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Wax sealing

Torch

Torch

To any wax sealers,

I know what kind of wax to use. However I heard it can be a pain in butt to unseal the wax bottle. So I would want to use a string of some sort as a rip cord.

What do any of you use for "rip cords"?

How do you get the rip cord to stay around bottle neck while dipping? ( I assume no tie because then it won't rip)?

I'm trying to get this project finished before the holidays so I can give sauce away to family and friends.

Sorry if this is in wrong forum. I figured this has the most traffic of hot sauce addicts!
 
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We sealed our seasonal sauces this year and it really wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Get yourself a tin can and wash the hell out of the inside. Melt down your wax beads in a double boiler and dip the bottles in (I double dipped just to make sure they were well sealed). Honestly, I think there may even be an instructional video on YouTube about it.
 
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String is ok, but I've found if you use the right wax (I get the stuff they sell for wine bottles) one good twist and it cracks pretty much perfectly.

If you use string, consider something like a thin twine - the wax is strong so you want the tensile strength of a braided string or it'll snap without ripping the wax.

Good luck!

RedtailForester said:
We sealed our seasonal sauces this year and it really wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Get yourself a tin can and wash the hell out of the inside. Melt down your wax beads in a double boiler and dip the bottles in (I double dipped just to make sure they were well sealed). Honestly, I think there may even be an instructional video on YouTube about it.
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I just cracked the Wicked Granny - one good twist and it cracked perfectly.

Yummy! Thanks for the powder too!!! :woohoo:
 
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Not all waxes are created equal. Some "crack" nicely, some stay soft and depending on the bottle and cap, can be a real pain to remove.
 
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salsalady said:
Not all waxes are created equal. Some "crack" nicely, some stay soft and depending on the bottle and cap, can be a real pain to remove.
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Right - different melting points, etc. The beads sold on wine-bottle supplies sites all seems to be pretty consistently firm when dry.

LD Carlson Company is one place I've bought and had great results, with a caveat that they're on the thin side (which I prefer).

I recommend trial & error - try different sources and different compositions of wax - in my experience, the ones that are more firm are the ones with a lower melting temperature. The side effect of that is a lower viscosity & a less thick coverage on the plastic/glass. From what i can tell, the thicker the wax, higher the melting point, & the harder to break.

I'm no expert of course, but I've worked with 4-5 different kinds of wax & this has been my experience.

That said, the twine is also a nice touch for the customer. You could use colored twine too, which would look great. i'll (hopefully) be wax sealing for small batch production in a few months & i'd considered the twine. But it adds lot more work to slip that loop of twine around every bottle neck. Depends on the # of bottles though.

A 30-50 bottle batch probably wouldn't be too bad.

Good luck!
:cheers:
 
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I haven't tried wax yet though it's been on my to try list for a while now and the crack versus the pull string was one of the question I was pondering especially how to keep the string in place while coating the bottle with the wax.

Having the little pull string to help open the seal is one of the things that originally pulled me towards using the wine bottle shrinkwraps. That and I think they just make for a better looking final product.

Cheers,
RM
 
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