Hot sauce making for an Uber newbie...

[arringdd]

Hey guys,
Just wanted to make a request of some of the great chili minds on this forum. I am new to the whole chili thing, but am going to have tons of pods from over 30 species this year.

I am reading lots of good recipes, etc for sauces and some occasional mentioning of "mash" and the like. However, no one has given a good description of how to make a sauce from start to finish including the all important aspect of sterilization so that unopened woozies can be stored at room temp over periods of time.

I'm also curious as to this whole mash thing and how that goes from start to finish and why you'd want to do it. I'm not looking to steal anyone's family recipe, but I'd just like a clean easy to understand basic how-to on these topics. I'm sure there have to be some folks out there who are curious too. Thanks guys.

 

[salsalady]

and Pauly... hurtsogood..........make it.........

oh YEA!







hurried post

 

[logchief]

The Blend Tech is a high end blender my wife bought for her vege smothies and it really grinds and blends. Can't get her to add peppers to her smothies yet, probably never will. Gonna look into buying another jug for it just to do hot stuff. If she ever gets a strawberry, carrot, kale and spinich smothie with a naga or something kick, i'll get cut off from the blender and i'm not spending the $$$ on a second machine

 

[salsalady]

yea logchief... getting cut off is not worth it...


get a little thing to call your own and it will be all good~~~

 

[Eephus Man]

Here's some notes on using woozies-
Sterilization-
Sterilize the woozie bottles.
Rinse with bleach water 2 tsp/1 gal COOL water. Do this the day before to allow the bleach to dissipate.
-OR-
Boil bottles in hot water for 15-20 minutes. Drain.

Heat the sauce to boiling, simmer for 30 minutes. ( strongly suggest using a non-aluminum, non-cast iron pan. Stainless or glass is preferred)

Transfer the HOT (heated) sauce to the woozie bottles one at a time using a turkey baster, cup-and-funnel or small spouted measuring cup. The sauce must be a minimum of 180F when it's put into the bottle to properly sterilize the bottle (which has already been cleaned) and the cap (which has not been sanitized)

Wipe the top if necessary. Screw on the cap and immediately invert the bottle. Leave the bottle inverted for at least 5 minutes. This allows the hot product to come in contact with the cap and to kill all the nasties.

If you order some woozie bottles online, specify LINED caps.

edit- there are many different temperatures quoted for hot packing hot sauce. Washington state says 170F, others say up to 195. The differences come from different authorities. The state inspector may want 175F and the county extension service suggests 190F. Regardless of the differences, if the sauce is simmering when it's packed, it's at least 212F and you're good to go.

First of all, thank you SO much for posting this. Doing my first batch today with woozies and looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

One quick question of clarification: What's the theory behind the half-hour simmer time? Is that a proven germ killer, or is the temperature at bottling more/most important. I ask because I've got a recipe where the peppers go *back* in to simmer for 5-10 minutes. Thirty minutes in our house is going to be excruciating for mainly my 2.5-year-old.

If it's a question of temperature, I've got a very good thermometer I can use. If it's a question of time in order to 'make sure' on the bacteria, then I may use a different recipe.

TIA for the help, and thanks again for this easy guide for us newbs.

 

[paulky_2000]

If the cooking time is an issue for you because of the kiddo.....

Try blending the sauce ingredients really well BEFORE cooking for say 15 minutes on a rolling boil....


....then, cover the pot and shove it in the fridge for a day or so. This will allow the ingredients time to marry w/o a long cook time. When you're ready to bottle, pull the pot out of the fridge, warm the contents, strain it......re-heat it.....bottle it! As long as the bottles are sterile, and the sauce is above 170 degrees when you fill them.....AND you sit the filled bottles (with loose fitting caps) in a boiling water bath for 10-15 minutes before completely twising on the caps.....you're gold!

 

[Eephus Man]

If the cooking time is an issue for you because of the kiddo.....

Try blending the sauce ingredients really well BEFORE cooking for say 15 minutes on a rolling boil....


....then, cover the pot and shove it in the fridge for a day or so. This will allow the ingredients time to marry w/o a long cook time. When you're ready to bottle, pull the pot out of the fridge, warm the contents, strain it......re-heat it.....bottle it! As long as the bottles are sterile, and the sauce is above 170 degrees when you fill them.....AND you sit the filled bottles (with loose fitting caps) in a boiling water bath for 10-15 minutes before completely twising on the caps.....you're gold!

Thanks, paulky. I may try the overnight sit and see how it goes. The recipe I was using called for a cookdown, then a puree, then a re-heat, then the bottles. No hot water bath.

I'd rather be safe than sorry, though.

Thank you very much.

 

[paulky_2000]

Thanks, paulky. I may try the overnight sit and see how it goes. The recipe I was using called for a cookdown, then a puree, then a re-heat, then the bottles. No hot water bath.

I'd rather be safe than sorry, though.

Thank you very much.

You are welcome! One more word of advice....

Make sure your caps can stand up to the heat of the boiling water!!! Some of them tend to MELT!!

 

[Eephus Man]

You are welcome! One more word of advice....

Make sure your caps can stand up to the heat of the boiling water!!! Some of them tend to MELT!!

Hmmm. Well, they gave me one extra cap, but I hope they can hold up.

 

[kauaidundee]

Great post!