[fader]

Nope. We didn't evolve the ability to detect botulism in food because it's really, really rare unless you have the right conditions. Most of the stuff you'd find in nature has been exposed to oxygen, which prevents its growth. It's really only when you start putting things in jars (or in oil, or fermenting them in ways that use up all the oxygen) that it can thrive.

Per https://www.cdc.gov/botulism/prevention/index.html: "You cannot see, smell, or taste the toxin that causes botulism. But taking even a small taste of food containing the toxin can be deadly."

[indoordin0saur]

Ah, thanks for the useful info. When I have tried to ferment peppers I usually end up throwing them out 50% of the time because something ends up smelling off.

On a side note, I see that botulism toxin (but not the spores) is destroyed by heating at 185F (84C) for a period of a few minutes. I've always boiled my fermented sauces as a final step because it stops the fermentation from progressing and makes the sauce last longer without developing any further "off" tastes.

[gwd]

If I've understood things right, boiling as a last step won't protect you from botulism. My understanding is:

1. The botulism spore can only be killed by heating to something very high, like 250C, which can only be achieved at a higher pressure

2. If the conditions are right, the botulism spore spawns to be a botulism bacteria inside your sealed container; and this bacteria creates the botulism toxin.

3. It's the toxin that kills you, not the bacteria. The botulism toxin can be broken down by heating for a few minutes.

Unfortunately, your "boiling fermenting sauces as a final step" happens between 1 and 2, but not between 2 and 3; so the botulism toxin isn't present yet, only the botulism spore, which won't be fazed at all by 85C. If you want to use boiling to protect yourself from the botulism toxin, my understanding was that you'd need to boil it after you open the can for the first time.

Again, I'm not an expert, so make sure to do your own research.

[indoordin0saur]

Ah, I forgot a step. I think this is very common when it comes to making hot sauces but after boiling/pasteurizing, you add a lot of vinegar. This should raise the PH well beyond what botulism can handle and just generally preserves the hot sauce. By volume it has to be at least like 20% vinegar. Some people leave their sauces "live", meaning they don't boil and might not even add much vinegar (common with sriracha) but I don't trust myself to leave out those two steps. Plus, I'm usually going for a tabasco type sauce and vinegar is a key part of the flavor.

[ohthatsnotright]

Adding acid lowers the pH.

[indoordin0saur]

I should have said raises the acidity