I'm ready to ditch cooking as part of my bottling process after my 2nd attempt being less than satisfactory. I'm thinking that keeping the sauce refrigerated is the best way to go. Just make a raw sauce and keep it refrigerated from manufacture to sale.
My first attempt of course I scorched the sauce and in my 2nd attempt I got a separation of something in there. Also the sauce went from a lovely bright red/orange color to a darker brownish red despite no scorching this time.
So no joy with cooking my thai chili sauce. It takes a good long while to bring a 3-4 liters of sauce gently to a boil and all that time over heat doesn't seem to be helpful in the appearance or taste.
Here is a link to a photo of my last batch. It is a closeup of the neck of the bottle showing the separation. Bright red oily looking globules at the surface and particulates that don't show when I don't cook. Granted they are really small but it doesn't look good and I worked too hard at this.
Also, after seeing the Tabasco sauce video I posted recently, I think that if the no cooking method is good enough for them, it should be good enough for me right? Please correct me if I'm mistaken!
My method was this.
1. Ferment the mash for 30 days using only sea salt
2. After 30 days, run the mash thru the food processor 1 more time and strain.
3. Add the requisite amount of vinegar
4. Bring the sauce to boiling for 10 minutes while stirring with a wooden spoon the entire time, then
5. Move the sauce pot to a larger pot for double boiling while bottling
All bottles were soaked in a dilute bath of bleach and water, then thoroughly rinsed and turned upside down to drain.
The pots were heavy duty stainless, the boiling pot being Calphalon brand. All bottles were capped and inverted for 30 minutes at least after filling.
As far as I can tell, I've done everything right despite the results.
Looking forward to any comments.
My first attempt of course I scorched the sauce and in my 2nd attempt I got a separation of something in there. Also the sauce went from a lovely bright red/orange color to a darker brownish red despite no scorching this time.
So no joy with cooking my thai chili sauce. It takes a good long while to bring a 3-4 liters of sauce gently to a boil and all that time over heat doesn't seem to be helpful in the appearance or taste.
Here is a link to a photo of my last batch. It is a closeup of the neck of the bottle showing the separation. Bright red oily looking globules at the surface and particulates that don't show when I don't cook. Granted they are really small but it doesn't look good and I worked too hard at this.
Also, after seeing the Tabasco sauce video I posted recently, I think that if the no cooking method is good enough for them, it should be good enough for me right? Please correct me if I'm mistaken!
My method was this.
1. Ferment the mash for 30 days using only sea salt
2. After 30 days, run the mash thru the food processor 1 more time and strain.
3. Add the requisite amount of vinegar
4. Bring the sauce to boiling for 10 minutes while stirring with a wooden spoon the entire time, then
5. Move the sauce pot to a larger pot for double boiling while bottling
All bottles were soaked in a dilute bath of bleach and water, then thoroughly rinsed and turned upside down to drain.
The pots were heavy duty stainless, the boiling pot being Calphalon brand. All bottles were capped and inverted for 30 minutes at least after filling.
As far as I can tell, I've done everything right despite the results.
Looking forward to any comments.
