Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> I have a question for our "pepper afficianado"!
>
> I put up several pints of "Pepper Sauce" - just an assortment of tiny hot
> peppers packed in jars and filled with boiling hot cider vinegar, then
> BWB'd for 15 minutes. This was about 3 years ago, and I still haven't
> opened but one jar. I'm the only one who uses it, and just the vinegar
> sprinkled on greens or black-eyed peas, with an occasional chopped pepper.
>
> Question is, can these go bad? I'm nearing the end of the 1st jar, and the
> taste is still great, maybe better, but the liquid has become very slightly
> cloudy.
>
> Thanks for your expertise...
>
> Wayne

We made that same sauce from chile pequins when I was a kid. Those
chiles grew wild around my folks place. Used the juice on greens, beans
and rice, beans and cornbread, etc. Never saw any go bad. The cloudy is
probably because you've been refrigerating it between uses. I never
refrigerate any chile/vinegar mix, just screw the lid down and put it
back in the pantry or the cupboard (got the stuff stashed everywhere,
sorta like an alcoholic does their booze). I'm still using some that I
put up five years ago on the infrequent occasion I eat greens (ate too
many as a boy and decided I didn't need to as an adult). Is very good on
cooked swiss chard, the one green I do really like. Also toss some in
the pan when you wilt lettuce in bacon grease then crumble the bacon on
top and eat. Don't forget to sop the pan with some good bread or a
biscuit. Then sit real still and listen to your arteries hardening. <BSEG>

Nope, never saw the stuff go bad but YMMV.

George