Canning Hot Sauce Questions

12 years ago

Hello Everybody,

I originally had this posted in the hot pepper forum. It was suggested I post this here as well. Below is what I posted.

I have been making hot sauce for quite some time now. Each time I have stored it in jars and put them in the fridge. I've also given them to friends and instructed them to do the same. I am now taking up too much space in fridge and I want to can them in mason jars. I think I have read all the threads on here and I still don't think I have my answer.

Here is what I have in my cause. I have between 15-20 habaneros per batch. I de seed them and put them in a food processor. Add all the other ingredients. They are the following: 1 cup of white vinegar 5%, some mustard, molasses , brown sugar, a can of sliced peaches, salt, and some other spices.

Now the question I have is this. Is the cup of vinegar, mustard (I know there is some vinegar in the mustard), and the salt enough for me to boil the mason jars for 15 minutes or do I have to use a pressure cooker?

Since I don't have a digital pH meter, I have no idea what my pH level is at. I can find the sticks here, but I don't think those give an accurate measurement. Besides the on one I found here measure from 5-9. I think I need under 4.6 to hot bath right?

Thanks,

Jesse

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

JesseC
Original Author
12 years ago
Hello Again. I was also told that some people here are NCHFP certified and might be able to better help me can my sauce.

Thanks for all the help.

Jesse
Linda_Lou
12 years ago
You are going against the number one guideline. NEVER make up your own recipes for canning. If you make up your own recipe, it should be frozen, not canned.
There is a recipe for a peach apple salsa, but that would be the closest recipe I can think of for safe use.
I am one that is USDA certified to instruct home food preservation. I work at my local county extension office.
Related Professionals
Waterbury Landscape Contractors · Cicero Landscape Contractors · Conroe Landscape Contractors · Hayward Landscape Contractors · South Lake Tahoe Landscape Contractors · South Portland Landscape Contractors · Washington Landscape Contractors · Woodland Landscape Contractors · Silver Firs Landscape Contractors · Raytown Landscape Contractors · Albuquerque Roofing & Gutters · Stamford Roofing & Gutters · Hillcrest Heights Roofing & Gutters · La Jolla Roofing & Gutters · San Jose Driveway Installation & Maintenance
readinglady
12 years ago
I am sorry to say this is an unanswerable question unless you are willing to pay someone to test your sauce. There's no way to eyeball your list of ingredients and determine if it's sufficiently acid or not. Though most of your ingredients are high-acid, it's like using a ouija board trying to determine by guesswork if there's enough acidity to compensate for the peppers.

A lot of universities have small enterprise departments which work with people interested in marketing small batch food products. Some of them will test items for a fairly nominal fee; others don't. But it wouldn't hurt to check any state institutions that have food science programs. We have a couple of times had members who have taken that path with products they market.

Carol
JesseC
Original Author
12 years ago
Linda an Carol,

Thanks for the information. I'll see who I can find here in my area up here in Northern Virginia.

Thanks.
gator_9a
11 years ago
I was trolling with basically the exact same question as JesseC, for what I'd guess is the same recipe.

Can you share what you found out?
highalttransplant
11 years ago
So is there no tested recipe out there for a non-tomato based hot sauce recipe safe for canning??? I've done numerous searches and almost all are recipes that are not canned, but simply hot packed in sterilized jars after testing for a ph of 4 or below, or they are fermented.If you can pressure can low acid foods such as green beans, it sure seems like there would be more recipes out there. I'm talking about the habanero carrot, or habanero mango type sauces that do not use tomatoes.