bottling Disaster on my first bottling attempt.... Everything on pause till I get advice...

[Torch]

Sauce is too thick to even go in funnel to Woozies bottles!!! I boiled it for 10 mins at 190 ( which was a problem in its own. Sauce was exploding on me burning me, going all over the floor andcounter, etc).

After the 10 mins of boiling I put sauce in my double boiler. I then used a ladle and started to bottle my first bottle until I realized no sauce was moving through the funnel. My sauce is thick.

So now everything is off the stove cooling down. Not sure what to do.

Will adding water ruin the flavor of the sauce?

Even after I add the water I'd have to re boil for 10 mins, wouldn't that just thicken it all over again. Please help!

My kitchen is a mess. I have my hot sauce all over me and I'm pissed. Hahah but seriously I am

 

[Joshuap2000]

if I am not mistake, never time if you cover the pot when you cook it, it shouldnt thicken up that much when its covered. I Like my sauce thick, so i cook it down to get it thicker, but when i leave the lid on my pots, it stays thin.

But i am not really a suace maker so maybe some else can explain more.

Also, when i cook mine, simmer it on low, so that way it dont jump out of the pot.

 

[Torch]

if I am not mistake, never time if you cover the pot when you cook it, it shouldnt thicken up that much when its covered. I Like my sauce thick, so i cook it down to get it thicker, but when i leave the lid on my pots, it stays thin.

But i am not really a suace maker so maybe some else can explain more.

Also, when i cook mine, simmer it on low, so that way it dont jump out of the pot.

Well if you simmer it on low it won't reach the 190 F. I tried that and it stayed around 150F. Since you like you're sauce thick how do you bottle it in Woozies fast enough where the sauce will stay 190F

if I am not mistake, never time if you cover the pot when you cook it, it shouldnt thicken up that much when its covered. I Like my sauce thick, so i cook it down to get it thicker, but when i leave the lid on my pots, it stays thin.

But i am not really a suace maker so maybe some else can explain more.

Also, when i cook mine, simmer it on low, so that way it dont jump out of the pot.

Well if you simmer it on low it won't reach the 190 F. I tried that and it stayed around 150F. Since you like you're sauce thick how do you bottle it in Woozies fast enough where the sauce will stay 190F?

 

[Rawkstah]

I've never made sauce, but just basic cooking, like what josh said, when you boil without a lid, the water is evaporating out of whatever you're cooking. the lid traps the moisture inside (ever notice the condensation and drops of water on the lid?). Also, the lid can be used as a shield against angry bubbling hot sauce.

 

[Torch]

Also another question. I called my mom and we got in an argument because she said I don't have to boil it for another 10 minutes since I already did that. But I was under the impression that after any tweaks to the sauce with ingredients or water that I would need to boil it for another 10 mins at 190F. This is the step that precedes the bottling, right? At least that's what I understood from the hot sauce 101 pinned thread.

So after you boil for 10 mins and the sauce is still to thick. Lets say you add more water. Do you have to boil 10 more minutes?


Thanks

 

[Justaguy]

Add some water. Can't say how much not knowing how much sauce you have. Boil for 20 to kill nasties. Then bottle. I have sauce I have water added in the beginning to keep the final product at the desired thickness I want it at. Having no idea what you ingredient list is taht is the only advice I can give. As I bottle, when the pot get low the boiling spatters a lot.

 

[Joshuap2000]

Well if you simmer it on low it won't reach the 190 F. I tried that and it stayed around 150F. Since you like you're sauce thick how do you bottle it in Woozies fast enough where the sauce will stay 190F?

I doit do boil mine for 5 minutes at first, than turn it down to simmer for few hours. But i typically dont make much (2-3 cups max), i typically cook mine, than put in container and stick in fridge, It usally eaten within 4-5 days of making.
From what i gathered, as long as it in the fridge and eaten under a week you will not get the nasty.

But i very rarley make my own sauce, i prefer to buy it as there a local company thats a got a good sauce i usally i eat.

 

[brownb4]

do you have a turkey baster? it might have enough suction to fill the tube and bulb then fill woozie.

 

[Torch]

do you have a turkey baster? it might have enough suction to fill the tube and bulb then fill woozie.

Funny you said that. I will be going tomorrow to buy one. That's the only other thing i can think of. Also I'm going to buy more pineapple juice for the sauce to try and thin it. ( it's a fatalii pineapple sauce).

Do I need to re sterilize all the bottles tomorrow again? I put them back in the oven for the night (oven off).

 

[salsalady]

I might have gotten lost in all this...but... let me see if I got this-

You made the saue, couldn't get it into the bottles, so stuck it in the fridge.

Were there any other alterations/additions made to the sauce after it was cooled?

If not, then you only have to bring the sauce back up to 190F, don't need to boil again.

If the sauce is simmering then it's at least 200f. Don't know why the thermometer is reading 150, but if there's bubbles (ie...simmer or boil...) then you know it's up to temp.


You funnel issue might be a a physics issue. If the funnel is sitting tight on the woozie, and the sauce is thick, the air can't excape from the bottle for the sauce to go in. If you hold the funnel up so there is an air gap between the bottle and the funnel, the sauce will flow into the bottle and the air will go out the air gap.



And the talk about using a lid is spot-on. Water evaporates, so in theory, of your sauce is too thick, then adding water is just restoring what was there originally.


Oh, and the bottles are fine, don't need to re-sterilize. If they've been protected from contamination, no worries...

 

[Torch]

I might have gotten lost in all this...but... let me see if I got this-

You made the saue, couldn't get it into the bottles, so stuck it in the fridge.

Were there any other alterations/additions made to the sauce after it was cooled?

If not, then you only have to bring the sauce back up to 190F, don't need to boil again.

If the sauce is simmering then it's at least 200f. Don't know why the thermometer is reading 150, but if there's bubbles (ie...simmer or boil...) then you know it's up to temp.


You funnel issue might be a a physics issue. If the funnel is sitting tight on the woozie, and the sauce is thick, the air can't excape from the bottle for the sauce to go in. If you hold the funnel up so there is an air gap between the bottle and the funnel, the sauce will flow into the bottle and the air will go out the air gap.



And the talk about using a lid is spot-on. Water evaporates, so in theory, of your sauce is too thick, then adding water is just restoring what was there originally.

Yes put sauce in fridge after being boiled for 10 minutes. I did not add or change anything to sauce. Looks like my mom was right and I was wrong. I thought I'd have to bring the sauce back to a boil.

So anytime the sauce is bubbling its over 190F? That's crazy because the thermoter kept saying 150f. Once the thermoter said 190-200 the sauce was exploding out of the pot everywhere. That's when I started the 10 min count down. I did have a lid on but I was afraid the sauce would burn so I kept taking the lid off trying to stir it every min. I was getting covered with fatalii sauce. Today the hot sauce won, tomorrow I will

I will try the funnel trick. Just in case that doesn't work, I'll have a turkey baster ready.

 

[salsalady]

If the sauce is going volcanic on you, thats a full rolling boil, which is 212F. Not knowing what thermometer you have, I can say from experience, I had 2 el-cheapo thermos they would vary by 30 degrees.

You can calibrate most thermometers. There should be a nut on the back side of the dial. Bring a pot of water to full boil, stick the thermometer in the water and see where it reads. You can then turn the nut or dial head to adjust the reading unitl the thermometer reads 210-ish whenin boiling water. Sometimes you need pliars to hold the nut.

 

[PIC 1]

If your funnel is tight fitting to the rim of the bottle lift the funnel as you pour to let air eascpe from the bottle, or you will end up with vapor lock which prevents to sauce from easily flowing. As far as judging how thick the sauce, before bottling I check the sauce with a spoon (sterile). As with any sauce or gravy, dip the spoon in and see how fast the liquid will run off the back of it. If it clings then its to pastie (add water) and if it all runs off back into the pot its to loose (add Guar Gum or cook down).

 

[Lucky Dog Hot Sauce]

I've been told by more than one production chef tht there's little benefit to boiling unless you're trying to reduce the sauce (e.g. make it thicker).

As has been mentioned, 190 is sufficient to kill the nasties. Boiling makes replicating extremely difficult and can produce undesirable flavors. It adds variables, as sauce scalds, liquids are steamed off, solids can fall to the bottom & overlook, etc.

Adding water will not ruin the sauce, provided it's not already ruined.

So as others have suggested, bring it back to 190 add water until you hit the desired thickness (add 1 C at a time & whisk it in) and bottle it.

SL's trick for the funnel works well - I do it all the time. Just be careful not to burn yourself.

 

[hottoddy]

I'm an amateur but have a couple of thoughts. Standard woozies are tough for thick sauces. Even if you get it in there, it might not want to come back out - which is no good. That's happened to me before. So, consider a thinner sauce for the tiny-mouthed woozies. Purees are going to need a wider mouth. Consider using a food mill. I have a cheapo $20 food mill that does a good job filtering out the seeds, skin and such. Each run through the food mill makes the sauce thinner.

Even with a thin sauce, I need a wide funnel to work well. I bought a 3 pack, and the widest works best. I barely fits inside the woozie. The funnel air trick mentioned above works, but I like to use a thin wood skewer to get an even flow into the bottle. I just move the skewer back and forth in the funnel while it's pouring. This keeps things from log jamming and bubbling back up.

When bottling for woozies, consider adding more water in the beginning. Then reduce to your desired consistency with a gentle boil. For now, I don't see any harm in adding more water - or running it through a food mill.