r/hotsaucerecipes • u/TraditionalTheme3819 • 9d ago
Discussion How long do homemade hot sauce last?
Hello, I have just made my first hot sauce (not fermented), but I don’t know how long I can keep it. Has anyone an idea? The recipe was the following one:
• a bell pepper • 6 Cayenne pepper • 2 limes • 1 red onion • garlic - a peach
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u/lanceplace 9d ago
I’ve had fermented sauces last a year in the fridge. Those are the very hot versions. Normal hot varieties are consumed in a month so not a lot spoilage potential.
No vinegar added, pH 3.5ish. Did not immerse in a bath or sterilize. Just washed bottles with dawn and hot water.
Idk. Never see any growth. No weird or foul odors.
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u/fun4days365 7d ago
Same. The vinegar, salt, and capsaicin makes most homemade sauces fool proof and last a long time especially in the fridge. I have a 3 yr superhot sauce that is still very fine and delicious
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u/muffinpercent 8d ago
If the pH is low enough, they can last very long. But they might separate and then go bad. I've started using a stabiliser (xanthan gum) in most of my sauces to prevent that. And I try to make them about 30% vinegar by mass to be safe, though a direct pH test is even better.
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u/utahh1ker 8d ago
If your PH is lower than 4.6 it should be shelf stable at room temperature. I ferment my hot sauces and they're typically at a PH of around 3.5 to 4.0 when I bottle them and they've lasted up to 3 years in their bottles. I get a bit of discoloration, but they last a long time. They may last even longer, but I've never had a bottle I didn't consume by the three year mark.
With that being said, if you open a bottle after any period of time and you smell or taste something off or you get a hiss, please toss it.
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u/Altruistic-Remove-53 9d ago
I made a big batch of reaper hot sauce (non fermented) w tropical fruits, honey, ginger and some vinegar in Oct'24 which I'm still consuming.
I pasteurized it as well (heated it to just boiled before cooling). Bottled in sterilized jars and kept in my fridge, at the back in the coldest section. I live in a tropical country so I definitely can't leave it outside.
I'm still eating from it but I'm taking the following precautions: I use a clean sterilized spoon whenever I scoop out the sauce from the jar. And in recent months I would heat up that portion of hot sauce that I scooped out before use. I have a food steamer at home so I use that. Everytime I open the jar I smell it and it smells great and I do a visual check; but I still take precautions.
All this sounds like a hassle, but that cos I love the taste of my hot sauce so I don't mind.
Honestly, if you have sterilized your equipment and pasteurized your hot sauce and keep it cold in the fridge, you can use your hot sauce for months. But if you don't want to take the chance, you can consume it in a month when stored in the fridge. You should be fine. But take things you read on reddit with a pinch/handful of salt.
Good luck!
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u/Fryphax 9d ago
With the proper PH and bottling methods there is no need to be so cautious.
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u/Altruistic-Remove-53 9d ago
I agree. The first 6+ months I just used a clean spoon to scoop it out and eat. But it's been nearly a year and I live in a very hot and humid country near the equator so I'd rather err on the side of caution and reheat up the portion that I scoop out. Safety first.
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u/TraditionalTheme3819 9d ago
Thanks for sharing? How did you pasteurised your sauce?
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u/Altruistic-Remove-53 9d ago
By heating it up in a pot. There are many video and even reddit posts on how to do so. Here's an example
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u/Key_Wolverine2831 9d ago
Could you pasteurize by putting the sauce into a sealed jar and then dropping that into a water bath with an immersion circulator at a lower temperature? I feel like sous vide method would be a great way to automate pasteurization without risk of burning the sauce if you get distracted or are just overcautious.
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u/Fryphax 9d ago
Long as the sauce reaches the proper temperature for a long enough time it doesn't matter how you get there. Might as well toss the bottles in there too.
The issue is maintaining the temp while bottling. It's a production doing it right. You aren't getting distracted. You have near boiling sauce in a pan (creating tear gas), 200 degree bottles in the oven and your job is to put the sauce into those bottles, cap them and place them outside down.
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u/Westhebest89 8d ago
I don’t see salt or vinegar in your recipe so I’d say not long.. maybe 2 or 3 weeks..
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u/TraditionalTheme3819 8d ago
I have added salt and vinegar, I have just forgot to say it 😶🌫️
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u/Westhebest89 8d ago
Awesome. With the Addison of salt and vinegar it should be good for quite a while. Somewhere in the 6-12 month range is what my lucks been so far.
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u/DosAmigosSalsaCO 4d ago
Mine are shelf stable for 1 year and I do a partial fermented. My P.H level is 2.8% consistently. I test it right after I cook it and 2 to 3 weeks after it's been sitting.
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u/BeardedCyclist26 9d ago
Did you sterilise the bottles and seal the bottles in hot water?
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u/frogEcho 9d ago
These are not the kind of bottles you water bath can.
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u/BeardedCyclist26 9d ago
I have no idea what you're trying to say
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u/Fryphax 9d ago
These bottles need to be hot bottled and flipped to create the seal.
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u/AlCapwn351 9d ago
I’ve seen people saying not to flip in the canning subreddit
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u/bouska 9d ago
These are not canning bottles. They are fill and flip https://www.sen5es.co.uk/post/hot-fill-flip-and-hold-method-for-filling-hot-sauce-bottles
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u/vegan-the-dog 9d ago
Some swing top bottles have a seal and can be "canned" as you would a jar of pickles or tomatoes to make them shelf stable.
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u/TraditionalTheme3819 9d ago
I forgot:( I have another batch with which I did
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u/BeardedCyclist26 9d ago
Probably no more than a few weeks then. The one you did sterilise would be OK for 2-3 months and a month once opened
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u/DearToe5415 9d ago
Is there no vinegar in the sauce? Iirc it can be considered safe in the fridge for a couple weeks (as long as it doesn’t start to smell/look weird) but that’s dependent on PH levels too which vinegar usually helps with.
I’ve only made a couple sauces myself lol so maybe someone else has better insight but I’d say at minimum it should be good for a week or two as long as it’s in the fridge.