Hello Friends!
I'm wondering if there are any USDA approved/ and/or lab tested recipes for making fermented hot sauces? Essentially just peppers in...
Knowledgebase
USDA Approved fermented hotsauce recipe? #819582
Asked February 01, 2023, 1:35 PM EST
Hello Friends!
I'm wondering if there are any USDA approved/ and/or lab tested recipes for making fermented hot sauces? Essentially just peppers in salt water brine, then blended and pasteurized after fermenting. Thanks for any info/links!
-Jackson
Multnomah CountyOregon
Expert Response
Hi Jackson,
Great question! I may be jumping to a conclusion here, but I get the impression you may be creating a farm direct product to sell.
There isn't a specific recipe for creating a fermented pepper hot sauce, but the process of fully fermenting peppers and then blending them into a sauce is okay under farm-direct. As you know, fermenting is a balancing act between sterility and creating the perfect conditions for good bacteria to reproduce to create an acidic environment, transforming a low-acid food into an acidified product.
If you're fermenting and would like to sell products you've grown directly to customers, consider checking out a couple of resources: Oregon's Farm Direct Marketing Law- https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/em9205 and our YouTube video on testing pH, created by Clackamas County Extension. I hope this answers your question. Please feel free to let me know if you have follow up questions.
Warmest regards, Buffy Rhoades Clackamas County Extension EPA2
You caught me! I have been making fermented sauces for friends and family for the last few years and they all say I should scale up, so I was hoping to sell through the farm direct bill. The one thing that has held me up was the recipe. I do super basic sauces with just peppers, garlic, water, and salt, so I assumed I would be able to find an approved fermented pepper/hot sauce recipe similar to what I do, but that has been proven quite challenging. I have four different sauces. Same exact recipe, just each one uses a different pepper, so different heat/flavor profiles. I am assuming at this point, I will have to pay the fee and have 4 different recipes approved? Since I am unable to find any guidelines or recipes for fermented peppers/sauces, is there any way I can better prepare myself when sending in a recipe/bottle so that I don't waste my money to have a recipe declined? I super appreciate your help!
-Jackson
On Wednesday, February 1, 2023 at 03:33:14 PM PST, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
I thought so! :) Under farm-direct, you're required to test each batch of acidified product for pH before selling. The recipe is the process of fermenting and as long as you document your steps and test each batch for pH, you're good to go. If you want to scale up even more, take your product and process to our friends at the Food Innovation Center, and they'll help you get started.
Oh I see, thanks! So I do not need to have a process authority approve my process? As on one of your resource checklists for going through the process, it says "if the product is an acidified fruit or vegetable. Is the farmer using a recipe approved by a recognized process authority?"
So I don't need a process authority approved recipe? Just document my steps and record pH?
Thanks for your help!!
-Jackson
On Wednesday, February 1, 2023, 04:59:46 PM PST, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
