Mustard Canning?

Marty_12454

Hey Chefs!

I've been making Mustard at home for years...usually a batch about two cups every 3 months. I add Citric Acid to my recipe "just to be sure" and always store it in the fridge...but mostly out of habit.

I recently was offered an opportunity to sell at a local farmers market, but guidelines suggest that I NEED to heat preserve (water bath canning) the mustard before it can be sold to the public.

I questioned this only as most commercial mustard is sold unrefridgerated in soft plastic squeeze bottles or jars...and clearly could not have been heat preserved.

My belief is that with the levels of Vinegar, Salt, Sugar, Citric Acid, and the naturally high levels of antioxidants present in mustard seeds...it seems unnessesary to heat process.

I understand the necessity to sterilize the jars and lids...or to pasteurize the

mustard before filling the jars.

I'm concerned that heat processing the jars will change the flavor and texture of the product...or greatly increase the chance of "syphoning" a whole batch?

What do you all think?

PH issue? More Citric Acid?

I'd like it to be shelf stable without "canning" it.

Thanks

M.

brian_martin2001

While most mustard is sold on grocery shelves (not the refrigerated ones), most of them suggest that you refrigerate after opening. While a lot of them do have some kind of a heat treatment (pasteurization) it's not the high heat, high pressure of say a canning operation. This is most likely before the mustard actually gets to the jar or bottle. It is true that mustard usually has a relatively low pH, and a decent amount of salt, which will make it resistant to many pathogenic microbes, that doesn't mean it's necessarily shelf stable. I called go-to brands for spicy brown and for Dijon mustard, and both customer service representatives had a similar story. There is a heat treatment step, but it is not a sterilization step, and once opened, it needs to be refrigerated. Also, they only have a 9 month shelf life unopened. Once they are opened, this shelf life goes down considerably. Without having some kind of a heat step, I would be hesitant to store this unopened; and if there is no high heat sterilization step I wouldn't call it shelf stable. That's my 2 cents worth. I would make the recommendation that, if you're going to be selling this product, make some, and have it tested at a microbial lab. To have food products screened for common at risk organisms doesn't cost that much, and just having a piece of paper with quantitative results to show to the organizers of this farmers' market might go a long way. Good luck!