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Rookie - 1st Sauce Question

E

Ebbtide

I attempted my first sauce last night and am wondering if I can get some feedback...I'm definitely new to this and want to make sure I avoid getting myself or anyone else sick, so please pardon my newbie ignorance. 
 
I used 1 mango, 1 small onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tomato, a pinch of salt, and added Habanero, Jalapeno, and guiajillo peppers to taste.  Cooked until boil and then blended and added vinegar. (I think about 1 cup)  Returned to pot and brought back to a boil for about two minutes and then bottled. (hot sauce bottles, funnel, and caps sanitized in starsan solution for a few minutes)  I checked ph with ph meter prior to bottling and it read 3.4.
 
Now, my newbie questions.
- Did I boil it long enough to kill bacteria?
- I ended up with 3 6 oz bottles that are now in fridge.  How long can I expect a sauce like this to remain good?
- What are things I should consider doing differently on my next attempt?
 
 
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1) there is no time frame for boiling. You just want to get it to temperature.
2) with a ph that low they will be good for quite some time in the fridge.
3) don't need,to use sttarsan and I would say not to use it on the caps.
If you invert you will see sanitize said caps
 
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It's OK if the caps are unlined to use a sanitizing solution, but if the caps have a foam liner inside, the solution can get under the liner and then get squeezed out and possible get into the sauce.  Probably such a tiny amount won't hurt anything, but it's not necessary.  As B&M said, if you hot fill-INVERT- hold upsidedown for 3 minutes, that will sanitize the caps.
 
Sounds like you did the process right (not sure if you inverted?) but if they are sealed, they don't need to be refrigerated.  You only have a couple bottles so if you feel safer keeping them in the fridge, go for it. 
 
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Gotcha, that makes sense.  Thank you for the additional info.  I did hot fill and invert. The caps I used did not have a foam liner in them.  That said, what constitutes sealing.  I've canned other things before, but as far as I can tell there is nothing that actually seals off the bottles.  (Glass bottle with plastic screw-on lid.)  Is it just that they are screwed on tightly until ready to begin consuming?
 
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the hot fill/hold (often abbreviated here on THP as HFH) creates a vacuum in the bottle like what happens with mason jars in a boiling water bath (BWB).  When the jars cool the air and sauce inside cools and "shrinks" thereby creating a vacuum (oxygen free environment).  When the sauce has a good pH level and is sealed by BWB with mason jars or HFH with woozy bottles, it is considered shelf stable and is OK to leave unrefrigerated until opened. 
 
Further explanation- usually a BWB method involved putting product that is usually not hot/heated into the jars so the jars have to be brought up to boiling.  All the lids/rings/jars/product is brought up to that boiling temperature while in the BWB.  WIth HFH, the sauce is already up to temp, the bottles have been sterilized all thats needed it to take care of the caps which the Invert does. 
 
ps- Using unlined caps is fine, you just need to pay attention to firmly snug the cap onto the bottle. 
 
If you haven't already, check out Making Hot Sauce 101.
 
Have Fun!  Post pics if you can...we luuuuv pics!  ;) 
 
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There's actually no need to boil the sauce. To directly answer your question, yes - 4-5 mins of boiling will kill all he bad stuff.

But it's unecessary, and can make it very difficult to replicate a recipe.

To properly pasteurize l, all you need is temps between 180-200 degrees for 8 (or more) mins.


To hot fill, bottle sauce between 160-180 & invert.

I would also advise adding the vinegar along with the other ingredients - unless there's a specific effect you're trying to achieve (e.g. Pan searing the onion or peppers or something)

Boiling = chaos. Temperatures fluctuate wildly when boiling. You can also introduce bad tasting notes by scalding the sauce. Better to cook just below boiling with constant agitation for
8 mins. Any more and you're just reducing the sauce (cooking off water).

But this batch should be safe enough to eat, which was your original question. :)

Good luck!
 
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Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
There's actually no need to boil the sauce. To directly answer your question, yes - 4-5 mins of boiling will kill all he bad stuff.

But it's unecessary, and can make it very difficult to replicate a recipe.

To properly pasteurize l, all you need is temps between 180-200 degrees for 8 (or more) mins.


To hot fill, bottle sauce between 160-180 & invert.

I would also advise adding the vinegar along with the other ingredients - unless there's a specific effect you're trying to achieve (e.g. Pan searing the onion or peppers or something)

Boiling = chaos. Temperatures fluctuate wildly when boiling. You can also introduce bad tasting notes by scalding the sauce. Better to cook just below boiling with constant agitation for
8 mins. Any more and you're just reducing the sauce (cooking off water).

But this batch should be safe enough to eat, which was your original question. :)

Good luck!
Click to expand...
I can relate to scalding the sauce. I had a batch that came out bitter even though I followed the same recipe that I used before with great success. The only difference was it stayed on high boil for 10 minutes because my significant other had a few choice words about how the wind keeps blowing the fumes back into the house.
I will try 180-200 degrees next time instead of full boil.
 
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Hawaiianero said:
I can relate to scalding the sauce. I had a batch that came out bitter even though I followed the same recipe that I used before with great success. The only difference was it stayed on high boil for 10 minutes because my significant other had a few choice words about how the wind keeps blowing the fumes back into the house.
I will try 180-200 degrees next time instead of full boil.
Click to expand...
 
I think you'll find a much more consistency from batch to batch with this approach. 
 
One other risk of boiling that I fell victim to in my early hobby days...I didn't agitate constantly, so a layer of "sediment" (peppers, onions, etc) settled on the bottom, with some liquid trapped beneath it. When I went to stir the sauce (which didn't appear to be at a rolling boil) it went full volcano on me, sending scalding hot super-heated pepper sauce as high as 2' in the air. I caught some on my arm and it burned the crap outta me. 
 
So yeah - safety first. No matter how boring it is, I agitate constantly while bringing the sauce to pasteurization temps. 
 
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Hawaiianero said:
I can relate to scalding the sauce. I had a batch that came out bitter even though I followed the same recipe that I used before with great success. The only difference was it stayed on high boil for 10 minutes because my significant other had a few choice words about how the wind keeps blowing the fumes back into the house.
I will try 180-200 degrees next time instead of full boil.
Click to expand...
 
I scalded a batch or two and then bought myself a double boiler.  No more scalded batches for me.
 
-Alden
 
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