So, last time I made this it worked perfectly, lasted a few months and there were no problems but I wanted to ask just in case. Basically I took a sterile glass bottle with a plastic screw on top, filled it with crushed Thai peppers and a good 1/4 cup of salt then filled to the very brim with white vinegar, shook and refrigerated for 3 weeks. Then I emptied the entire bottle into the blender and completely blended, strained and poured the vinegar and some puree back into the bottle. I was wondering if this was safe, if the pH is low enough and if my methods are acceptable to move to a larger scale and possibly get a small oak barrel and fill it with the same mixture, put an oak lid on it and salt pack the top to seal. Any suggestions, hints, help, ideas?
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Louisiana style sauce help
- Thread starter Melium
- Start date
Sorry, but why are you straining peppers out and pouring the left over vinegar into a bottle? Are you trying to make infused vinegar or hot sauce? Hot sauce has peppers.
Louisiana style is vinegary but not flavored vinegar. It's from a mash. Don't strain your sauce, that's taking peppers out. If you are not going to ferment a mash and add vinegar for a sauce you should just concentrate on cooking a sauce down and adding more liquid until you are satisfied with the consistency.
Okay, thanks. I'll try that this go around and see if it has the same taste and consistency.
Also, is the way I made it before safe to make infused vinegar? Just storing it in a glass bottle in the fridge with salt/vinegar/peppers? Would the pH be low enough to prevent bacterial growth?
Also, is the way I made it before safe to make infused vinegar? Just storing it in a glass bottle in the fridge with salt/vinegar/peppers? Would the pH be low enough to prevent bacterial growth?
If it is in the fridge it does not matter at all the temp is not high enough for botulism. You have to worry about pH for shelf-stability only.
Alright, just wanted to make sure about that. What if I wanted to barrel it with salt, vinegar and herbs? As long as I can get the pH low enough (Under 3.7) I should be good, right? Since it would be stored in an oak barrel for a few weeks/months, the temperature will be in the high 80-90's most days.