Is It Necessary To Cook Homemade Hot Sauce?

If basic Tabasco sauce isn't quite cutting it anymore, lots of folks like to try their hand at making their own homemade hot sauce. All you really need is a few chile peppers, onions, garlic, and salt or lemon juice — but you've got plenty of room to very literally spice it up and adjust the heat level to your personal tolerance. As you likely already know, hot sauce is the secret weapon to spice up your soup, your steak, or your scrambled eggs. But is fresh hot sauce safe, or do you need to cook it first?

To get expert advice, Chowhound spoke exclusively to Noah Chaimberg, the founder and CEO of hot sauce company HEATONIST. According to Chaimberg, it's not necessary to cook homemade sauce, but it can help. "Professional sauce makers cook their hot sauce to ensure that it's food safe, shelf-stable and that it stays fresh longer," he says. "If you're using the hot sauce for a meal immediately, don't feel like you need to cook it. If you want it to keep for a while, it's a good idea to cook it to temp before storing." To safely pasteurize hot sauce, you can simmer it for about 10 minutes at 180 degrees Fahrenheit (or until it boils) to kill off any bacteria.

The reason why you typically don't need to cook hot sauce is because the vinegar commonly found in its base ingredients (along with hot peppers, garlic, or onions) is known to help kill harmful microbes. Plus, fruits and vegetables like these don't need to be cooked to be safe, although they should be washed beforehand. Any recipes involving animal products like meat and eggs should almost always be cooked before eating to avoid food-borne illnesses. Alternatively, some chefs like to ferment their peppers beforehand because it can enhance the flavor, while also helping the sauce last longer. 

You might consider pasteurizing homemade sauce if you plan to keep using it for longer than one or two weeks. From there, homemade hot sauce can be good for six months, or up to a year, depending on the exact ingredients and your storage method. It's okay to store hot sauce at room temperature, although it keeps it fresh for longer when it's refrigerated. But, along the way, the color and taste may begin changing, so any hot sauce worthy of your pantry space should be used before that happens. However you pack your heat, there's nothing wrong with cooking hot sauce if you're at all concerned. While it might not need it, you certainly won't ruin your hot sauce by pasteurizing it before topping the ultimate chicken nachos.