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Following a recommendation by prayer group and reading through Jhet's posts itt, I'm giving lacto fermented hot sauce an attempt. My first try was with habaneros because I had a bunch and love them.      I waaayyyy over garlicked it. Hopefully it'll mellow out a little bit as it finishes up fermenting in the fridge. It's still good, but enough garlic that it's not an all purpose hot sauce. It'll be great with beans. Today I started a random batch of green peppers. There's Anaheims, jalapenos, serranos, poblanos, shishitos, wax peppers, and some kind of long skinny green thing. All of our green peppers ended up pretty hot this year, so it should be interesting. I did about 2.5% salt and about 1% sugar, with about 260g of peppers and garlic. I would like to eventually achieve something like the hotter Marie Sharp's blends. Good thing habaneros are cheap. Anybody here use carrots in their ferment? My wife just harvested all of ours and some of them are a little big and woody.
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Nov 6, 2021 22:50
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HenryJLittlefinger posted:Anybody here use carrots in their ferment? My wife just harvested all of ours and some of them are a little big and woody. They're a great base for most sauces. Adds sweetness and body. I've got one lacto fermented ghost pepper carrot sauce that got sort of soy sauce funky. It's really good.
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Nov 7, 2021 00:15
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HenryJLittlefinger posted:I would like to eventually achieve something like the hotter Marie Sharp's blends. Good thing habaneros are cheap. Anybody here use carrots in their ferment? My wife just harvested all of ours and some of them are a little big and woody. I love carrots in yellow and orange sauces. They really help the balance because of the sugar. I wouldn’t use extra woody carrots though unless you cook them end put it through a food mill first. I also give them an extra couple weeks fermenting carrots because there’s nothing there to quickly pull the sugar out of the carrot and that helps. You sauce does look super nice too, and the garlic will mellow a little, but I wouldn’t expect it to go away. Just always a good note for next time. If you can find habaneros in the store you can try again soon too. The dehydrated mash is going to make super seasoning. I keep putting off getting a dehydrator myself, but I really should just do it.
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Nov 7, 2021 01:20
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Thanks, that’s helpful guidance. It was only 8 days fermenting, probably could have gone longer. I’ll likely give my green batch closer to two weeks. Maybe more. Also dehydrators are awesome. I make a ton of field food with them. But also if any fruit or vegetables look like they’ll start to turn before I can finish them, I dry them. It’s great for mushrooms. I also smoked some jalapeños and jalafuegos a couple weeks back, dried, and powderized them. The result is powerful.
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Nov 7, 2021 01:25
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I wanna do a habanero and carrot sauce. Do I adds fresh carrot after fermenting the pepper mash or do I ferment the carrots as well, possibly together with the peppers?
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Nov 7, 2021 15:11
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thotsky posted:I wanna do a habanero and carrot sauce. Do I adds fresh carrot after fermenting the pepper mash or do I ferment the carrots as well, possibly together with the peppers? I do it with the peppers. Added sugar and all that. You could add it later, but you need to pasteurize to keep fermentation from starting again.
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Nov 7, 2021 17:18
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I've done both, and both turned out tasty. Actually I've also done a non-fermented version where I used leftover brine from the fermented carrot/habanero batch instead of using the typical vinegar, which is also turned out pretty good.
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Nov 7, 2021 23:13
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What's the longest anyone's done a ferment for? I know most of the steam probably runs out of the thing after a couple weeks, but I've got several jars of fermenting sauce mixes that are crossing three months now and I'm curious what will come out the other side. I'm still overloaded with hot sauces from late summer/early fall or I'd just make them but now I'm sort of looking at them as a science experiment.
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Nov 8, 2021 15:19
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You’ll have hot sauce still provided you keep the oxygen away. I’ve gone 4ish months before. It was really good hot sauce. I would have left my cayenne go longer but I needed the counter space back for sauerkraut. Really the key is just keeping it oxygen free so it doesn’t start to mold on the top. It’s why vacuum bags are so great.
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Nov 8, 2021 15:49
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I've never done a super long ferment myself, but isn't Tabasco sauce fermented for something like 3 years?
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Nov 8, 2021 16:58
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I ferment saurkraut, kimchi, and sour beer for 1+ years no problem.
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Nov 8, 2021 17:14
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JoshGuitar posted:I've never done a super long ferment myself, but isn't Tabasco sauce fermented for something like 3 years? In oak barrels, yeah. Jhet posted:You’ll have hot sauce still provided you keep the oxygen away. I’ve gone 4ish months before. It was really good hot sauce. I would have left my cayenne go longer but I needed the counter space back for sauerkraut. Really the key is just keeping it oxygen free so it doesn’t start to mold on the top. It’s why vacuum bags are so great. I've lost a couple to mold. The trick that has worked for me is putting a little water in a ziploc bag and then shoving that in the jar to ensure all the solids are totally submerged beneath the brine. Even letting kahm yeast accumulate on the surface of the brine seems enough to give mold a platform. The vacuum bags look awesome, but how are you supposed to manage the gas build-up?
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Nov 8, 2021 17:35
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Chad Sexington posted:I've lost a couple to mold. The trick that has worked for me is putting a little water in a ziploc bag and then shoving that in the jar to ensure all the solids are totally submerged beneath the brine. Even letting kahm yeast accumulate on the surface of the brine seems enough to give mold a platform. The vacuum bags look awesome, but how are you supposed to manage the gas build-up? Two things. Kahm yeast isn't really a thing. It's just yeast, Kahm was a dude and it's not a type of yeast. It's a widely misrepresented "old wife's tale" in fermenting food. Any yeast and bacteria you have in there will be a variety of things, but all it's doing is eating the sugars in the ferment (with a notable nod to the strains of Lactobacillus doing most of the work we want). Yeast can create what we'd call krausen or more frequently a pellicle in brewing, but it's just cells of yeast and bacteria binding together floating on the top. You can spoon it off or mix it in, there's not going to be a notable difference long term. The active microbes are in solution and not only floating on top anyway. If you want to clean it out a little before putting it into something else, you can pop it in the fridge and it'll fall to the bottom after a few days and your brine will be clearer (but there'll still be some cells floating around anyway). Anyone who tells you removing it will do anything isn't paying attention to where it comes from. There's a lot we don't know about biofilm creating microbes, but they do tend to occur when there's oxygen available. The gas from fermenting does just inflate the bags. I've left them a while, but I also make them oversized to give it more volume to fill. You can check it, but I've not had any bags reach a full taut feeling and they've always just been a little squishy with some room for more CO2 volume. My bags from this year are fully balloon like right now, but they still have that 2-day old balloon feeling where they're not in any danger of bursting. I know the ladies and gents at Noma have been doing the bags for a long time too, and they've been screwing around with fermentation for longer than I have, but I haven't come close to having one burst either. I think the key is to just check your projects once a week to keep on top of it with adding brine, or adjusting weights, or topping off the airlock or whatever you need to do.
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Nov 8, 2021 18:06
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Well I came in here to ask that very question because uh 
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Nov 15, 2021 04:27
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HenryJLittlefinger posted:Well I came in here to ask that very question because uh Looks less inflated than how mine have looked for two weeks. Honestly though, you should be able to see when it’s gotten mushy and soft inside and would be ready for your blender. It’s probably pretty close.
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Nov 15, 2021 04:37
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Jhet posted:Looks less inflated than how mine have looked for two weeks. Honestly though, you should be able to see when it’s gotten mushy and soft inside and would be ready for your blender. It’s probably pretty close. I think it's been 9ish days now. And I actually blended it before bagging it up. It's not puree, but it is pretty finely minced.
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Nov 15, 2021 17:25
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 Took some time and finished up my sauces for the season. Almost 13 bottles, but I left the orange in the middle thicker. Left is the vinegar sauce, the right two are the bags I posted pictures of up thread. I’m glad I did it in my garage, it’s inching towards chemical warfare in here. Vinegar sauce is tasty, but the other two are the stars. Fermentation just takes the edge off and let’s the flavors shine.
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Nov 15, 2021 22:28
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Do you pastureize?
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Nov 15, 2021 22:42
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thotsky posted:Do you pastureize? Yeah, I'm going to pasteurize them all with my immersion circulator for at least an hour at 150F/66C. They're all around 3 pH though, so there's not much worry for spoilage of the fermented ones so long as I keep the O2 out. The caps are really only good for 12 months, but they'll be gone by then. The yellow bag was taut like a balloon yesterday, so I figured I shouldn't leave it too much longer.
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Nov 15, 2021 22:59
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Do you wanna share a recipe for one of the fermented ones? They look nice.
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Nov 15, 2021 23:34
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very pretty color on those.
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Nov 15, 2021 23:37
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thotsky posted:Do you wanna share a recipe for one of the fermented ones? They look nice. Red contains: sweet red paprika type, garlic, Hot Portugal, Caribbean Red, 7-pot, Trinidad Moruga Scorpion red and caramel, Carolina Reaper. 2% salt by weight Peppers 650g; Garlic 46g; Salt 14g Yellow contains: carrots, Shallots, garlic, Fatalii, Scotch Bonnet, Bhut Jolokia strain 2, 2% salt by weight Peppers 146g; Shallots 146g; Garlic 24g; Carrots 51g; Salt 7.3g I didn't measure individual pepper ratios, it was mostly just a mélange from my garden. The sweet red and hot Portugal were about half of the red pepper weight, and the super hots were the other half. The yellow was fairly even distribution between the three. The Vinegar sauce was just your standard pickling liquid poured over some diced up late ripening super hots and left for a week. Blended and strained, reserving and re-adding the brine to get a smooth and liquid consistency. Makes me wish I'd bought the chinois at the restaurant supply store a few months ago. I buy my seeds from semillas.de, so it looks like they ship to your part of the world.
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Nov 16, 2021 00:00
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I am moving in a month, and it's the first time in a while I will have an outdoor space for growing poo poo. Maybe I will stay growing American super chilies again, it's the only hot pepper I had much luck growing in this part of the world.
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Nov 16, 2021 00:28
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thotsky posted:I am moving in a month, and it's the first time in a while I will have an outdoor space for growing poo poo. Maybe I will stay growing American super chilies again, it's the only hot pepper I had much luck growing in this part of the world. Super awesome. They ship fast, and I had really good results with the seeds. I got a lot of 7-pot, but I didn't like them as much as the others. Fatalii was a really delicious one, and it'll be back next year. Hot Portugal I like, but they're big and awesome, but I can't cook with them so I won't do them again probably. Caribbean Red/Red Savina is prolific and I'll take them instead of habaneros any year. The Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Reds are the ones I'll keep growing. They did really well, and so did the Carolina Reapers and Bhut Jolokia. Scotch Bonnets are also a lovely one, but they had a rough year with the weather. I'll move them into pots for next year. Turns out I liked most of the super hots I've tried, so I'll probably just cut out the 7-pots from my hot sauce for the future. They have good flavor, but they wreck me. The others seem to cause a much different response. Plenty of heat, but never any discomfort like the 7-pots.
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Nov 16, 2021 01:46
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Jhet posted:Yeah, I'm going to pasteurize them all with my immersion circulator for at least an hour at 150F/66C. They're all around 3 pH though, so there's not much worry for spoilage of the fermented ones so long as I keep the O2 out. The caps are really only good for 12 months, but they'll be gone by then. The yellow bag was taut like a balloon yesterday, so I figured I shouldn't leave it too much longer. How do you pH test? Strips? Or do you have one of those electronic ones.
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Nov 16, 2021 03:21
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Ok riddle me this Jhet and others: how do you get all the juice out when you’re straining and do you blend some quantity of the mash up to mix in with the sauce?
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Nov 16, 2021 04:10
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Carillon posted:How do you pH test? Strips? Or do you have one of those electronic ones. I have a Milwaukee 102 pH meter that I use for more things than a reasonable person might. But once calibrated I trust it’s readings. HenryJLittlefinger posted:Ok riddle me this Jhet and others: how do you get all the juice out when you’re straining and do you blend some quantity of the mash up to mix in with the sauce? I just dump the whole bag into the blender. I don’t add brine to the bag, just salt. So if you want it thin like a vinegar sauce (Crystal, Tabasco, etc) you need to add probably 3:1 water:vinegar until you get a good consistency and then push through a mesh filter with a spoon or spatula. The one on the left was done that way. You may not need to thin it out, but you can also just sprinkle in a little water too. You can also blend in xanthan gum to that and it can get a Cholula or Tapatio sort of consistency too. The fermented red sauce I made (right in pic) had more liquid just from the fruit. I didn’t strain it, just blender and into bottles. Orange is thick and very delicious from the garlic and shallots; it’s closer to a purée.
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Nov 16, 2021 05:17
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I know some people are tired of some people ranting about Secret Aardvark, but there's a trio of new sauces, Chipotle, Scorpion and Reaper. So if you thought the Habanero stuff was too spicy or not spicy enough there's alternatives. The Reaper one is definitely Reapers; Aardvark flavor profile has a lot of other stuff so it's not a showoff doom sauce, but it's delicious and noticeably spicier, and Chipotle is delicious and something my wife enjoys. So, you know.
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Dec 9, 2021 02:26
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Not that my local grocery will carry those options, but that is welcome news and I look forward to trying them all. Chipotle doesn’t have enough heat but the smoke makes up with the flavor of it. Personally I’ve sworn off 7-pot peppers and anything that contains them. Don’t know what it is, but they’re the best tasting worst thing. I can happily mainline reapers and scorpions, but one 7-pot and it fucks me up sideways. So not growing those again…
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Dec 9, 2021 02:41
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I order the Aardvark online because gently caress it. And hard same on 7 Pots
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Dec 9, 2021 03:07
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Anyone have thoughts on making pepper tinctures? I’m exploring alternative ways to amp up the heat, but I still want to wind up with something that tastes good. Most everything I can find regarding homemade stuff is just chili heads going for maximum burn, mixed in with a couple of woo-woo alternative medicine types. I’ve seen some YouTubers review at least a few commercial products that they thought tasted decent, so I’d like to aim higher than “dump ghost pepper powder in everclear, let it sit for a while, then strain.” I figured it couldn’t be too different from making a decent chili powder and so I got a few jars going with that in mind, but I’m just winging it. eviltastic fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Dec 9, 2021 |
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Dec 9, 2021 03:39
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I might try the chipotle one. The habanero one is just a bit too hot for me to use on a regular basis. But I need to get through a couple other bottles I have on hand before I start adding to the collection.
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Dec 9, 2021 04:35
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A tincture is an interesting way to go, but it opens lots of possibilities, something like a grapefruit (or any citrus) chili tincture for use in cocktails or finishing, or a peppery bitters. A yuzu and chili tincture sprinkled over a delicate cold salad would be killer.
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Dec 9, 2021 04:37
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eviltastic posted:Anyone have thoughts on making pepper tinctures? I’m exploring alternative ways to amp up the heat, but I still want to wind up with something that tastes good. Most everything I can find regarding homemade stuff is just chili heads going for maximum burn, mixed in with a couple of woo-woo alternative medicine types. I’ve seen some YouTubers review at least a few commercial products that they thought tasted decent, so I’d like to aim higher than “dump ghost pepper powder in everclear, let it sit for a while, then strain.” I don't think that you'll get as much of the subtle flavors in a tincture, but it's worth a shot. All you'd do is chop up the peppers (a lot) and stick them in some vodka or higher neutral flavor spirit and leave them for a while. You could also do it in an immersion circulator at 145 for 90 minutes and that would take much less time and probably be just fine. It might work just fine. I'd aim to use fresh peppers if possible, they'll have a lot more flavor than dried or powder. Personally, I'd just make a vinegar hot sauce with some hot to super hots and use that. I made some with my super hots this summer and it takes anything up a few notches.
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Dec 9, 2021 07:44
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Tincture use is more limited I would think, I use mine for cocktails . My margarita mix-in is fresh red habanero and dried chipotle from the store. The shriveled brown ones not the adobe cans. Chopped, let it go a few days, strained. Regular tequila was fine, didn't use everclear like making bitters. Less work than making sauce.
Comb Your Beard fucked around with this message at 15:05 on Dec 9, 2021 |
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Dec 9, 2021 14:55
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Jhet posted:You can also blend in xanthan gum to that and it can get a Cholula or Tapatio sort of consistency too. I've had really good success with xantham gum. It not only thickens the sauce so that it adheres better to food, it also helps suspend solids so they don't separate on you. I just did an unfiltered vinegar-based sauce for my sister with all of my remaining fresh and dried ghost peppers and it was necessary given all the solids in there. Just make sure to only add it while blending because it turns into disgusting blobs of goop hilariously easy.
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Dec 9, 2021 21:08
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xanthan is a pain to disperse. I think you have to cold disperse it, and I've read that you can add it to a very small amount of oil first to help keep it from clumping. Also don't overdo it. It takes a while to hydrate fully, and if you keep adding until it's where you think it should be you're gonna come back to something with a very unpleasant viscosity later.
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Dec 9, 2021 21:15
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:xanthan is a pain to disperse. I think you have to cold disperse it, and I've read that you can add it to a very small amount of oil first to help keep it from clumping. Also don't overdo it. It takes a while to hydrate fully, and if you keep adding until it's where you think it should be you're gonna come back to something with a very unpleasant viscosity later. If you sprinkle while blending it will dissolve and be just fine. Otherwise it's worse than corn flour or potato starch for clumping when warm. I've never tried to do anything else but blend, and with as thick as just a little makes it I wouldn't do it any other way. I think I use less than 1/2 tsp total for over 1L of vinegar sauce, but I don't honestly remember and I can't find notes anywhere stuffed in a cookbook.
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Dec 9, 2021 22:26
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Jhet posted:I don't think that you'll get as much of the subtle flavors in a tincture, but it's worth a shot. All you'd do is chop up the peppers (a lot) and stick them in some vodka or higher neutral flavor spirit and leave them for a while. You could also do it in an immersion circulator at 145 for 90 minutes and that would take much less time and probably be just fine. It might work just fine. On the note of processing, I think this has come up itt before, but if anyone was unaware: the threads in standard width (i.e. - not wide mouth) screw top mason jars match those of cheap blenders with blade assemblies that unscrew from the pitcher. Mine doesn't make a good enough seal to reliably hold actual liquid like that, but it worked well enough to contain dried peppers, and I think fresh would work fine if you're not actually blending them down into a puree. So you can just do your pepper processing in the same vessel you're gonna use for the extraction.
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Dec 10, 2021 00:09
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I've just moved to a place that actually has enough kitchen space to contemplate fermenting/making my own sauces. Is there a "babby's first hot sauce" guide somewhere I can look at?
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Dec 10, 2021 00:17
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