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Mango Habanero Squash Sauce

I made a really good mango habanero sauce today. I used my new ph meter to make sure my sauce was down around 3.7 and made sure I bottled it at 195 degrees (hot enough for it to splatter in my eye at one point) and then flipped them upside down for 30 minutes. I tried to measure everything in grams. I was able to fill a dozen 5 oz woozies and a half-pint jar. The sauce is thick and fruity with a nice spicy punch at the end (although it quickly dissipates). I'm looking forward to tasting it tomorrow, after the flavors have gotten a chance to cuddle up overnight.

Here's what I put in it:

28.5 g of Jamaican Scotch Bonnet Orange
70.5 g of Orange Habaneros
216 g of Yellow Sweet Peppers
11 oz of Peaches
24 oz of Mango
125 g of Garlic
355 g of Vidalia Onions
672 g of Spaghetti Squash
2 g of Powdered Ginger
50 g of Light Brown Suga
15 g of Salt
½ cup of Apple Cider Vinegar
1.5 cups of Peach Nectar
¼ cup of Honey
1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
Zest of 1 Orange

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looks awesome, i love the color.

btw FIFY
28.5 g of Jamaican Scotch Bonnet Orange
70.5 g of Orange Habaneros
216 g of Yellow Sweet Peppers
325.3088265625 g of Peaches
709.7647125 g of Mango

125 g of Garlic
355 g of Vidalia Onions
672 g of Spaghetti Squash
2 g of Powdered Ginger
50 g of Light Brown Suga
15 g of Salt
½ cup of Apple Cider Vinegar
1.5 cups of Peach Nectar
¼ cup of Honey
1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
Zest of 1 Orange
 
Thanks, FanMan!

I woke up and made some crackers with cream cheese & added little dollops of my sauce on top. What a difference a night makes! Now that the flavors have all melded together this sauce is fantastic. The fruity taste is more complex; stronger but less harsh (if that makes sense). The heat level seems to have increased a little, but it still dissipates pretty quickly. This sauce is going to be great for crackers & cheese, fish and chicken & bell pepper kabobs. My only concern is that it's just a little too thick. I'm afraid it's going to be tough to get out of those little woozy bottles once they've been in the fridge. I thought about emptying my bottles, re-santizing them, thinning down the sauce a little with some more peach nectar, and then re-bottling. But it seems like such a pain in the ass and I've got another sauce I'd like to make this afternoon (with black cherries, Bourbon and chocolate habaneros... YUM).
 
My wife thinks I look like an idiot for sitting on the floor of our living room tilting our bottles back and forth in the sunlight, but after doing so I'm satisfied with the viscosity of the sauce. It's a little thick, but it still flows pretty well. On to the next sauce!
 
Quick question.... it's been about 3 weeks since I bottled this sauce. It's been sitting in boxes at room temp. I pulled out a bottle today and noticed that there seems to be some really small globs of white stuff suspended in the sauce. At first I thought it was just some garlic that didn't get completely blended. But when I shook the bottle the glob of white stuff sorta "spread" out in the bottle... I mean, the white stuff is a liquid, not a solid.

This realization comes just as we were getting ready to send out our (very late) Christmas packages. Now I'm hesitant to send this one out. I'm afraid the white stuff is some kind of mold. I don't know what else it could be. Any thoughts? Maybe something with the honey? It almost looks like wax, but the honey I used didn't have any wax in it.
 
Odd - did you pasteurize it? I'm wondering if it's crystallized honey, but I would think that cooking it at 190 degrees would infuse/incorporate the honey.

Honestly I've never made a fruit/squash sauce so I'm not gonna be very helpful :(
 
"Crystallized honey"

My thoughts exactly. That's my "best case scenario". I'm afraid that it's some kind of yeast or mold. I didn't ferment the peppers so I'm not sure what's up.
 
The more I think about it the less sense honey makes. For one, it'll only crystallize if it's like, a lump of unblended honey. Once you heat it close to boiling, mixed with the cinegars & salts and veggie juices (aater mostly) I don't think it'll ever crystallize again. It's just not dense enough as honey to do that.

For another it sounds like its in all bottles, not just one flukey bottle? That's not good.

Finally, you said it's not solid, but liquid - e.g. Breaks apart?

Verdict: not honey, likely mold. :(

Sorry man, that's a tough break. Wonder why it happened? Knock on wood, I've made ~-1000 bottles of fresh-pepper sauce this year & haven't had any mold - but like I said, I've not worked with fruits or squash before - possible something with the fruit juice facilitates it? I'll leave that speculation for the fruit-sauce gods on here.
 
Stemwinder, how did you process the sauce? I saw that you got the ph down to about 3.7 and heated it to 195 to bottle but what else did you do?
For instance when I am making a sauce I bring all ingredients to a boil for 15 minutes then reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes, first run through the blender, return to heat and simmer for 20 mintues or to the thickness I want, second run through the blender, heat to 195 and bottle reheating the sauce if temp falls below 185 and invert the bottles for 15 minutes.

If you followed anything close to this then anything that would have been in the sauce would have been killed and your sauce should be safe. I did note in a paper put out by the University of Iowa on Canning that a white substance could result from Starches or Minerals in Hard Water.

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/publications/pm1044.pdf

The only other thing that comes to mind is some kind of fruit pectin or something but I've never seen it come out of solution especially not at 3 weeks. I don't know if you said or not but is it all bottles or only a few? Have you opened a bottle and seen what it smells / tastes like?

RM
 
I followed those bottling procedures. I just opened a bottle and it smells fantastic. Nothing foul smelling at all. Furthermore, it tastes amazing. While I can see the white stuff suspended in the sauce, by the time I get it to pour out of the bottle (it's pretty thick) I can't even see the white stuff anymore... thus I still can't tell what it is. To be honest, I think I'll play it safe by removing the mango sauce from our gift packages.... and eating it all myself. :rofl:
 
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