Some fermented hot sauce

[73saint]

I’ve got a huge ferment w a ton of reapers and other super hots I ordered on line....




It also has raspberries, blueberries, blackberries. Strawberries, onion and garlic. Smells stupid good.


Then I have this simple habanero garlic ferment that I think I’ll bottle today.




As well as a nice reaper ferment

I am going to smoke and dry the next batch. And I am certainly gonna try making a powder, and maybe add some of that back to the sauce.

So far every pepper I’ve tasted is so good, I just want to make a sauce that we can enjoy. Nothing too fancy. The big ferment with all the peppers and fruit was just sort of an experiment to get my feet wet.

 

[73saint]

Also, I bought one of those mills the Cillichump uses bc I want to be able to use the leftover mash. As much as I cold smoke, I can see that being an excellent by product. Smoked mash dried and ground into powder...My goodness it sounds heavenly.

 

[chopsaw]

xray Joe thanks for your help with this . Got my bottles today . This stuff is so good it's hard to believe . The more orange one is sweet peppers , home grown bells , onions and home grown jalapenos .
The redder ones are the same with some Reapers that I grew with the seeds from Richie tropics .
They're both so good . I added apple cider vinegar when I blended , no strain . Picked the last of my bells and Reapers today .
My jalapenos are in an Aero garden in the laundry room . Been going strong since last Feb . It sets 6 peppers , and when I pick those it sets 6 more .
Talk about addicting ! Joe really bud . Thanks for helping with this . You made it make sense to me .

 

[jcam222]

Looks great Rich! I just started two half gallon pepper ferments a couple days ago. Someone gave me the end of their garden. I have one that mixed red, yellow and orange super hots and the other anything that was green. Can’t wait to blend and sample. I’ll go probably 4-6 weeks.

 

[chopsaw]

I just started two half gallon pepper ferments a couple days ago.

Sounds good Jeff . I remember you saying how addicting this is . No doubt about that .
I'll be coming for kraut info soon .

 

[Houndstooth]

Really awesome recipe! Bookmarked. Thank you so much for sharing this X-ray. I’m digging the fermentation. I have never heard of fermenting hot sauce before. Having recently joined this site this is one of many eye openers. I have plenty of fermenting equipment and would enjoy trying this out. Our scotch bonnets didn’t do as well as we’d like this year. I’m sure I can scrounge up everything I need to try out your recipe though.
Lots going on, hopefully I can check back in with some progress soon.

 

[xray]

xray Joe thanks for your help with this . Got my bottles today . This stuff is so good it's hard to believe . The more orange one is sweet peppers , home grown bells , onions and home grown jalapenos .
The redder ones are the same with some Reapers that I grew with the seeds from Richie tropics .
They're both so good . I added apple cider vinegar when I blended , no strain . Picked the last of my bells and Reapers today .
My jalapenos are in an Aero garden in the laundry room . Been going strong since last Feb . It sets 6 peppers , and when I pick those it sets 6 more .
Talk about addicting ! Joe really bud . Thanks for helping with this . You made it make sense to me .
View attachment 646291
View attachment 646293

It was my pleasure to Rich, I’m glad I got to help you and get you started, now you can teach me a few things. The sauce looks great, nice color and that’s a great looking photo with all your peppers hanging around! Are you going to do a green sauce with the rest of the unripened reapers?

 

[chopsaw]

Are you going to do a green sauce with the rest of the unripened reapers?

They ripen on the counter so far . I'll just have to see . Not sure what it would be like . I left some on the plants . Supposed to be back it the 80's by the weekend . If nothing else I'll get the seeds from the green ones .

 

[xray]

Really awesome recipe! Bookmarked. Thank you so much for sharing this X-ray. I’m digging the fermentation. I have never heard of fermenting hot sauce before. Having recently joined this site this is one of many eye openers. I have plenty of fermenting equipment and would enjoy trying this out. Our scotch bonnets didn’t do as well as we’d like this year. I’m sure I can scrounge up everything I need to try out your recipe though.
Lots going on, hopefully I can check back in with some progress soon.

Thanks Hound, I’m sure you had fermented hot sauce, Tabasco and Sriracha are the two most common ones.

Recipes vary greatly and there’s no limitations to methods, ingredients, it’s all done to taste as long as you have a safe fermentation.

It is quite the rabbit hole to go down for sure. If you try the recipe I posted, let me know how it goes.

Thanks again for the compliment and like.

 

[PulledPorkSandwich]

Great thread! Thanks for all the ideas.

I did some pepper fermenting awhile back. I had some good and bad results. The bad results encouraged me to stop.

I decided to try again and I have a couple batches fermenting right now. I used a variety of peppers available fresh at the local grocery stores -- habaneros, Thai, serranos, anaheims, fresno, jalapenos, poblanos, plus onion, garlic and a couple peach slices. I added the peach slices thinking I might get a bit of sweetness, but now I realize I might get some "peachy" flavor but no sweetness, since the fermentation process consumes the sugars and generates lactic acid, which is sour. So, the result of the peaches is likely to be a more sour ferment, not a sweeter one! We'll see. I plan to allow the mash to ferment for at least 60 days. I have one batch where I roasted everything on the grill an another using raw ingredients. I will smoke the next batch.

I found that processing the peppers into a mash then adding brine to Mason jar to cover the mash eliminated the need for weights or other things to hold the mash down below the brine. It naturally sinks, and agitating the Mason jar every day or so as the mash is pushed to the surface to release the CO2 sends it back down again. I haven't seen any mold or kahm yeast so far an it's been 3 weeks. It smells great.

One thing I didn't see in this thread was what you use as a starter. I bought a bottle of probiotic pills and crushed several of them into the mash. It started bubbling in a couple days. Next time I'm thinking of reserving some of the brine from the current ferments to use as a starter.

I'm looking forward to watching this thread.

 

[xray]

Great thread! Thanks for all the ideas.

I did some pepper fermenting awhile back. I had some good and bad results. The bad results encouraged me to stop.

I decided to try again and I have a couple batches fermenting right now. I used a variety of peppers available fresh at the local grocery stores -- habaneros, Thai, serranos, anaheims, fresno, jalapenos, poblanos, plus onion, garlic and a couple peach slices. I added the peach slices thinking I might get a bit of sweetness, but now I realize I might get some "peachy" flavor but no sweetness, since the fermentation process consumes the sugars and generates lactic acid, which is sour. So, the result of the peaches is likely to be a more sour ferment, not a sweeter one! We'll see. I plan to allow the mash to ferment for at least 60 days. I have one batch where I roasted everything on the grill an another using raw ingredients. I will smoke the next batch.

I found that processing the peppers into a mash then adding brine to Mason jar to cover the mash eliminated the need for weights or other things to hold the mash down below the brine. It naturally sinks, and agitating the Mason jar every day or so as the mash is pushed to the surface to release the CO2 sends it back down again. I haven't seen any mold or kahm yeast so far an it's been 3 weeks. It smells great.

One thing I didn't see in this thread was what you use as a starter. I bought a bottle of probiotic pills and crushed several of them into the mash. It started bubbling in a couple days. Next time I'm thinking of reserving some of the brine from the current ferments to use as a starter.

I'm looking forward to watching this thread.

Thank you PulledPork! This thread has been buried in the past but chopsaw Rich was nice enough to revive it after getting into making hot sauce.

I’ve seen the mash ferments but they were just salted by weight with no brine. That sounds very interesting and I’m always looking and learning new things.

Have you tried the vacuum sealed bag method? That’s one I want to try. I’m on my last 2 bottles of sauce now, so it’s been awhile for me since I fermented anything, but after talking with Chop the past few weeks, he’s given me the itch to make more.

If you have any sauces or recipes, I would create a new thread, you’ll get a lot more views and responses. And if you do, tag me so I don’t miss it. I’m not very active on here nowadays.

Thanks again!

 

[PulledPorkSandwich]

Thank you PulledPork! This thread has been buried in the past but chopsaw Rich was nice enough to revive it after getting into making hot sauce.

I’ve seen the mash ferments but they were just salted by weight with no brine. That sounds very interesting and I’m always looking and learning new things.

Have you tried the vacuum sealed bag method? That’s one I want to try. I’m on my last 2 bottles of sauce now, so it’s been awhile for me since I fermented anything, but after talking with Chop the past few weeks, he’s given me the itch to make more.

If you have any sauces or recipes, I would create a new thread, you’ll get a lot more views and responses. And if you do, tag me so I don’t miss it. I’m not very active on here nowadays.

Thanks again!

I haven't tried the vacuum sealed bag method, but I'm tempted. As I understand it, you can get away with using less salt that way since it's very effective at keeping the nasties out. I don't currently have a vacuum sealer, but I am looking for an excuse to get one. I'm going to ask Santa Claus to bring either one of those or a sous vide setup this year.

In my mash ferment, I weighed all my ingredients an took 4 percent of that weight as the amount of salt to add. I dissolved that in filtered water with the probiotic and added it to the fermentation jar with the mash. Then I added additional water, as necessary, to leave about 1-2 inches of head space. I stirred well and sealed up the jar and have not opened it since.

I will start a new thread once I've had a chance to sample one of my current batches. It's good to see interest in this topic on this board.

 

[jcam222]

Great thread! Thanks for all the ideas.

I did some pepper fermenting awhile back. I had some good and bad results. The bad results encouraged me to stop.

I decided to try again and I have a couple batches fermenting right now. I used a variety of peppers available fresh at the local grocery stores -- habaneros, Thai, serranos, anaheims, fresno, jalapenos, poblanos, plus onion, garlic and a couple peach slices. I added the peach slices thinking I might get a bit of sweetness, but now I realize I might get some "peachy" flavor but no sweetness, since the fermentation process consumes the sugars and generates lactic acid, which is sour. So, the result of the peaches is likely to be a more sour ferment, not a sweeter one! We'll see. I plan to allow the mash to ferment for at least 60 days. I have one batch where I roasted everything on the grill an another using raw ingredients. I will smoke the next batch.

I found that processing the peppers into a mash then adding brine to Mason jar to cover the mash eliminated the need for weights or other things to hold the mash down below the brine. It naturally sinks, and agitating the Mason jar every day or so as the mash is pushed to the surface to release the CO2 sends it back down again. I haven't seen any mold or kahm yeast so far an it's been 3 weeks. It smells great.

One thing I didn't see in this thread was what you use as a starter. I bought a bottle of probiotic pills and crushed several of them into the mash. It started bubbling in a couple days. Next time I'm thinking of reserving some of the brine from the current ferments to use as a starter.

I'm looking forward to watching this thread.

From what I’ve researched you are better to add fruit post ferment when you blend your sauce.

 

[kelbro]

We had quite a few tabascos this year. I'm 6 weeks into the ferment now. Still trying to decide whether to strain or just blend it real well. I guess that I'll just taste it in a few weeks and then decide which way to go.

 

[dr k]

Threw away my 6 month old dehydrated chocalate habanero ferment for hot sauce. Everything was perfect under brine and smelled great no growth. I read others using glass gems or marbles in a bag vs extra brine as a weight today no lid or lock needed but I just placed the clear glass gems from the Dollar Tree directly in the brine. They may have lead, other toxic stuff. Who knows? I have plenty of bags of dried peppers. Better safe than sorry. Crap!

1st day in the fermenter

 

[jcam222]

Threw away my 6 month old dehydrated chocalate habanero ferment for hot sauce. Everything was perfect under brine and smelled great no growth. I read others using glass gems or marbles in a bag vs extra brine as a weight today no lid or lock needed but I just placed the clear glass gems from the Dollar Tree directly in the brine. They may have lead, other toxic stuff. Who knows? I have plenty of bags of dried peppers. Better safe than sorry. Crap!

1st day in the fermenter
View attachment 647001

Better safe than sorry. They sell nice glass weights on Amazon that I’ve been using.

 

[chopsaw]

Better safe than sorry. They sell nice glass weights on Amazon that I’ve been using.

I agree . Not worth the chance .
Glass weights came with my lids and air locks .

 

[xray]

I agree too, better safe than sorry. The clear glass gems I always see have that rainbow/tye-dye tinge to them. Lord knows what goes into making those.

 

[jcam222]

Check these things out, these are awesome https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GGHR5BM?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[dr k]

Better safe than sorry. They sell nice glass weights on Amazon that I’ve been using.

I saw those weights for the wide mouth jars. I have standard and saw how simple the bagged gems/marbles were so I made another batch. The ring, no lid is barely on just to hold the weight up were I want it and to let out CO2. I did raise the weight up higher from the pic below to the shoulders and added more brine to seal against the glass for seeds.