Nateo
Well-Known Member
My neighbor got a good deal on a bushel of peppers, and gave me half of it. I'm pretty sure they're cayenne, or something that looks like cayenne. I'm not really sure what to do with all of them. Any ideas?
Did you know Tabasco hot sauce is fermented?
The Original McIlhenny method
The McIlhenny Company, makers of the original Tabasco ® Sauce, still use the same methods perfected on Avery Island in Louisiana a hundred years ago.
They pick fresh, ripe Tabasco peppers grown on the island, grind them up and cover with salt to make a pepper mash. The salted mash goes directly into oak barrels. The mash is packed down and the top is sealed with oak planks into which holes have been drilled.
The barrels are topped with a thick layer of salt and allowed to ferment. The salt layer serves as a permeable barrier that allows gases to escape but allows no bacteria, fruit flies, etc. access to the mash. McIlhenny allows them to age three years in these oak barrels.
After aging, the mash is pulled, checked for quality and, if OK, it is blended with white wine vinegar (they don't say how much) and aged some weeks more ('nother secret!). Finally, the product is pulled, strained and the liquid bottled.
http://www.google.com/search?q=fermenting+hot+sauce
How do you safely get lacto?
ultravista said:bottlebomber - what is the correct salt to mash ratio?
Fridge pickles rock. You can pickle just about anything and it tastes amazing. I like to do what you said, but I also put in fresh farmers market carrot slices and a little onion and garlic
jgln said:I add some vinegar and salt to the water just to keep the water fresh, deter mold and make the peppers last as long as possible ( had had crisp peppers in winter this way) but I bet they would keep a long time just in water too. I wonder how long? I think I will try a jar with just water to see. Idea was to keep peppers fresh but not to really pickle.
****I must admit, I do not know how safe this method (just water) would be. Not sure if Botulism would grow in plain water conditions at those temps. I better check.**************
Now that we're onto pickling, my understanding is that using vinegar (pH 2.4) to keep the final solution safely below pH 4.6 and you avoid risk of botulism. This is really the key to be safe.
So, for peppers, I usually pack all the raw peppers, garlic, herbs into the jars and then boil some vinegar and salt and then fill the jars and pressure can for 5 min at 15 psi. The shorter processing time (and I try to cool them relatively quickly) keeps the peppers from going mushy and suffices to seal the jars... the vinegar does the job of the preservation. I try to keep the time at which the peppers are hot as short as possible.
Yep, just what I do to preserve them for storage at room temps. But I think if you refrigerate you can get away without the cooking? Less acid? Less salt? I am happy to get feeback from anyone on this.
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