Help! - Bottling Chilli Sauce

[Trevelyan]

After picking the last of my fresh chillis from the greenhouse last week I thought I'd have a bash at making some chilli sauces. I've found a few recipes so that isn't a problem, but I can't find a straight answer on how to store the sauce. I'm ok with sterilising the jars and bottles, but seem to be getting conflicting advice on when to shove the lid on. Some info says to shove the lid on while the jar and sauce are still hot, making the jar seal as it cools. Other websites say to let everything cool before sticking the lid on.

My gut feeling is option 1, as surely leaving the jar open for a while would defeat the object of sterilising in the first place, but are there any sauce/jam/pickle creators on here who could offer any words of wisdom..?

[Pferdestarke]

I would allow it to cool to room temperature and then sterilise your jars. Then add them and seal straight away.

Watch out for botulism.

[OzzyR1]

SWMBO makes a lot of jams, chutneys etc and says that they should be filled v. soon after sterilisation and sealed immediately while still hot - apparently you can also put some cling film over the top before capping to ensure the seal is tight if you're planning to store it for a while.

I haven't been poisoned... yet.

[grumbledoak]

I've not done this, but I'd expect to put the hot sauce into a sterilised bottle and close it at once. Possibly even standing it in a bowl of cold water to heat-exchange it down to cold quicker.

Curious now; off to google for myself!

[Cotty]

grumbledoak said:

I've not done this, but I'd expect to put the hot sauce into a sterilised bottle and close it at once. Possibly even standing it in a bowl of cold water to heat-exchange it down to cold quicker.

I would be worried the sudden change in temprature might crack the bottle.

[grumbledoak]

Cotty said:

I would be worried the sudden change in temprature might crack the bottle.

A good point! Lucky I'm not experimenting tonight.

[Trevelyan]

Well it seemed to work ok! I went for bottling everything while it was hot. Jar out of the oven, chilli sauce straight out of pan into jar, then lid straight out of a pan of boiling water onto the jar. The jars are now cooling in the kitchen. A few of the reused jar lids had those popping buttons which indicate when the seal has been broken and they've all pulled in as the jars & sauce have cooled. Hopefully this means that they've successfully sealed up.

Now I just need to wait a month for the sauce to mature, and see how it tastes. I've already bought a lot of chilli seeds ready for this year, so the results of the taste test will determine how many get planted!

[Tim74]

I guess I'm a little late to this thread. It seems you've done everything right. I make chilli sauces for a living and always rinse bottles/jars out with hot water then heat to 120c in the oven for 15-20 minutes to sterilise. Sauce is always brought to the boil for two minutes and then bottled hot with the bottles brought straight out of the oven as needed. Bottling hot creates a vacuum as the sauce cools; you've already seen that with the lids popping down.

Botulism was mentioned earlier on in the thread and it is something you need to be aware of. It's not common but is often fatal. If you're going to make more sauces, invest in a digital ph tester. Maximum ph should be 4.2. I'm not comfortable with that and like to see my products at 4.0 at most, preferably down in the 3's. You can use a variety of ingredients to bring the ph down; vinegar (cider is my preference, don't use malt!), lemon or lime juice and sugar (brown).

[Wadeski]

ooh...I've meant to do this for ages. To the chap who makes it for a living, how would one go about making a West Indian hot pepper sauce (similar to Encona original, for instance)?

cheers

[Tim74]

Wadeski said:

ooh...I've meant to do this for ages. To the chap who makes it for a living, how would one go about making a West Indian hot pepper sauce (similar to Encona original, for instance)?

cheers

I'd chop a kilo of white onions and sweat them down in a large pan along with two red peppers (chopped) and as many scotch bonnets or habanero peppers (cut in half) as you think you'll need to achieve your desired heat level (I'd go for twenty-ish).

When your onions are soft, pour the whole lot into a blender and blend until very smooth. Pour the mixture back in the pan and add 200ml of white wine or cider vinegar (don't use cheap stuff, go for Aspall's). Encona use spirit vinegar but definitely don't use that; it often leaves a residual taste and is used because it's cheap. Remember, you shouldn't be able to taste the vinegar, it's there only to bring the ph to a safe level.

Keep the sauce simmering to reduce and thicken. I add any spices and salt right at the end just before bottling; add salt to taste and then add your desired spices a bit at a time until you're happy with the sauce. I would use freshly ground black pepper (NEVER ready ground!), pimento & allspice. Encona add cornstarch but you don't need to use that. They use it to thicken sauces quickly without the need to reduce down. If you find your sauce a little too tart, correct it with soft brown sugar added a bit at a time.

Edited by Tim74 on Tuesday 19th January 10:40

[Wadeski]

genius.

[Trevelyan]

I like the sound of that. I've actually got several chillis, about 1kg of tomatoes and 8 red peppers left over from last night's fun so I plan on concocting something similar later. Although my last attempt was meant to be a sweet chilli sauce I felt that even then it could be a bit too sweet for general use. I've been looking round the internet for a hot sauce recipe today, so if anyone can offer any ideas (preferably using up some of the ingredients above) I'm open to them!

[Trevelyan]

Tim74 said:

Botulism was mentioned earlier on in the thread and it is something you need to be aware of. It's not common but is often fatal. If you're going to make more sauces, invest in a digital ph tester. Maximum ph should be 4.2. I'm not comfortable with that and like to see my products at 4.0 at most, preferably down in the 3's. You can use a variety of ingredients to bring the ph down; vinegar (cider is my preference, don't use malt!), lemon or lime juice and sugar (brown).

The recipe I used last night contained both brown sugar and red wine vinegar so should be ok. I'll look into the ph meter though as botulism is a bit of a concern to me. I won't be selling any sauces but will probably give some away to family and friends in future so I'd rather not kill them!

[Tim74]

Trevelyan said:

I like the sound of that. I've actually got several chillis, about 1kg of tomatoes and 8 red peppers left over from last night's fun so I plan on concocting something similar later. Although my last attempt was meant to be a sweet chilli sauce I felt that even then it could be a bit too sweet for general use. I've been looking round the internet for a hot sauce recipe today, so if anyone can offer any ideas (preferably using up some of the ingredients above) I'm open to them!

1 kg tomatoes
2 large red onions
2 red peppers
chillies of your choice
200ml cider/white wine/red wine vinegar
200g brown sugar
1 garlic bulb
juice of 5 large limes
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste

Roughly chop tomatoes, red onions, sweet peppers & chillies. Peel the garlic and split into cloves. Put in pan and heat until soft. Blend. Tip back into pan and add the vinegar, lime juice and sugar. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until desired consistency is reached. Add salt to taste along with the black pepper. Bring to boil for one minute (put a lid on the pan!) and then bottle. Ph will be around 3.6, so totally safe.

This is the base for an awful lot of sauces; add different chillies for a different flavour. Try adding 15 chipotle chillies (pronounced cheep-oat-lay for anyone who hasn't heard of them before) and up the brown sugar to 400g for a bbq sauce that will be better than any mass produced product.

Edited by Tim74 on Tuesday 19th January 15:27

Edited by Tim74 on Tuesday 19th January 15:29

[Trevelyan]

Thanks for that! You're a star. I'll finish my cup of tea and then hit the kitchen for round two.

One thing I was pondering during my drive home from work was the difference between thick chilli sauces (dipping type) and thinner types which you'd pour. Is it just a case of thinning the sauce down with vinegar before bottling or is there a different cooking method altogether to prevent the sauce setting?

Chilliheads - Pistons Matter.

[Tim74]

Trevelyan said:

Thanks for that! You're a star. I'll finish my cup of tea and then hit the kitchen for round two.

One thing I was pondering during my drive home from work was the difference between thick chilli sauces (dipping type) and thinner types which you'd pour. Is it just a case of thinning the sauce down with vinegar before bottling or is there a different cooking method altogether to prevent the sauce setting?

Chilliheads - Pistons Matter.

Happy to help, especially with all things chilli. Dipping sauces tend to be sugar based, which is why they often have a consistency like the sweet & sour sauce found in Chinese takeaways. Easy to make; red peppers, sugar, vinegar, garlic and chillies. The downside to making dipping sauces, or sweet chilli sauces is that you'll be left with the smell of the vinegar for days and you'll have orange coloured condensation dripping from every overhang in your kitchen. Far less trouble to buy it than make it from a consumer's point of view!

If, when you're making any chilli sauce, you end up with a sauce which seems to thick to bottle, just thin out with vinegar, although ideally you want to avoid doing that if you can. I tend to make my sauces on the thick side, especially with the hotter products; I think it's better that people have to give the bottle a few thumps to get the sauce out rather than tipping the bottle up and having the whole bottle spill onto their food.