Hi there, as a fun side project, I started making my own hot sauce, I’ve sold quite a few bottles to friends and patrons at bars I frequent, if I can get more people interested I would like to make this a regular hobby of mine to bring an extra income. I have a “mild” one and a “hot” one which I tried to copy Melinda’s. I bought some sodium benzoate online and added some of that to help extend the life of it, but I’m not sure if that makes it self stable or not. Also, other than the carrots, I didn’t heat up or “cook” any of my ingredients, is that all it takes to make stuff shelf stable? Or do I put all the ingredients in the bottles and then put the bottles in boiling water sort of like what you do when you’re preserving stuff with mason jars? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
by bigpuzino
6 Comments
You’d need a certain amount of acid, usually a form of vinegar, also a certain percentage of salt, i believe, but I could be wrong about the salt, however the vinegar help keep bacteria and other things from forming. Otherwise, you’d need refrigeration.
Easy way is low enough pH and/or minimum salt content and sterilized bottles before filling. Much more than that and you want to be studying food science or working with a lab to determine shelf life.
You don’t need sodium benzoate. Don’t use that in sauces.
You need a minimum pH below 4.6, but I’d recommend shooting for under 4 to give a margin for error. You can buy a calibrated pH meter on Amazon for not much.
For shelf stability you should also heat the sauce to a minimum temperature of 180° F for ten minutes and then fill sterilized bottles while the sauce is still hot and then invert (so the bottle sits in the box upside down) to sterilize the inside of the lid and the neck.
Also, any one have a link on some sort of station to quickly fill bottles, because using a tiny little funnel and filling each bottle individually is a huge pain in the ass
Check out r/FermentedHotSauce they are super helpful and knowledgeable on these kinds of things.
Shelf stability comes from two things. Pasteurization and pH. The more acid you have the more stable it will be. Pasteurization destroys any bacteria in the sauce and in the bottle. If you bring your sauce to 185F and hold that temp for 10min, you’ll be good. Hot fill into the bottle immediately and invert it to sanitize the cap. As far as pH, you definitely need to be under 4.6, but if you can get under 4 it helps it last longer.
This is my commercial process (except I cook all sauces to 200F) that I have used for 200k+ bottles I have produced.
Shelf stability does not mean oxidation over time will not occur. In order to prevent oxidation and separation you will need additives. A naturally fermented sauce will start to oxidize in the bottle over time, and depends on your ingredients on how rapidly it occurs.
Edit: I’m editing this to communicate the serious food safety hazard you are creating by not following proper process and giving bottles out to people. If you’re not measuring pH, and not cooking your ingredients before going into the bottle, you’re basically making bottle bombs, even if they get refrigerated. Also potentially (as I don’t know your final pH or your recipe) you could be giving people botulism.
I’m not judging you, I’m just trying to communicate the potential of you hurting someone. I would do a little more research into this before giving out to the public so you protect your own liability.