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preservation How to prevent too much vinegar taste in sauces?

The subject line pretty much tells it. I made some green hot sauce using a basic recipe I found on the Web, adding some spices to it to make it mine.... It's nice, and hot, but vinegary. I don't mind vinegar, but is there a way to make it not so vinegary when vinegar is such a big part of most hot sauce recipes?

Please, do tell. I'm all ears.

:?:

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Replace half the vinegar with lime juice.

Add a bit of sugar.


Those two work for me pretty well. Omit the sugar if it wouldn't work with the type of sauce you're making. Lime juice is plenty acidic, I believe maybe even a bit more so than vinegar anyway.
 
Thanks. Will it still have pretty much the same ability to not go bad if not refrigerated?

I never refrigerate Tabasco or other hot sauces and so far none of those commercial ones have ever gone bad. That is why I ask.
 
worlok said:
Thanks. Will it still have pretty much the same ability to not go bad if not refrigerated?

I never refrigerate Tabasco or other hot sauces and so far none of those commercial ones have ever gone bad. That is why I ask.

Official answer is no, it will go bad. You should refrigerate or can properly.




Now what I do is simply pour my hot sauce in a bottle while it's boiling. Then consume within a couple weeks without worrying about refrigeration. But i'm not going to be responsible for giving advice that gets someone sick lol.
 
So why don't the commercial ones that list no preservatives ever go bad? They also say refrigerate after opening, I never do, and they never go bad. The color fades or darkens a bit, but never goes bad, goes off, gets funky, etc.

I figure my stuff would be consumed rather quickly enough though.... I just can't see how it could go bad with all that vinegar and salt.
 
Use the minimal amount of vinegar for the required pH. Sauces say "refrigerate after opening" even if not required to prevent lawsuits. If you've ever worked in a restaurant, you know the ketchup bottles sit out, not in the fridge.
 
3rded here

i keep a bottle of my homebrew in my coat pocket. so far i've not had so much as a foul hot sauce fart. the chances of bacteria surviving in an acid environment are probably less likely. not impossible i guess, but less likely. But like THP said, ketchup doesn't need refrigeration. Nor does Tabasco, etc.

That sauce looks wicked though man. Like, really good. :D
 
fineexampl said:
That sauce looks wicked though man. Like, really good. :D

Thanks. It's kinda vinegary, but not bad if you like vinegar. I'll use it. I put some on my burger at work today and it was pretty good. Maybe a bit too liquidy. It was my first attempt ever at making a pepper sauce.

This one was not cooked at all, just cleaned peppers blended with vinegar, salt, and some spices.

Next time I will try less vinegar and maybe some mango nectar. I need to get one of those PH testers though.
 
I dont know which vinegar you used between the apple cider vinegar & the distilled white vinegar. 1st off stop using that basic crappy tasting distilled white vinegar, yes its cheap, for a reason its nasty!

for the little I used apple cider I find that acceptable, though I find wine vinegars far better for taste! you could have the same ammount of vinegar & it wont taste vinegary like the cheap crap, instead it'll be sweet.

yes use some lime juice but in moderation cuz too much can be over powering for hot sauce sometimes, & I even love eating fresh limes.
 
chilehunter said:
I dont know which vinegar you used between the apple cider vinegar & the distilled white vinegar. 1st off stop using that basic crappy tasting distilled white vinegar, yes its cheap, for a reason its nasty!

for the little I used apple cider I find that acceptable, though I find wine vinegars far better for taste! you could have the same ammount of vinegar & it wont taste vinegary like the cheap crap, instead it'll be sweet.

yes use some lime juice but in moderation cuz too much can be over powering for hot sauce sometimes, & I even love eating fresh limes.

I only bought that because that is what the recipes I saw in the Net called for. Maybe I'll try wine vinegar next.
 
There are a LOT of good vinegars to experiment with, for me, apple cider vinegar is at the bottom of the list. Do a vinegar tasting, like you would a wine tasting. you will find ACV is quite strong, that's why people use it medicinally. It's so strong it can burn your skin. It's nasty. I prefer distilled white over ACV any day, and there are plenty of real nice, more gourmet, if you will, vinegars... honey vinegar, date vinegar, etc., etc.
 
Sounds like you have some nice sauces happening. be sure to check the white wine vinegar as many have low acid and will not suit your preservation attempts. Good stuff!
 
Didn't cook it? That sounds like a potential exploding bottle to me. I always cook my sauces and then check Ph. Otherwise "fresh" sauces have to be consumed in 2-3 days or they turn against you.
 
andres said:
Didn't cook it? That sounds like a potential exploding bottle to me. I always cook my sauces and then check Ph. Otherwise "fresh" sauces have to be consumed in 2-3 days or they turn against you.

I keep it refrigerated. I just had some yesterday and it was still fine.

Next time I will maybe try cooking the stuff.
 
rainbowberry said:
What about pineapple juice Mr. Big Font ;)

I just wanted to make people notice that I had a new question in the thread. :oops:

Okay on the pineapple juice, but is there a known about good starting ratio for sweet to sour (vinegar) that I should know about before wasting stuff? :) I want the least amount of sour with an acceptable acidity, although some of these fruit juices have their own weak acid....

Also, would you guys cook the mix with the fruit juice, or just the peppers/vinegar part, or what? i.e. mix in the fruity juice after or just cook it all together?

I'm sooooooooooo confused!

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