cooking cooking time for sauce

[SavinaRed]

I know that when I make a spaghetti sauce I cook it for several hours sometimes as long as 8 hours. Now would this be the same with a hot sauce ? The longer my spaghetti sauce cooks and simmers the better it gets.

 

[salsalady]

Minimum 10 minutes at a boil.  After that....it's up to you!  Some do simmer their sauces for hours because the flavors will change, meld, mellow....

 

[ronaldo_fanbelt]

I go for an hour with everybody in the pool. I blend it and then I go another hour. That is how I like it.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Depends on sauce and peppers, desired flavor and consistency. For thicker sauces I sometimes like a silky consistency more like ketchup, which requires a longer cook. A shorter cook it would be more... granular (for lack of a better word)... like the small bits that make up applesauce. I like that too. It depends on the sauce. A shorter cook, it will taste fresher. But some flavors may not meld and you may be getting properties from the peppers you don't want, as in perfumy notes, etc. Really it depends on what you are after. Taste as you go, stop when you like. 

 

[SavinaRed]

Depends on sauce and peppers, desired flavor and consistency. For thicker sauces I sometimes like a silky consistency more like ketchup, which requires a longer cook. A shorter cook it would be more... granular (for lack of a better word)... like the small bits that make up applesauce. I like that too. It depends on the sauce. A shorter cook, it will taste fresher. But some flavors may not meld and you may be getting properties from the peppers you don't want, as in perfumy notes, etc. Really it depends on what you are after. Taste as you go, stop when you like. 

My personal preference is a fresh taste not cooked lol. So maybe salsalady's suggestions of the 10 minute rule might work out best for what I like.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

If refrigerating you don't have to cook. I agree a short cook would work if you like the fresher taste. Or you can add some elements later in the cook as well, and get your base smooth and melded.

 

[Lucky Dog Hot Sauce]

I go 180-190 for 10 mins. I don't like to boil because I get inconsistency batch to batch.

Boiling = chaos.

Any longer and you're cooking the sauce down & losing moisture. Some people like reducing their sauce, some don't - after the 10 min point it's a personal preference.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Keep in mind LD usually roasts most of his ingredients, onions, peppers, etc. so they go into the pot cooked. Unlike raw peppers and onions which are going to cook differently and taste different from a raw state.
 
Take all these tips and experiment. You will find your own groove. 

 

[Lucky Dog Hot Sauce]

I use raw onions - the trick there is to process all the ingredients - if everything is chopped to bits, it tends to cook a lot more evenly.


I used to do much longer cook times, but since my copacker uses a gas fired kettle, time is $

So I do all my prototyping to simulate their processes - it's the best way for me to simulate a batch that's at scale (e.g. 100 or 300 gallons vs 1 gallon)

There's no way I'd be able to make a sauce that required reduction in their kettles - it'd cost a fortune.

 

[SavinaRed]

so you cook before you blend ingredients in a blender is that correct ?

 

[Lucky Dog Hot Sauce]

so you cook before you blend ingredients in a blender is that correct ?

Yes - for hobby batches I pasteurize, then blend, then bring back to 160-180 to hot pack/invert.

 

[parker49]

If refrigerating you don't have to cook. I agree a short cook would work if you like the fresher taste. Or you can add some elements later in the cook as well, and get your base smooth and melded.

i have always wondered if you don't cook it or do a short cook like the minimum 10  minutes how long it will last in the fridge? I know it will depend on the ph level, but say it is a around 4 or a little above.

 

[RocketMan]

i don't like to boil my sauces, now that said, I'll bring them to a boil, maybe 5 minutes max then I bring them down to a simmer, BIG difference there's, for another 45 to 60 minutes. To me a simmer will do everything boing will to soften ingredient and evaporate off excess water without the "chaos" as LD puts it that comes from boiling.

I would recommend that you take a portion of what you have and process it as say, simmer, blender, simmer, pack and see if you get what your looking for. If not adjust and try again till you do.

 

[Lucky Dog Hot Sauce]

i have always wondered if you don't cook it or do a short cook like the minimum 10  minutes how long it will last in the fridge? I know it will depend on the ph level, but say it is a around 4 or a little above.

Just to clarify something: 10 mins at 190-200 degrees is not a short cook time. Totally sufficient for pasteurization.

The pH question is far more significant.

 

[Jmarglon]

Yes - for hobby batches I pasteurize, then blend, then bring back to 160-180 to hot pack/invert.

Lucky Dog, you chop and add ingredients then pasteurize before blending? Then bring up to 190 for 10 min again after blending?
Love your sauce. Met you at Hayward market many years ago and bought my first few of many bottles. Gracias!