Where did I go wrong?

[Pepp3rFreak]

Greetings Sauce Gurus!
I think I may've fubared this batch with water as I've never used it before? My last batch was so thick it would barely pour out of the bottle so I thought I'd try adding water to thin it out but now all the bottles got this major separation as seen in the below pic. It still tastes good but I've tossed it as there was only about 10 bottles.

Ingredients and cooking method:
25 Nagas
25 Scorpions
4 Squeezed Limes
4 Pineapple slices
2 Cups Organic Vinegar
2 Cups of Distilled water
3 tbl spoon of Kosher Salt
1 tbl sppon of black pepper
1 1 clove of garlic
3 shots of Grain alcohol

I simmered everything on the stove for 10 minutes to soften it up, then I blended it all until it was thinner then a crack whore runway model, then I cooked it up and boiled it for about 15 minutes then bottled. The next day I was horrified to the point that I swore to give up trying to make sauce and almost cut my wrists with a plastic spork

Where did I go wrong? Was it in fact the water?

 

[texas blues]

THP took the next step in picture evolution and added a pic of 2 naked guys spooning on the beach.... He was asked ever so nicely to remove it about 2 minutes afetr it made it's appearance..... and he choose not to replace it with anything....

I'm having visions of that scenario of the spooning in your avatar. You should have lied! THP FTW!

Salute', TB.

 

[Steve973]

By the way, even if you add alcohol after the boil, ethanol is completely soluble in water, so I cannot imagine how this would cause any separation.

 

[scarpetti]

Pay no attention to these purveyors of misinformation. Water in hot sauce a no no? What is vinegar....hmmmm...label on my apple cider vin says...."diluted water to 5% solution".

Scarpetti and THP....FAIL!

The carrots add natural starch for thickening.


Salute', TB.

I stand corrected! I'm hanging my head in shame. I really never thought about that! Maybe because I never think.....

 

[Bradh728]

there are lots and lots of thickeners

some mentioned above:
xantham gum (USE A SMALL AMOUNT and make sure to blend--will clunk up)
Corn starch
carrots
tomato paste (if you dont mind the flavor)

 

[AlabamaJack]

to thicken, powdered arrow root works well also

 

[The Hot Pepper]

to thicken, powdered arrow root works well also

Yes it does, works well with stews for sure.

 

[Pepp3rFreak]

Thank you everyone! I certainly appreciate the answers. I'm fairly new at the sauce making as I've only made a couple batches the prior year and this one.

Oh and just to clarify, I messed up when listing the salt and pepper amounts as it was teaspoons not tablespoons

 

[pepperfever]

Sometimes salsas will also separate if they are not cooked long enough. Try giving it a good shake to combine again and cook it longer next time. Not sure if that will cure the problem but it won't hurt anything.

 

[Bonnet]

And as THP stated.....Xanthan gum is the best thing to have when making sauce cause it's natural and does the some if not better job than a carrot and it doesn't really have a flavour. Carrot can add a flavour you might not want....

Whats the right way to mix in zanthum gum and what qty , it goes all blobby when i put it in a sauce hot

Will it mix down on cooking ?

 

[The Hot Pepper]

There's two ways to add xanthan gum.

1. Conventional blender.
2. Put it in a shaker bottle and dust the top of the sauce, and use a stick blender.

Stirring or adding by hand and cooking will cause clumping.

You'll have to figure the amounts out yourself.

 

[salsalady]

approximately 1/2 teaspoon per 2 cups of liquid to start. And if you have any other dry ingredient (salt, spices, sugar,???) mix the xanthan with the other dry stuff and then add to the liquid.

 

[Masala Mojo]

I've never used water. To me it's a no-no. BUT since you did you need an emulsifier. Xanthan gum, etc. Comes in handy with any sauce that will separate, water or not.

Apart from emulsifier , IMHO, you can do with some vegetable oil too.

 

[POTAWIE]

you can do with some vegetable oil too.

Please explain?

 

[Masala Mojo]

Oils (vegetable) with water form a fine emulsion. It also helps in encapsulation of flavors. I use a little amount of oil in my sauce along with Edible natural gum resin from India.
Pepperfreak can vouschef for the consistancy and flavor of my sauce.

 

[Josh's Sauces]

most likely

Most likely you just cooked it too long. most vinegars have a nasty/wonderful habbit of thickening when reduced. I would just try the same recipe but instead of 15 min. give it 10. still too thick. give it 7. and so forth.