I've not thought to do a ph test; I kinda live by Leone's quote "Botulism? Nobodies ever died of botulism. ?"

But I prefer a fairly vinegar forward hot sauce, and the brine is also salty so i've not noticed any problems. After about 13 months it can start to discolour a bit, but i've usually got a new batch ready by then so I just biff that.

Xantham is a bit tricky to use, you really don't need much but you also kinda need to sprinkle it in, it can clump quite a bit and if you use too much while running a blender too high it can capture air bubbles. I made a ketchup and it just kinda got foamy so even though it tasted good the mouth feel was really weird.