Re: [CH] autoclavable hot sauce bottles?

Jim Graham (spooky130u@gmail.com)
Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:21:35 -0500 

On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 08:30:31AM -0400, Hobby Farmer wrote:
> Jim Graham wrote:
>> Does anyone know where (in the US) I might find empty 10 oz hot sauce
>> bottles/lids that can be autoclaved (or put in my "Poor Man's Autoclave",
>> aka "pressure cooker at 15 PSI // 250 deg. F")?

> Good grief, why?   I've watched CaJohn bottle commercial sauces, and 
> they put their sauces in the bottle at (IIRC) 170-190 degrees F.  That's 
> it, seal the bottle, turn it upside down.  When it cools, retighten the 
> cap.  You might ask Jim Campbell or CaJohn to be sure.

Wow....  I'm surprised.  I would have thought that this group, more than
any, would insist on sterilization of hot sauces (vs. trusting a guess of
the sauce's pH and well-sanitized bottles---I sanitize mine with
Iodophor, btw---to do the job).

> I prefer not to overcook my sauces so as not to lose the fresh flavor.  
> 200F tops, for 20 minutes.  I do not boil.

I got the impression, though, that this isn't a problem in an autoclave
(or pressure cooker).  I may have misunderstood, though...in fact, I
could easily have misunderstood, given how new I am to the subject, and
the fact that 99.9% of my efforts with it so far have been on the brewing
side (making yeast culturing supplies---sterile 10 mL starters, etc.).

Ok, so, I make my hot sauce, and put it in the recently cleaned (in
caustic, specifically KOH, not the stronger NaOH) and sanitized in
Iodophor (the real Iodophor, with phosphoric acid included, which does
NOT care about the pH of the water you blend it with, unlike the homebrew
crap, which, if your water's pH is high enough (over about 8 or 9), not
only ceases to be a sanitizer, but becomes a breeding ground for
bacteria...not good...definitely not good).  Do I need to store it in
the fridge?  Or can I store it at room temp, just like I do when I store
it in Kerr jars with a good vac. seal on them?

Later,
   --jim

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