Prodigy, :welcome:

Sorry to hear about the batch issues. Yea, cooking does change all of the flavors and consistencies. Hope that one incident didn't put you off of canning/processing sauces altogether.

Hope you enjoy your time here on THP. There are a couple other threads about processing for the home sauce makers.

Welcome, Salsalady
 
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The Prodigy said:
Most definately..when I started cooking in order to keep cases in dry storage it jacked the flavor all up....so pissed screwed up a huge batch
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Hey Prodigy, welcome to THP!

Screwing up batches is par for the course in this biz - I've screwed up more than a few

With mine I need to get to 190 but if it gets to 210+ the sugars start to caramelize and stick and it changes the whole flavor so I've really got to watch the temp carefully

I've burned batches a few times, and then its...
  • spend a few %^&*(% minutes &^$#(**&*^& swearing
  • kick a few empty buckets around the kitchen
  • take a deep breath
  • call home: 'honey I just burned the batch, so I need to start over, will be about 3 hours later than I said.."
  • toss out the spoiled batch
  • crank up the tunes
  • start over...
 
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Matanzima said:
Hey Prodigy, welcome to THP!

Screwing up batches is par for the course in this biz - I've screwed up more than a few-

spend a few %^&*(% minutes &^$#(**&*^& swearing
  • kick a few empty buckets around the kitchen
  • take a deep breath
  • call home: 'honey I screwed up the batch, so I need to start over, will be about 3 hours later than I said.."
  • toss out the spoiled batch
  • crank up the tunes
  • start over...
Click to expand...


:lol: been there, reacted like that... :lol:
 
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Bars and Beer brewers use a steam bath. You can recreate this method of sterilization in your very own dish washer, run a single cycle with everything on hot. Bottle right out of the dishwasher, but beware those bottles will burn your mits.
 
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My health regulations do not require the heated sauce to be filled into a heated bottle, only that the sauce be at temp when it's put into the bottles. You can bake the jars in the oven ahead of time to kill the nasties, then allow the bottles to cool. (Check with your health authority for what they want you to do.)
 
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I've done alittle bit of reading on this and what I'm understanding, apart from sterilizing the jars/bottles, you heat them up to keep them from breaking when you pour 190+ degree sauces into them.
 
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rhm3769 said:
I've done alittle bit of reading on this and what I'm understanding, apart from sterilizing the jars/bottles, you heat them up to keep them from breaking when you pour 190+ degree sauces into them.
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Nah - when my mfgr does it the liquid filler is pumping 190 degree sauce into room temp bottles. Not one broke.

When I do hobby batches at home I do the same - never had a break.

But maybe other bottle types are more succeptable - I'm using 5 oz woozies or 8 oz square at home. 5 oz at the mfgr.
 
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Does this seem like a good approach to sanitizing bottles/equipment?

1. Create a sanitizing solution of 1 tsp bleach to 1 gal water
2. Sanitize new bottles, caps, and all equip (funnels, etc) using this solution
3. Bottle at 190deg, put cap on, and flip over.
4. Let bottle sit upside down for 5 min to sterilize cap and top of bottle

I read about also baking the bottles in the oven on the forums. Can this step be eliminated if a sanitizing solution is used or should they both be followed? As a note, my pH is at 3.8. Is there something anyone would recommend changing in my process to improve shelf life?
 
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You can sanitize by baking, by bleach solution or a no-rinse sanitizer (like what's use in beer/wine making). One or the other, no need to do more than one. Do Not sanitize the caps. They will melt in the oven, and if you put them in bleach water, the bleach solution gets under the liner and could contaminate the sauce. The purpose of hot fill/invert/hold process is to sanitize the lid. The 190F sauce comes in contact with the inner surface of the cap and kills the nasties. Always use new caps, do not re-use caps. This is discussed in more detail in the Making Hot Sauce 101 thread.
 
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