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

tutorial Making Hot Sauce 101

For food applications, and restaurant dishes/pans cleaning, its-
Wash
Rinse
Sanitize

I dont know if baking the glass bottles in an oven at high temp would qualify as sterilizing or if that is only achieved in an autoclave. Sanitizing with starsan or bleach is enough.

Beyond that, the sauce has to have a low pH AND be hot filled to be safe. If the sauce has too high of a pH, then the sauce must be pressure canned.


SL




Edit- in re-reading the OP, there is a description of the wash.rinse.sanitize, but then later in the post it says 'sterilize'. That is a typo, that should be sanitize. If editing of the OP was still an option...(coughWOULDBEAGOODFEATUREBOSScough)...I would fix that to avoid confusion.

Hope this helps.
SL
 
juanitos said:
 
Do you know why starsan is good enough in brewing? but for hot sauce we have to do the whole sterilization hot fill stuff?
 
i understand sanitation doesn't kill 100% of nasties but why is that ok with beer that sits in similar bottles and not ok for hot sauce?
because beer is consumed immediately after opening usually? or something else?
Click to expand...
 
I can say that if you store unfermented wort, because the pH hasn't been lowered by fermentation, you definitely pressure can it or risk botulism. But once beer undergoes fermentation and the pH drops, Star San should be good enough.  When I beer gun bottles out of a keg I either Star San the bottles or run them through the (otherwise empty) dishwasher on the sanitize cycle and I'm good to go.  As SL says, Star San should be plenty good for HFH.
 
But also, yeah, I don't leave my beer out on the table for weeks either, drinking it a little at a time ;)
 
salsalady said:
I dont know if baking the glass bottles in an oven at high temp would qualify as sterilizing or if that is only achieved in an autoclave. Sanitizing with starsan or bleach is enough.
Click to expand...
 
Dry heat sterilization is problematic. Higher temperatures, longer hold periods, and still less certain.  Autoclave is a much more dependable method.
 
Making hot sauce this weekend, so I'm getting some prep done today.

I happened to 'score' some 5oz woozys from a restaurant that closed. They'd been stored outside. A friend told me they were in a yard sale so I asked her to tell the seller to save them for me. I went to the yard sale looking to get 5-6 cases...ended up with about 40 cases, looking like this-
20200619_090027.jpg


The boxes are trashed, dont hurt the bottles none. Bleach rinse and air dry. Here's how I do it.

Dunk in bleach water, make sure bottles are at least half full, then shake it out. I have an old dishwasher rack set over the sink. Start stacking them on the spikes, then keep piling them in.
20200619_090119.jpg

20200619_093805.jpg

20200619_091000.jpg


Because it is over the sink, bottles can hang below the rack. This would also work if the rack was in a sheet pan.

After premeasuring the spices for 2 recipes, I realized I needed more bottle. Just keep stacking them up. This rack has +4 cases 5oz woozy and +4 cases 10oz woozy. 100+ bottles. For one batch, I think I got 12 cases 5oz woozys on one rack.

I used a strong bleach solution (1/3 cup in 2 gal water), so I'm leaving these to air dry overnight and for the bleach to dissipate.
20200619_093848.jpg
 
Thanks but I already know all that.
My one question is.
Are the peppers I fermented last sept still viable for hot sauce. ?
 
LHCB said:
Thanks but I already know all that.
My one question is.
Are the peppers I fermented last sept still viable for hot sauce. ?
Click to expand...
Was there a previous question? Maybe in the fermenting thread?

Without other information, I'd say Yes, if it has been stored properly.
 
 
Hi All
 
Question on what jars/bottles are ok to use if I just plan on making small batches and putting in the fridge.  I never made sauce before last week when i was gifted 20 cayenne and habanero peppers.  found a recipe and planned to make it, and just put it in the fridge.  Read some of the posts here first and on some other blogs that got me nervous afterwards.
 
I ended up using old jelly and salsa jars, with the metal lids.   I ended washing them in the dishwasher and then boiled them in water for 15 or 20 mins (jars and lids).
 
is this ok?  is it ok to re-use a glass jar with a metal lid if the sauce will end up being refrigerated? 
 
I also ended up simmering the ingredients for 25 mins, then blender, then put it in the jars.
 
think it should last at least a couple of weeks? thanks. salsa lady...i feel like buying some of your stuff as payment for this amazing thread. you ship to new york?
 
thanks
 
Steve
 
Hi twoFours, welcome to THP.

You should be good with refrigeration. Not knowing the ph, just watch it for spoilage. One other comment is the metal lids may rust. If the jars have traditional canning jar threads, you can get plastic lids for the jars.

Congrats on your first sauce! Have Fun!
SL
 
salsalady said:
Hi twoFours, welcome to THP.

You should be good with refrigeration. Not knowing the ph, just watch it for spoilage. One other comment is the metal lids may rust. If the jars have traditional canning jar threads, you can get plastic lids for the jars.

Congrats on your first sauce! Have Fun!
SL
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. I do have Mason jars with plastic lids. What's best way to sanitize /sterilize those? Bleach?
 
From back in the day of working in restaurants, it was a teaspoon of bleach per gallon of water. The AHJs said a cap of bleach per gallon for easy reference.

SL
 
salsalady said:
From back in the day of working in restaurants, it was a teaspoon of bleach per gallon of water. The AHJs said a cap of bleach per gallon for easy reference.

SL
Click to expand...
 
 
I've been having good luck using ghe same no rinse sanitizer I used to use for beer making. It's cheap and you know it's food grade.
 
If you do use bleach, make sure you use chlorine bleach instead of one of the non-chlorine alternatives.  Also, don't use a sented bleach.
 
Michael S said:
 
 
I've been having good luck using the same no rinse sanitizer I used to use for beer making. It's cheap and you know it's food grade.
 
If you do use bleach, make sure you use chlorine bleach instead of one of the non-chlorine alternatives.  Also, don't use a sented bleach.
Click to expand...
Thanks for mentioning chlorine bleach and non-scented.
 
:welcome: to THP.
 
SL 
 
Hey y'all!
 
I have tried the hot fill/hold method for my sauce and since I am filling the sauce into the bottle while it is still hot, I notice that when I seal with a cap, there is some condensation (water droplets) that is created at the top. Does this pose as a safety risk? Just wondering if this is common.
 
Or is this because I did not fill the sauce all the way to the tippy top? I left about 1cm of space. 
 
Did you INVERT after hot filling?
 
The steps are---
Fill with heated ( proper pH sauce) up to the neck ring.
Check to make sure the threads are clean and wipe with a bleach cloth if needed.
Snug tight the cap and INVERT for 5 minutes...assuming the sauce is at about 190F when filling.
 
Don't leave the bottles inverted for an extended time.  Before you are done with processing and cleaned up (it might be a few minutes or a hour...) before your leave, re-vert the bottles upright.  Don't leave them inverted in the boxes for an extended period of time.  This instruction comes from the PA. 
 
salsalady said:
Did you INVERT after hot filling?
 
The steps are---
Fill with heated ( proper pH sauce) up to the neck ring.
Check to make sure the threads are clean and wipe with a bleach cloth if needed.
Snug tight the cap and INVERT for 5 minutes...assuming the sauce is at about 190F when filling.
 
Don't leave the bottles inverted for an extended time.  Before you are done with processing and cleaned up (it might be a few minutes or a hour...) before your leave, re-vert the bottles upright.  Don't leave them inverted in the boxes for an extended period of time.  This instruction comes from the PA. 
Click to expand...
 
Yes I inverted for 5 min at around 190-192F, is it not common to see condensation and water droplets inside? 
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top