• If you have a question about commercial production or the hot sauce business, please post in Startup Help.

tutorial Making Hot Sauce 101

Hothotsauce said:
Hello. I intend to make a low ph hot sauce soon and wanted to try to hot fill as the instructions ay to do. If I wanted to be extra safe and then refrigerate it *before* opening, how long would I wait from when ifilled it to when I stuck it in fridge? Also, can this idea of hot filling (flipping bottlefor 15 min) then refigerator actually be more beneficial safety wise than just letting sauce cool dowb to room temp, then filling woozies then putting in fridge? Thanks.
Click to expand...
I missed answering this question, my apologies....
 
It is best to Hot Fill as opposed to letting the sauce cool to room temp then bottling.  If the sauce is cooled, then it needs to be refrigerated from the start and won't have the added shelf life (even in the fridge) of a sauce that is Hot Packed. 
 
By doing the Hot Fill and immediately capping, when the sauce cools it creates a vacuum in the bottle and a tight seal with the cap.  The Invert step is to get the heated sauce in contact with the inside of the cap, the heat then sterilizes the inside of the cap. 
 
Once the bottle has been capped and inverted, there really isn't a reason to refrigerate.  Unless you have tons of room in the fridge and just want to be extra-super-safe.  :shrug:  Nothing wrong with refrigerating a properly sealed bottle, but I just don't see the necessity of it if the sauce was properly processed from the start. 
 
To answer the original question, I would let the bottles cool to room temperature before putting in the fridge.
 
Sorry for the late reply, but maybe others reading this down the road will appreciate the comments.  Hope this helps~ 
 
SL
 
salsalady said:
Adding meat to hot sauces is extremely risky.  They are not safe to use the hot Fill/hold method of processing, most things that contain meat, even things like bouillon, have to be pressure canned. 
 
edit- bacon flavoring 
 
Rocketman posted a process on here somewhere of rendering down a bunch of bacon fat, then adding it to vodka.  Freeze it so the fat solidifies, then pour off the vodka....or something like that.  I'll see if I can find the post....
 
Bacon Infused Vodka
 
filter set up
Click to expand...
Thanks so much! Will be trying the bacon vodka
 
Hi there!  I'm new here and new to hot sauce making.  I've done a lot of canning and quick pickles, but this will be my first adventure with fermentation and hot sauces.  Before I get too far in, I'd like to get some feedback and make sure I have the basics down.
 
I'm making two varieties:
 
The first will be a more complicated recipe, with some tropical fruits (pineapple, passion fruit, kiwi), some exotic spices and flavorings (a little ginger, a little tamarind paste, maybe a little Szechuan pepper, maybe some galangal), onion, garlic, some peppers that have a bit of a citrus-y or a fruity flavor (lemon drop habaneros, fatalis, Fresnos, and maybe some dulcettas and sweet banana peppers to balance the heat), pineapple vinegar, palm sugar...you get the idea.  I'll cook it to soften everything, then puree, check the pH, and hot fill according to the instructions I found on this site.  Assuming it's acidic enough, and I follow all the rules for bottling it, this sauce should be shelf-stable until the bottle is opened, right?  Any feedback or suggestions on the recipe?

The other is going to be a basic Louisiana-style sauce with a much simpler recipe:  cayenne peppers, brine, vinegar, maybe some garlic, maybe some onion.  This one I'm going to ferment.  I think I'll divide the peppers and try some variations I've found that sound interesting:  smoke the peppers first for one batch, use a sweet white wine instead of distilled water in the brine for another, age one batch with oak chips or maybe bourbon barrel chips (the kind they sell for home brewing) after fermenting. This is where I start to get fuzzy on the process.  Fermented sauces like this aren't typically cooked, right?  Is cooking it and hot fill bottling this kind of sauce even an option?  If I don't cook it and hot fill the bottles, but it has the proper pH and the bottles are sterilized, is it shelf-stable, or does it have to stay refrigerated, before and after opening the bottle?

I've already found a LOT of good information here, and I thank you for that--and in advance for any advice and suggestions you have on these plans!
 
Hi Casgordita!   :welcome: to THP-
 
Your first recipe sounds fine and you have a good understanding of the process.  Follow your taste buds for the flavor profile and remember that you can stick the cooked sauce in the fridge for a day or so to see how the flavors develop.  Make any changes you want, then bring it back up to temp and HFH.
 
Ferments aren't cooked to start with, but at the end, a choice has to be made to keep refrigerated or cook/process.
 
When the ferment is started, think of it as wine, keep it oxygen free, comfortable temperature to keep the GoodBugs active, out of the light to keep the color nice.
 
When you decide it's fermented long enough, think of the ferment like you would kimchee or sauerkraut.  Once the peppers (or kimchee, etc) is fermented, the pH is low so it can be held for an extended time under refrigeration.  Kimchee left out at room temp and open to oxygen will spoil, and your ferment would do the same thing.  In Asia, crocks are buried to keep them cool (ie refrigeration).  Kimchee and kraut are both sold refrigerated.  Kraut is also sold in a can but that is not an active "live culture" kraut like the refrigerated stuff because it has been subjected to heat during the canning process.  If you refer the ferment, the sauce will continue to ferment very slowly and the GoodBugs (probiotics, etc) will still be active and you will have the added benefit of that when you eat it.  But it must be refrigerated.
 
If you want to make it Shelf Stable, you will need to cook it and HFH.  Assuming the pH is nice and low, there is no need for added vinegar,  just blender the snot out of it, cook it, pack it.  Some choose to add vinegar for the flavor, but it is not needed for pH if the sauce has been properly fermented.  The one down side of HFH is that it will kill all the GoodBugs in the sauce.  It will still have the fermented flavor profile, but won't be an active ferment any longer.
 
Hope this helps~
salsalady
 
 
 
ps- PM coming your way ~ (Personal Message)
 
If I still had Editing Option of the OP, I'd add this info about ferments into the OP.....
 
Hint, HINT! 
:pray:
 
Ok, so just making sure, I have several quarts of hot sauce in the fridge. (my son is developing his signature sauce!) He has cooked them up and cooled them down correctly, and promptly refrigerated with clean jars and lids. I dont think there is vinegar in all of them, but maybe some lemon or lime juice. If i bring these back up to a boil, and re-jar them, i can safely can them in the pressure canner and they will be shelf stable?
 
cjb7 said:
Ok, so just making sure, I have several quarts of hot sauce in the fridge. (my son is developing his signature sauce!) He has cooked them up and cooled them down correctly, and promptly refrigerated with clean jars and lids. I dont think there is vinegar in all of them, but maybe some lemon or lime juice. If i bring these back up to a boil, and re-jar them, i can safely can them in the pressure canner and they will be shelf stable?
Click to expand...
Yes.  
 
Because you are unsure if there is vinegar or citrus juices and the pH is unknown, pressure canning is the only way to make them safe and shelf stable.   
 
SL
 
Thank you! I needed to make sure it would, in fact, be safe without them. I got so many different opinions on google I have done nothing! 
 
Anything can be pressure canned, high acid or low acid.  Things that have no natural acidity, like green beans, fish, meats, most other vegetables, must be pressure canned to kill botulism.    
 
 
Sauces with enough acidity (either from fruits, citrus juices, and vinegars) and a low pH, may be Hot Fill /Hold, boiling water bath, or pressure canned.
 
 
 
Oh wow. Miss SalsaLady, I made this account so I could thank you for the all the information on this thread from you and the other people who shared stuff! Ill read through the other topics and do my research here first then Ill ask my questions. Im very grateful that this site is here! Thank you! :)
 
sorry for the late reply, I've been traveling....
 
:welcome: to THP, Sephy!  Glad to hear the information is helpful. 
 
Have Fun!
salsalady
 
Would the Hot/ Fill/Hold method be an acceptable method to process or can hot sauce in pint or jelly Mason jars?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
PtMD989 said:
Would the Hot/ Fill/Hold method be an acceptable method to process or can hot sauce in pint or jelly Mason jars?
Click to expand...
All due respect to jhc, but I'd say absolutely not. Why not just BWB the jars? That's what they're made for. Why risk it?
 
MikeUSMC said:
All due respect to jhc, but I'd say absolutely not. Why not just BWB the jars? That's what they're made for. Why risk it?
Click to expand...
That’s what I did (BWB), after bringing the sauce to a boil. I was just wondering about HFH for canning jars. I was thinking HFH would cut down on process time?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
MikeUSMC said:
All due respect to jhc, but I'd say absolutely not. Why not just BWB the jars? That's what they're made for. Why risk it?
Click to expand...
Lol "absolutely not"? What exactly are you risking? Do the laws of nature apply to woozy bottles but not canning jars?
 
edit: if you read the link I posted you will see it's perfectly safe. 
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top