Kaylinda - I hope you did not take my comments to be disrespectful of you, your experience, or abilities ... I certainly did not mean them that way. Some people are crazy these days and just looking for an excuse to sue someone - heck, if someone can get $2.5 million for burning themselves after they dump a cup of hot coffee in their lap (that they ordered knowing it was going to be hot - and would have complained about if it hadn't been hot) imagine the field day they could have if they picked up food poisoning somewhere else but your restaurant was the last place they ate before they started showing symptoms - guess where they got sick?
That's why I suggested talking to your health inspector about this - he "should" know the laws for your state, county, and city. Sometimes they don't always mimic the federal regulations. While a sauce with a pH of 4.6 of lower "should" be safe on the shelf for a week - there might be some local regulations that say otherwise, ergo - there is more to food safety than the pH. It kind of goes along with the conclusions of the site jennyema posted.
I found an interesting site at
NCSU that you might find worth reading. I haven't really explored all of the regulatory sites it provides ... but I probably will when I have the time. From what I have read, and based on your recipe - in
theory, your BBQ sauce
should have a pH of 4.6 of lower (you'll have to get a pH meter and test every batch to be sure) - so it
should be fine on the shelf for a week - depending on your processing.
KETCHUP: I really don't know about this one. I grew up keeping it in the 'fridge - but I just checked the bottle of Hunt's ketchup I have (in the 'fridge - where else) and it doesn't say anything about refrigeration after opening - neither does their website. Since I don't use very much (it might take a year to use a bottle), I guess I'll just keep on storing it in the "retarder".