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Coconut milk in hot sauce

Blackseed

Blackseed

I have been making a coconut milk based hot sauce that is fantastic! Problem is that it spoils after a month or so. I refrigerate it but it still does this. I am no pro at culinary arts so don't really know how to fix that if there is a way. It includes whole limes, habs, and a few other spices/herbs.

Thanks for any info.
 
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What's the ph of the sauce when you bottle it? As long ad it's 4 or lower it should keep for longer than a month however I've never worked with coconut milk in absence before.
 
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Blackseed said:
I have been making a coconut milk based hot sauce that is fantastic! Problem is that it spoils after a month or so. I refrigerate it but it still does this.
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As Rocketman said pH may be a factor. Are you cooking it to kill nasties before bottling?


Blackseed said:
++Obviously the title should say milk and not mils. Not sure how to edit the title though :(
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Edit your original post and after clicking edit select Use Full Editor and you can change the post title since you started it.
 
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with limes, it should have some pH, but if it's not cooked, that could be a big factor. Can you post a little more info?
 
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Sure, I'll admit right away that I don't have a pH tester so I'll get one of those soon.

As far as the process goes I boiled the habs and other veggies then mixed them in with the milk and fruit. Then I blended the whole thing to a nice consistency and boiled it another 15 minutes or so.

It was amazing the next day but smelled pretty weird a month later. It smelled like the milk had soured. It was also ridiculously thick so next time I'm adding more water! (And using a pH tester).


And thanks Justaguy for the edit help!
 
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I'm working on a hot sauce with coconut milk as one of the ingredients It will be 4 months in the fridge end of this month,
the ph is 3.4 and I only added a small amount of the milk but a bit more of the coconut juice,
just enough I think to taste and smell the coconut
I've opened the bottle each week and tasted a small amount so far alls well!!!!!
good luck with yours
 
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Any time you make a sauce for the fridge and don't adjust the pH for packing, it is going to spoil, and quite fast. From 2 weeks to a month on average. Unless, by chance, you happen to get the pH right.
 
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There's always a thread with the info you need on THP! I am making a smoked hab and mango sauce...I was going to add some coconut juice, but thought about spoilage - I'll leave it be now - I'd rather the sauce lasted at the moment, and include it when I get a PH meter.

What methods lower the PH?

InCider.
 
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InCider said:
There's always a thread with the info you need on THP! I am making a smoked hab and mango sauce...I was going to add some coconut juice, but thought about spoilage - I'll leave it be now - I'd rather the sauce lasted at the moment, and include it when I get a PH meter.

What methods lower the PH?

InCider.
Click to expand...

Acid. So Vinegar, citrus juice, ascorbic acid (vitamin c), fermenting with lactobacillus which produces lactic acid.
 
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Thanks compmodder - I am usually a heavy hand at vinegar, but not sure how much to get the right PH. Will the right amount of vinegar (and subsequent PH) and fermenting with lactobacillus allow me to use coconut without spoiling?

Cheers,

S.
 
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sounds awesome - love the idea for coconut milk as an ingredient/flavor - very "Thai"-ish.

Some good suggestions here - bringing it to 190 degrees will pasteurize and kill some of the nasties - using citric acid might also be an idea, but that has a strong sour taste (e.g. "sour salts"). I'm going to go read that topic myself - i'm sure there's great info there. Good luck and let us know if you're successful!
:cheers:


ETA: pasteurizing can/will also change flavor, so while it might help, it might also hurt...
 
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Yeah Lucky Dog - that Thai taste... been a year since I was there...coconut everything :) Next batch I do I'll do the up-heating to pasteurize on a sample containing coconut and see how long it lasts so we can benchmark the shelf life :)

To quote Clint Eastwood "A good man always knows his limitations" and I am sure he also meant making hotsauce! :cool:
 
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Used it this morning, habs (orange and peach) a Butch T and lots of jalapenos, 2 tins of pinapples and some cider vinegar... tastes a treat... will add some more vinegar for PH, as I don't have the ability to test yet. Is there a rule of thumb?
 
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We shoot for a ph of 3 or lower on our sauces. If you take a look in most Asian markets you'll be able to find Coconut Vinegar too. This could actually help bring that flavor out a bit more. I've tried some Habanero Coconut Hot Sauce before and didn't taste any coconut at all. I think they labeled it as such as a gimmick.
 
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any ideas on where you can get coconut milk powder? I have been playing with coconut to go into our new sauce and have been worried about spoilage too. Powder sounds like a good alternative
 
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i used dehydrated coconut in hotsauces. i put it into hot water soak and sieve it out once all the flavour is in the water. this helps getting the flavour, but avoids adding unecesary liqiuds that wont keep for long storage.
 
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