Fermented hot sauce

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Quyzi

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Has anyone ever made hot sauce by fermenting peppers in brine? I got a bunch of peppers from my garden and cut the tops and the seeds out, then put them into a jar and filled it up with a salt water brine. First time I've done this. I read that you just leave it out for a few weeks then puree it. One of my jars is doing something weird. I suspect it's something called Kahm, but I'm not sure. Has anyone done this before? I don't know if I need to be concerned about this or not. I've tried removed it with a spoon and some patience twice, but it keeps coming back. It's only been in the jar for about a week now.

After the first time I spooned it off, I topped off the jar a bit and made sure all the peppers and garlic are under the water level. The way this stuff looks creeps me out.

KY3X2Fc.jpg


Also sorry if this isn't appropriate for this board. Delete it if you need to, I didn't know where else to ask about this.
 
I'd give it to the in laws. I like the idea though. But I'm going to try it with vinegar to prevent botulism.

Haha.

Botulism spores, if they are in there, wouldn't create the toxin in the presence of oxygen, so keep the top off of it and you're good. I doubt there's anything in there that would hurt you, but to be sure you could at least jar and boil the finished product. Boiling denatures the botulism toxin BTW.
 
That pellicle looks like a severe lacto infection.

I don't know anything about making pepper sauce, except that Tabasco is acidic. From what I read a proper acidic environment warts off botulism, not sure if brine (salt) can do that by itself. Garlic can be a dangerous ingredient.
 
I don't know too much about the process but I have a friend who regularly makes fermented hot sauce. He has mentioned to me before that he packs them in salt with no water and then adds a thick layer of salt covering everything. The water for the brine comes from the peppers, I believe and the top salt layer stays fairly dry with only some bubbles coming up around the edges.

Again, only what I've been told. I've never actually done...
 
I don't know too much about the process but I have a friend who regularly makes fermented hot sauce. He has mentioned to me before that he packs them in salt with no water and then adds a thick layer of salt covering everything. The water for the brine comes from the peppers, I believe and the top salt layer stays fairly dry with only some bubbles coming up around the edges.

Again, only what I've been told. I've never actually done...


This is how my grandmother used to do it. No liquid until you add vinegar when you're done brining.
 
my fermented hot sauce recipe:
red chilis; mine are finger sized and medium hot. not sure the variety.
2% salt (= 2 grams per 100 ml liquid)
liquid = about 35:65 dry white wine:water
i add a little bit of lacto starter, from a yogurt culture, optional. it will of course ferment without.
couple cloves of garlic per 100 g chilis

roughly chop the chilis and garlic.
add enough salt-liquid mix to just cover the chilis, not too much or it will be too thin, with a weight on top to keep everything submerged, and add the lacto if using.
give it a week or two to ferment at room temp. you will see bubbles released when you push down on the weight.
check pH if you can, should go down around 4.0
blend the mix until very smooth, and pass through a coarse sieve.
that's your sauce. with my red chilis it comes out like a fruitier version of tabasco, not hugely sour but nicely tart. the color is amazing; electric red.

i've made this several times and have got a pellicle a couple times, but only when i don't add lacto starter. i don't know if that is by chance or if there's something to it. one time it went all moldy and i had to throw it out. as passedpawn states, there is no chance of botulism. even a capped jar has enough oxygen to keep things from going anaerobic in the short term, and once the pH is in the low 5's it's safe anyways. if you're really nervous i suppose you could pre-acidify with lactic acid.
 
and once the pH is in the low 5's it's safe anyways. if you're really nervous i suppose you could pre-acidify with lactic acid.

I jarred some hot sauce from habaneros and mango recently. The pH was 4.something, so I told my buddy he didn't need to keep in fridge. Woops. After he opened it, mold grew. I kept some in the cabinet, jarred, and it was fine, but after opening I keep in the fridge now. Not sure what to think now.
 
i meant more that it's safe from botulism. i don't have a clue how to prevent mold so i keep my sauce in the fridge once it's ready.
although even in the fridge i once got regrowth of a thick white pellicle (assumed to be lacto or friends, but don't know).
 
my fermented hot sauce recipe:
red chilis; mine are finger sized and medium hot. not sure the variety.
2% salt (= 2 grams per 100 ml liquid)
liquid = about 35:65 dry white wine:water
i add a little bit of lacto starter, from a yogurt culture, optional. it will of course ferment without.
couple cloves of garlic per 100 g chilis

roughly chop the chilis and garlic.
add enough salt-liquid mix to just cover the chilis, not too much or it will be too thin, with a weight on top to keep everything submerged, and add the lacto if using.
give it a week or two to ferment at room temp. you will see bubbles released when you push down on the weight.
check pH if you can, should go down around 4.0
blend the mix until very smooth, and pass through a coarse sieve.
that's your sauce. with my red chilis it comes out like a fruitier version of tabasco, not hugely sour but nicely tart. the color is amazing; electric red.

i've made this several times and have got a pellicle a couple times, but only when i don't add lacto starter. i don't know if that is by chance or if there's something to it. one time it went all moldy and i had to throw it out. as passedpawn states, there is no chance of botulism. even a capped jar has enough oxygen to keep things from going anaerobic in the short term, and once the pH is in the low 5's it's safe anyways. if you're really nervous i suppose you could pre-acidify with lactic acid.

Trying this out today, doing peppers and carrots. I didn't use the wine/water mixture, just water and salt. I also added juice of sour kraut to help Start fermentation.
 
i make a lacto-fermented hot sauce that my family loves. my recipe

2lbs poblano peppers
1lb sweet gypsy peppers
1lb banana peppers
1/2lb habanero
1 whole sweet onion
2 bulbs garlic
1lb fresh basil

clean the peppers and cut them into large chunks, then dice the onion, crush the garlic, and lightly crush the basil. put in a large container and just barely cover the vegetables with water. add 1/4 lb salt and 1/4 pound sugar. let sit for 2-3 weeks, letting gas off every 3-4 days.

pour off brine and add peppers to a blender, and blend. slowly add in brine until desired consistency is reached.


I don't like a ton of heat in my sauce, so I don't use many habaneros, but feel free to modify the recipe for your tastes.
 
Getting ready to make jars of peppers, fermented in brine. One will be cayenne, garlic, bell pepper and the other will be jalapeno, habanero, garlic and bell pepper. Haven't weighed it all out yet but it won't take much time at all.

Pretty excited actually... And what the heck, some sauerkraut as well!
 
Ive done a few and got some Sriracha going right now, another one in a couple days.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sriracha peppers 800gr (red and green)
Garlic four large cloves
ACV natural 1/2 cup
Kefir whey 1/2cup
salt 1tbsp
sugar 1tbsp
water 900mls

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Ive done a few and got some Sriracha going right now, another one in a couple days.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sriracha peppers 800gr (red and green)
Garlic four large cloves
ACV natural 1/2 cup
Kefir whey 1/2cup
salt 1tbsp
sugar 1tbsp
water 900mls

Yummy!
 
Just made my first fermented sauce tonite! Mix of cayenne, jalapeño and habanero with some bell, onion and tomato. White and apple cider vinegar along with the brine to thin and preserve the stuff. Seasoned with a dash of cumin, tumeric, ginger, garlic and dill (I know, right!?). Some honey to sweeten and thicken, then boiled, blended, strained and boiled again... Saved the pulp to use in salsa for taco Tuesday!

This one is hotter than my non fermented sauce.
 
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