I need help with my homemade hot sauce recipe

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conan42364

Assistant Cook
Joined
Nov 30, 2008
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2
:( I made a hot sauce recipe using tomato sauce and various spices and seasonings. I keep the hot sauce in a sealed plastic container in the fridge for storage. My problem is that after a week or more, the hot sauce starts to thicken almost like jello while it's in the fridge. I don't know why it would start to solidify since it started out as liquid. Here's the recipe so maybe someone can tell me why it's doing this and how to fix it. Thanks.

Three 8oz cans of Hunt's Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup of Water
1 TBL Black Pepper
1 TBL Chili Powder
1/2 TBL Garlic Powder
1/2 TBL Onion Powder
1 TSP Ground Cayenne Red Pepper
1 TSP Crushed Red Pepper
1/2 TSP Ground Coriander Powder
1/2 TSP Ground Cumin Seed
1/2 TSP Ground Oregano
1/4 TSP Salt
1/4 TSP Sugar

I just mix everything together and store it in the fridge to keep.
 
What happens if you mix/stir it up after it's been sitting? Does it still have a jello consistency?
 
If I stir it up, it thins out somewhat but is still thicker than it was before. I would think it should stay the same consistency right after it's been chilled in the fridge.
 
Tomato sauce pretty much thickens up when refridgerated, then loosens up after it's been reheated. Maybe thin it out with some more water, try a different brand of tomatoes, or add some fresh tomatoes for the juice. Any other thinner will alter the flavor. Some vinegar may help if you're not adverse to it.
 
I've noticed the same thing after making a sauce or salsa, it does thicken up over time. I don't know that there is anything wrong with your recipe. I think it is just more the nature of the ingredients to gel over time. It sounds very good!
 
Does the original recipe say what the expected longevity is of the sauce? It doesn't contain any acidic properties as a stabilizer so I would anticipate after a 7-10 days or more you may be getting some chemical changes/breakdown of the tomato sauce and possibly even some bacteria growth.

If you keep the sauce on a door shelf of the refrigerator, consider moving it since that is one of the warmer spots caused by the door constantly opening and exposed to the warmer air.
 
I make 2-3 gallons of hot sauce every fall I use Fresno peppers and kosher salt and red wine vinegar and a 14 ounce can of a good tomato sauce. Bring it all up to a boil
and simmer for at least a hour some times longer then puree it in the blender I keep it in quart plastic bottles in the freezer and keep one in the fridge for use. I use 3 parts red wine vinegar too one part water and a cup of salt in the whole batch. Never had a problem with it getting thick. hope this helps.
 
That's probably because your recipe has different ingredients and is more stable that the one in question, probably also because it is cooked.
 
try adding some lemon juice too or a little lime and a little lemon
 
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