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preservation Will i need anything else to preserve the sauce?

uUu

uUu

Hi!

Its getting closer to sauce-making-day :) I recieved the empty bottles yesterday and are just about to buy the last ingridients and hopefully ill be cooking this weekend.

In my sauce i will use:

5% vinagre
5% sugar
2% salt
5% lemon/lime

I think all these things help the sauce to preserve. Will it be enough to make the sauce storeable for some time? If so, how long? How long after the bottles have been opened can they be stored in the fridge?

I always use pretty much the same recipe but my sauces doesnt last so long that they have gone bad yet.
 
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uUu said:
Hi!

Its getting closer to sauce-making-day :) I recieved the empty bottles yesterday and are just about to buy the last ingridients and hopefully ill be cooking this weekend.

In my sauce i will use:

5% vinagre
5% sugar
2% salt
5% lemon/lime

I think all these things help the sauce to preserve. Will it be enough to make the sauce storeable for some time? If so, how long? How long after the bottles have been opened can they be stored in the fridge?

I always use pretty much the same recipe but my sauces doesnt last so long that they have gone bad yet.
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YOu need to get your self a PH meter. Your suace must have a PH lower than 4.2, preferrably 3.7 or lower. With the proper PH, the bottles will last months in the fridge.
 
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I have heard that the ph for vinagre ~4. how the hell am i supposed to get the ph down to that level?

Im using a tomato-base!

I forgot the manual when i was about to "calibrate"? the meter so i couldnt do it properly. Although i had it compared to ph 7,01 and ph 4,01 and know it shows a bit less. Think it should work out anyway.
 
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lime juice has a PH of about 1.8-2.0 so adding lime juice will lower your PH; if anyone isnt familiar with the ph scale its like this:
water = 7 which is considered neutral (water can act as both an acid and a base, pretty cool stuff that water)
if below 7 its an acid, if above 7 its a base
decending numbers = increased acidity, ascending numbers = decreased acidity
hope that helps someone on this forum, who has never taken chemistry, and doesnt watch CSI (I actually don't watch CSI, but Im sure they put something on there about ph and how it solved a crime or something)
 
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thehotpepper.com said:
Keep adding acid until you reach the optimal pH level.
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That was my thought to! Until the engineer-chick @ my job said that lemon/lime wasnt very sour. She didnt say it right out, but by the way she was talking: vinagre was more sour than lemon/lime!

It was by then my brain went into una grande problemo! How can i get the ph down if vinagre is around 4 and lemon and lime are above?! I just didnt make any sense!

Sid03SVT:
lime juice has a PH of about 1.8-2.0
I have plenty of lime and lemons for tomorrows cooking, so im sure by now ill get the right ph. Labels are printed and ive hired my x-girlfriend wich has tiny fingers to do the labeling ;)

60 bottles of this years harvest
20 bottles of "death in fire" (the strong one ;))
6 bottles of private reserve (yeah, its only for me ;))

Of course ill upload pictures from the cooking and the finished product!

Outdoor grown chillies from sweden that are made into sauces arent that usuall ;) I hope my friends that will be charged $6 / 250ml will realise that!
 
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uUu said:
I have heard that the ph for vinagre ~4. how the hell am i supposed to get the ph down to that level?

Im using a tomato-base!

I forgot the manual when i was about to "calibrate"? the meter so i couldnt do it properly. Although i had it compared to ph 7,01 and ph 4,01 and know it shows a bit less. Think it should work out anyway.
Click to expand...

Hmm... i've never measured it, but I thought that standard store vinegar (5% acidity) is around a ph of 2.4
 
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huvason said:
Hmm... i've never measured it, but I thought that standard store vinegar (5% acidity) is around a ph of 2.4
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I think you are right!

I was testing the ph-meter today with some water and then dropped som citric acid in the water. Damn! The value dropped drasticly :D

I measured my sauce to ph 3,62. But i know it shows a bit lower than displayed so its around 3,9; wich should be in the safe zone!

Im sterilising my bottles in citric acid atm. It really hurts in the scars that my kitten has made in my hands, lol :hell:

My ex-girldfriend is labeling the bottles. I pay her in alcohol and sex. Isnt that a win-win situation? :P
 
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uUu said:
I think you are right!

I was testing the ph-meter today with some water and then dropped som citric acid in the water. Damn! The value dropped drasticly :D

I measured my sauce to ph 3,62. But i know it shows a bit lower than displayed so its around 3,9; wich should be in the safe zone!

Im sterilising my bottles in citric acid atm. It really hurts in the scars that my kitten has made in my hands, lol :hell:

My ex-girldfriend is labeling the bottles. I pay her in alcohol and sex. Isnt that a win-win situation? :P
Click to expand...

LOL - That's a good deal! Good luck with the sauce. And if you need a taste tester.......
 
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huvason said:
LOL - That's a good deal! Good luck with the sauce. And if you need a taste tester.......
Click to expand...

hehe :shame: kind of a problem with distance ;) i shipped 2 bottles to a friend that lives 10 miles away: $20 for shipping!!!

ill start a new thread in an another area with the making of the sauce. i have plenty of pictures.
 
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