Fermented hot pepper sauce

[sweetcell]

I believe vinegar is primarily added to adjust the pH of your finished sauce below 4.5 for it to be shelf stable,

i read that too, but it was in relation to unfermented sauce. some folks just blend up a bunch of raw peppers (and other stuff) and cook the mush, so the pH of the sauce is the same as any veggie - i.e. prone to rotting - hence the need for pickling.

i haven't tested the pH of my hot sauces nor the brine (will do next time). however, i'm pretty confident the pH was below 4.5. lacto can take a kettle sour down to the low 3's in 24 hours, so despite the lack of 100*F heat i'd be shocked if it wasn't taken down to at least 4. while our hot sauces aren't kept warm like a kettle sour, they do have the benefit of time. i let me sauces ferment for 4 to 6 weeks.

in the context of fermented hot sauces, i read was that the use of vinegar was a preference thing: some like it, some don't (they pejoratively refer to such sauce as "vinegar bombs"). the author recommended using apple cider vinegar with fruity hot sauces, personally i think it works best with a more "straight-up" hot sauce - the vinegar tang does a good job of taking the place of the fruitiness, IMO. definitely need to play around more with the fruity/strong flavor vs. vinegar thing, and also adding different amounts of vinegar vs. brine.

more so than it is to adjust the flavor or viscosity of the finished sauce.

for my sauces, i need to add some sort of liquid when i blend otherwise the sauce turns out way too thick. i wonder what other liquids could be used... beer? wine? spirits? acidic fruit juice? coffee?!?

I'm hoping to avoid using vinegar where I can because it does have a tendency to overpower other flavors, but I'll use it to adjust pH if necessary.

if you end up testing the pH of your sauce and/or brine, please post the results here. i'm currently sitting on about a dozen bottles of hot sauce so might be a little while before i set up another batch...

 

[mbronkalla]

For shelf stable product the hot sauce pH should be < 3.4 Here is my blog post from last year's batches. Test run with Lactobacillus that I use for kettle sours. Fermented Hot Sauce | Mark Bronkalla

 

[Immocles]

So I found myself with an abundance of peppers this summer and decided to give a few sauces a try. So far, not bad, but on my most recent batch I was given a few poblanos after I had already started fermenting the peppers. Would I be able to roast these poblanos and add them at blending for some extra flavor? Or will having non-fermented peppers give this a drastically short shelf life/cause other issues?

 

[hottpeper13]

That sounds like a great idea. When you say shelf life I am thinking your water bathing, and that requires the sauce to be 4.6 pH or lower. Most of mine are in the 3.2-4 pH range. If you start with a lower pH adding some roasted should be OK. After mixing let it sit a couple hours then check the pH.

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

Just add them in to the batch and let them ferment. By now you have built up a large enough colony of lacto that it won't have any problems fermenting a few extra peppers.

My current experiment batch is fermenting along nicely. I used about 30ish scotch bonnets and a beet root (mostly for color). I'm going to use that jar as a starter to ferment a chunk of ginger, some red bell peppers, an orange and bag of cranberries that I will smoke with some apple wood. I'm hoping for a spicy, tangy holiday sauce. I'll post back and let you know how good (or bad) it is.

 

[Immocles]

Just add them in to the batch and let them ferment. By now you have built up a large enough colony of lacto that it won't have any problems fermenting a few extra peppers.

My current experiment batch is fermenting along nicely. I used about 30ish scotch bonnets and a beet root (mostly for color). I'm going to use that jar as a starter to ferment a chunk of ginger, some red bell peppers, an orange and bag of cranberries that I will smoke with some apple wood. I'm hoping for a spicy, tangy holiday sauce. I'll post back and let you know how good (or bad) it is.

First off, that sounds amazing!
Second, I had thought about that but I’ve had these peppers fermenting about three weeks. I was debating doing the blending, then putting it back into a jar for a week or so at room temp before adding a splash of vinegar and refrigerating. It’s a really bastardized batch of peppers, haha.

In between my posts, a coworker dropped off about ten Anaheim peppers that I need to figure something out for.

 

[sweetcell]

latest batch: salsa verde! CSA tomatillos, habaneros, red jalapenos, a CSA green pepper, garlic, a little cumin seed and a few peppercorns. relatively simple by my usual standards i will pull out the red jalapenos before blending and cut them up separately, so i'll have red chunks floating in a green sauce. early candidate for my christmas gift sauce.

 

[Immocles]

Well, I had such a good time with this that I think I’m going to get some peppers growing when we have more yard next year. I just put together a batch with Anaheim peppers, jalapeños, a spare Serrano missed from my own plant, and some leftover chopped up leeks. I might end up trying for an actual liquid sauce this time around, but prefer the thicker, spreadable type sauces.

My random jarred stuff shelf keeps taking over other pantry shelves….

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

Well, I had such a good time with this that I think I’m going to get some peppers growing when we have more yard next year. I just put together a batch with Anaheim peppers, jalapeños, a spare Serrano missed from my own plant, and some leftover chopped up leeks. I might end up trying for an actual liquid sauce this time around, but prefer the thicker, spreadable type sauces.

My random jarred stuff shelf keeps taking over other pantry shelves….

Same here. I've already been ordering seeds and planning my garden for next season. I'll probably get my seeds started in February so I have some big healthy plants to transplant after the risk of frost is gone. So far I've ordered or been gifted Habanero, Chocolate Ghost, 7 pot primo, 2 varieties of Cayenne, a couple other mystery super-hots and an Antep Aci Doma (sweet like a red bell pepper with the heat level of jalapeno. I'm excited for these!).

FYI, if you haven't already you should check out Chillichump on youtube. Sean is a South African guy that does nothing but grow and ferment peppers for his hot sauces. He does an amazing job showing you his process and is well worth a watch. I'm waiting for him to upload more videos because I binged his entire channel in a weekend lol

 

[Sunfire96]

Trying out my first ever hot pepper ferment today. I used the Habenero sauce recipe from Fermentation Kitchen, but subbed jalapeños instead and added 1 carrot. I chopped my produce too small and it was a pain to get everything under the weight, but I got it eventually. Fingers crossed! It's a 6% brine and the book recommends a 4 week ferment

 

[Nagorg]

Does anyone have any feedback on preference of vinegar when using it? (Red Wine, Apple Cider, White Distilled etc..)

I do like a little vinegar with the brine and have tried White Distilled. I was thinking of trying Apple Cider next (The kind with the "mother" in it) but am curious to see what others have tried and found to be in their "liking".

 

[hottpeper13]

I add my vinegar after the brine ferment is over to thin my sauce out a little. I use rice wine vinegar.

 

[Nagorg]

I add my vinegar after the brine ferment is over to thin my sauce out a little. I use rice wine vinegar.

Yes, I'm adding vinegar after the ferment too. I'll first strain the peppers off the brine with a colander and collect the brine in a bowl.
I then add my peppers to a blender and and add a mix of brine and vinegar to thin it out as you mentioned.

Aside from finding the right ratio of brine to vinegar (for my taste of course), I'm looking for the flavor impact from the vinegar too. I do like a little twang in pepper sauce but the white vinegar seems a bit too "bright" if you know what I mean. Looking to bring that down a notch while keeping saltiness at bay.

I just picked up some red wine vinegar and will try that this weekend. I resisted the apple cider vinegar only because I dont want a "fruity" character as it's been mentioned. But I know the only way I'll know for myself is to try it.

So again, any other comments on experiences with different vinegar's? I'll post back with my thoughts about red wind vinegar later this weekend.,

 

[sweetcell]

i've only had one experience with vinegar: i used only apple cider vinegar (no brine) to liquify my sauce #3 (mango, red jalapenos, habaneros). the mango didn't come through very strongly, but the vinegar did. in general i'm not a big vinegar person, so for my tastes it's a little too acidic. the missus loves vinegar and loves the vinegar character of that sauce (it's her favorite batch so far). i think i a 50/50 vinegar/brine mix would be preferable to my taste buds so i'll be trying that at some point. in general i prefer apple cider vinegar to white vinegar, so i don't see myself ever using the white stuff.

vinegar definitely stands out in a hot sauce, unlike brine. so in addition to taking your general vinegar preference into consideration, one might also ask themselves if the recipe needs or supports vinegar. if i'm making a hot sauce where i'm highlighting a fruit or some other non-pepper ingredient, i might not want vinegar to take center stage (this goes against conventional wisdom - lots of online sources suggest using ACV with fruit-based sauces to highlight fruitiness, so YMMV). on the other hand if i make a somewhat generic hot pepper sauce, i could see a little acidic zing adding something interesting.

my salsa verde is done fermenting. gonna give it a few more days then need to find an evening to package. if i use vinegar i suspect it will be a minimal amount since tomatillos are already acidic. i'll taste the resulting mush first and then decide if it needs any ACV.

 

[hottpeper13]

I believe that store bought salad dressing is one of the most evil products you can consume. I make a new vinaigrette dressing with each salad and my fav vinegar is seasoned rice wine in the red cap.
If red wine vinegar is your go to then absolutely use it. If ACV is your go to use that..........you get the idea.

 

[Nagorg]

If red wine vinegar is your go to then absolutely use it.

Not really a vinegar person but if I had a favorite, that would be Malt Vinegar. But thats doused all over fish and chips! Hmmm... I wonder how that might work out in a pepper sauce?

 

[hottpeper13]

I'm thinking OUTSTANDING!

 

[mashpaddled]

I use vinegar when I have to as a corrective factor but I try to use as little as absolutely possible because as mentioned above it can stand out in a sauce. A small amount typically won't though. I've used all sorts of vinegar depending on the sauce. I like rice wine vinegar when a sauce could benefit from a touch of sweetness. Apple cider vinegar is usually my go-to. I would use distilled vinegar as a last resort because it stands out the most as the flavor and sharpness of acetic acid.

 

[Nagorg]

So, I used the red wine vinegar. First off, I almost didn't because I thought my peppers had a natural twang after the ~1.5 months of fermentation. They were actually delicious; so delicious I want to make more to keep around for taco's and whatever else screams for jalapenos. But these were destined to become pepper sauce...

I first used a 1:1 ratio of brine to vinegar, 1/8 of a cup each at a time. I wound up with ~3/4 of a cup being added total but wasn't liking the brine flavor too much and thought the red wine vinegar was coming through too much. My sauce was still too thick so I wound up adding about ~1/2 cup or so of vegetable broth until I got to the desired viscosity. I used vegetable broth because my wife is vegan and I want her to like my pepper sauce too.

It wound up pretty tasty and I got 6 woozy bottles from this batch of Jalapeno and Serrano peppers, all from my garden. I do wonder if Malt vinegar would impart a "better" vinegar character for my taste. Maybe I'll try that in my next batch using Jalapeno, Serrano and Habanero; all from my garden! It keeps producing peppers!

 

[Sunfire96]

So my ferment was going well, cloudy and pumping out CO2. Now after about a week, the liquid is clearing up and it seems like most of the bacteria has precipitated out to the bottom. Is it time to blend and make hot sauce? The recipe in the book I'm using recommends fermenting for up to 4 weeks but this has only been going for 1 week.

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

So my ferment was going well, cloudy and pumping out CO2. Now after about a week, the liquid is clearing up and it seems like most of the bacteria has precipitated out to the bottom. Is it time to blend and make hot sauce? The recipe in the book I'm using recommends fermenting for up to 4 weeks but this has only been going for 1 week.

I would let it go for a few more weeks. In that short amount of time I can't imagine the lacto has consumed much of the sugars and is just getting started

 

[hottpeper13]

I think the longer ferment not only adds flavor but also softens them so they're more juicy and the sauce a little thinner.

 

[sweetcell]

The recipe in the book I'm using recommends fermenting for up to 4 weeks but this has only been going for 1 week.

1 week seems a little short... i would hold out a while longer, at least another week if not two. there could be other processes going on that don't produce visible signs like CO2. certainly can't hurt to wait a bit.

the fermentation of my current batch was done in less than 2 weeks, at least the visible stuff. it's now at 3 weeks, mostly because i'm lazy and haven't found time to package it yet. but to make myself feel better, i tell myself that i'm giving the fermentation extra time so i can be certain everything is done

 

[sweetcell]

finally packaged up my salsa. turned out less verde and more naranja, due to the tomatillos not having much color while the habaneros and red jalapenos having lots of color to share. the tomatillos contribute a lot of acidity and not much else, as far as i can tell. garlic came through nicely. definitely picante, possibly the spiciest batch i've ever made.

 

[sweetcell]

had another brine-vs-vinegar thought while packaging the salsa: brine is quite spicy by the end of the fermentation, while vinegar isn't spicy at all. therefore, if your hot sauce isn't hot enough, you might want to stick with brine and get as much heat in there as possible. on the other hand, if you're looking to cut the heat a little then choosing vinegar over brine would be the way to go.

 

[Nagorg]

if you're looking to cut the heat a little

Blasphemy!
🌶

 

[Sunfire96]

What do yall do to make your sauce shelf stable? Pasteurize, fill bottles hot, then flip upside down? Put ferment in fridge before processing to kill the lacto? Nothing and trust the pH?

 

[sweetcell]

What do yall do to make your sauce shelf stable? Pasteurize, fill bottles hot, then flip upside down? Put ferment in fridge before processing to kill the lacto? Nothing and trust the pH?

personally, i heat the blended mush until it boils at the edges, mix thoroughly to ensure everything has reached pasteurization temps, let cool, fill, and store bottles in beer fridge. no need to fill bottles hot, IMO, hot sauces are pretty resilient thanks to their low pH and lack of fermentables (lacto and other bugs already consumed those in primary).

putting the fermentation in the fridge won't kill the lacto. it'll slow down and/or go dormant, but it's still alive and will kick back up as soon as you warm it up again.

EDIT: i soak my bottle in star san before filling, i guess that's one more way i'm making a small effort to keep my stuff clean

 

[hottpeper13]

Because the pH is below 4.6 you can give them a water bath for 30 min if packed hot or 60 min if room temp to make shelf stable.

 

[sweetcell]

Blasphemy!
🌶

lol. it happens. some folks can eat carolina reapers straight, others need to watch their ulcers... i'm somewhere in the middle. i wouldn't want my latest batch of salsa to be any hotter - i like to put a lot on my food to really get the taste of the sauce, if the scovilles are too high i don't taste anything else.

what is your favorite food to put hot sauces on? many mornings i make myself a breakfast burrito (scrambled eggs and cheese on a tortillas, with occasional avocado and/or leftovers mixed in) and i couldn't imagine eating one without some homemade heat.