Sauces and condiments
Making a sauce, and the two numbers that decide how it is sold
Updated
On this page9
A thick sauce is harder to make safe than a thin one, for a reason that has nothing to do with the recipe: heat moves through it slowly. The acidity decides which rules apply and the viscosity decides whether the process that satisfies them actually reaches the middle of the jar.
Getting started
Before the first batch.
The sauce itself
Acid, solids and what they do to the process.
Making a batch
The day it gets made.
What goes wrong
Named failures, with the cause for each.
Jars and lids
Where the container decision lives.
Selling it
Inside the acidified foods regime.
Growing the operation
What breaks first.
Tools and directories
Things to use rather than read.
Beyond the jar
The obvious second products.
Written from 21 CFR 114, the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, and the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Every page names its source.