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tutorial Making Hot Sauce 101

I've a quick question:  I'm getting ready to bottle up some hot sauce, and I wanted to know that if I simmer all my ingredients prior to blending for 20-25 minutes, will I be ok simply bringing the blended sauce back up to 190 and then bottling it in the freshly sanitized bottles?  Or will I need to cook it again for an extended period of time to be safe?  Thanks!
 
:welcome: to THP, Colorado 0321
 
You are okay to just bring the sauce back up to temp and bottle.  Don't need the extended cook time after blendering.  Try to get it up to a simmer for a couple minutes at least, just to make sure everything is happy.  Then you can put the pan in a double boiler set up or turn the burner to low to maintain the heat while bottling.
 
Have Fun! 
 
salsalady
 
              Strawberries on sale bought 8lbs.4 for the smoked part of my recipe and 4 for the not smoked part.I cant pull the smoke out if everything gets it and it is overdone.Also a pic of random ingredients some are in the sauce some maybe not.(cant give away all the details ;) )I smoked some sea salt and it turned out great.The peppers are a 120 day ferment of Yellow,and red moruga's.It had the sweetest smell coming from the jar when I opened it.
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looks interesting randyp!  But now we know your secret!  Sniff the paint, gargle with the RoundUp, and everything will be guuuud!  :lol:  (just kidding) ;)
 
SL
 
First I want to say thank you so much for putting this guide together, it is very informative. Second, I won't apologize for raising a zombie thread ;).

I have a question regarding sauce making that I apparently ignored or overlooked. The other day I made several sauces using some forum recipes (thanks!) as well as some improv on my own. This was my first time. I boiled my jars prior to bottling and left them to air dry, they may have cooled completely before pouring in sauce. All my sauces were boiled for 10 mins or more but I did not put the lids on all of them immediately, nor did I make sure they had cooled in the proper time before refrigeration. They were all made with white vinegar, minus one with ACV. All are in the fridge now.

My question is, am I at risk for contams at this point? As long as they are in the fridge are they ok? Shelf stable jars would be great but it's not necessary right now. If I do want to make them shelf stable is is possible to do a hot water bath on them with the sauce inside? I have three woozies and four mason jars.

Thanks again for the guide and any help!
 
sporehead said:
My question is, am I at risk for contams at this point? As long as they are in the fridge are they ok? Shelf stable jars would be great but it's not necessary right now. If I do want to make them shelf stable is is possible to do a hot water bath on them with the sauce inside? I have three woozies and four mason jars. Thanks again for the guide and any help!
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Welcome to the great THP community SH!  
 
Hard to know how long the sauces were without lids - if it was an hour or less you're likely fine.  If it was a few hours while you did other stuff then meh, prolly best to combine and batch them up again.  If they didn't go long without lids, and they've been in the fridge since you'll probably ok.  Hot sauces usually are pretty low pH so as long as yours stay cold you should be fine.  If you wanted to remove all possible doubt I'd encourage you to take the whole batch and pot it up, bring it up to a simmer, refill the re-sanitized bottles/jars and then hot fill/hold the woozies and water bath the jars.  
 
As is you've got *probably* safe stuff that needs to stay in the fridge that'll be good for around 3 months.  Redo the batch and you're safe for a year (though once opened they have to go in the fridge).  Glad to see you here!  Don't hesitate to ask more questions when you have them and feel free to post pics - we love pics!
 
Thanks for the response! I think I will keep them as they are. Maybe I'll post the recipes and results later. I was lucky enough to find fresh nagas and scorpions at the market. I proceeded to buy them out. Can't wait until next growing season to try my hand at my own superhots. Just have some baby jalapeños now.
 
SmokenFire answered it pretty good.  I know you said you're going to keep the jars as is, but I'd like to add for others who read this...
 
Re-batching is fine.  The only thing I would add is to use new lids and caps.  Don't re-use the mason jar lids or woozy caps. 
 
After hot filling the mason jars, they should be boiling water bath processed for a shelf stable sauce.  
For woozys- hot fill, immediately cap and invert each bottle as it is filled.  Once inverted, the cooling time isn't critical.
 
 
Your sauce in the refer now should be fine for a while.  Keep an eye on it.   
 
Have Fun! 
 
salsalady said:
SmokenFire answered it pretty good.  I know you said you're going to keep the jars as is, but I'd like to add for others who read this...
 
Re-batching is fine.  The only thing I would add is to use new lids and caps.  Don't re-use the mason jar lids or woozy caps. 
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Great info there SL - something I should have noted too!  Also I love how I say fridge but you say refer...  :D
 
:lol:  When labeling our electrical panels, we write "refer".....;)    just for fun~ 
 
Ok, I've read every post and still need to ask for clarification.  How long does one have to get sauce or salsa into canning jars after its cooked.  Example is, I made hot sauce Friday, let it cool the correct way over night to test the heat level.   I split some out for a weekend BBQ which was all eaten.  Today I have a LOT more left than I thought I would.  Can I reheat the batch that has been correctly stored in the fridge and can today/Monday?
 
Thanks,
 
sirhc76 said:
Ok, I've read every post and still need to ask for clarification.  How long does one have to get sauce or salsa into canning jars after its cooked.  Example is, I made hot sauce Friday, let it cool the correct way over night to test the heat level.   I split some out for a weekend BBQ which was all eaten.  Today I have a LOT more left than I thought I would.  Can I reheat the batch that has been correctly stored in the fridge and can today/Monday?
 
Thanks,
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Yes, you can reheat it and hot pack it as described in the OP.  Sounds like you've been conscious of temps and cooling.  It's only been a couple days, and without knowing the pH, it should still be safe to reheat and bottle/can/hot pack.  Just make sure to get the sauce up to a simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Keep stirring so it doesn't burn.   
 
Big thanks to Chili Monsta, Salsa Lady and everyone else whose been keeping up with all the questions and such while I've been in Wedding Mode. Next Saturday is the big event and I'll be released to return to THP after that. Can't wait and hopefully I'll have some video and pics to share so keep an eye out :)
 
Cheers,
RM
 
I just tested the pH of a few different batches of sauce I've made over the last few weeks. They were all between 3.05- 3.24. Is that to low of a pH ? 
 
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