How long will sauces keep?


 
B

Brian B.

TVWBB Fan
I have just made the following sauces and was wondering how long they would keep, bottled, in the refrigerator.

Carolina Red - ACV, ketchup, cayenne, sugar, salt
Carolina Mustard - ACV, dijon mustard, honey, Worcestershire, red pepper sauce, vegetable oil, salt.

Would appreciate any input.
 
I think those 2 should keep fairly long - maybe a couple of months? I worry more about sauces that contain fresh vegetables and other things that might go bad. You are using ingredients that have long shelf lives by themselves, so I think they should keep well mixed together too.
 
Typically, when you have a sauce with a substantial vinegar component, the acidity is going to make it last quite a while if kept chilled. That said, it won't taste as good after it has been hanging out in your frig for 2 months.
 
has anybody tried canning sauce? Around memorial day I made a triple batch of sauce that I got really hot and poured into sterilized jars. I kept the extra 2 jars in my basement for about a month and they seemed to be fine (I'm still alive). I was just worried about botulism and wondering the whole time if I did it right.
 
Getting sauce really hot and canning aren't the same thing. But, still, sauces with substantial acidity will keep for quite a while. They don't even need to be refrigerated, technically--like most commercial ketchups, prepared mustards, Worcestershire, et al.--because the acidity is high enough. That said, quality suffers over time.

Canning sauces does work of course. But for best flavor retention: vac and freeze.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">like most commercial ketchups, prepared mustards, Worcestershire, et al.--because the acidity is high enough </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

thats what I figured. I wasn't sure if ketchup also had some growth inhibitors.

I brought the sauce to a boil, I was going to take its temp, but I was pretty sure I cooked out anything living and put it into very sterile jars. Any text I've ever read about canning makes you paranoid enough not to try it.

I haven't got into vac packing yet. But out of curiosity, how do you vac pack something liquid like a sauce?
 
Pressure canning (where temps get to 250) is suggested over standard canning because it's safer. That said, I don't can much because I find that many canned items--especially sauces--end up tasting overcooked, a key reason why I dislike most commercial sauces. I find freezing better for flavor.

I tend to be generous with the vac bags I make (and seal them before any liquid rises due to the vacuum) but there is a better, much more reliable way: Pour or ladle cooled sauce into the bags then place into the freezer unsealed. Lean the first bag against something at a fairly acute angle so that the sauce spreads/flattens in the bag rather than being a larger mass at the bottom. Lean additional bags against each other like fallen dominoes. Keep the bag openings just high enough where there is a couple or three inches of bag above the top level of the sauce. When mostly or completely frozen, remove, dry any moisture that appears inside the sealing area of the bag, then seal.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I wasn't sure if ketchup also had some growth inhibitors. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
The acid of the vinegar. Salt and sugar play a role too.

The 'Keep Refigerated' or 'Refrigerate After Opening' line that appears on many items--ketchups, Worcestershire, prepared mustards, even mayo--is more of a corporate CYA thing than anything else. The more with-it companies usually add something along the lines of 'for best quality...'--and that is true.
 
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