Does anyone do this or something similar? I was thinking of making large batches of sauce and canning them for Christmas presents. How long does it last when you can them? I've never done this before!

I think it depends on the ingredients and what method your using some 3 months others longer. You could check some of the cooking sites they would know.

I do a LOT of canning, including BBQ sauce, and the main thing is to make sure that the method of canning that you use is acceptable for a particular recipe. Water bath canning is only safe if your recipe has a lot of vinegar in it to make it high in acidity and the only way to know that is to use a BBQ sauce recipe specially developed for the water bath canner (or to invest in some pH strips!). Ball Blue Book has a nice one that's tomato-based.

If it's another recipe that's less acidic, it must be processed in a pressure canner to be safe to eat.

My home-canned goods last for well over a year stored on a shelf in my cool, dark basement. I LOVE to can and put up close to 200 jars a year...everything from strawberry jam to homemade sauerkraut.

Good luck!