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tutorial Fermenting Peppers 101

I wanted to post a couple pics of my first ferment and say thanks to Rocketman and Chili Monster for starting this thread.  Today is the 92nd day of my first ferment with another not far behind.
 
The fermented ingrediants are;
 
7 Pot Jonah, Datil, Carrots, Onion, and Garlic.  On the backend I added some small amounts of Mango, Figs, and Sun Dried Tomato's. 
 
At first taste the ferment or pickling salt is overwhelming.  The other flavors eventually come through but very subtle.  Love the heat level, taste and suspect I will enjoy the afterglow when a meal is finished.
 
Here's the pics;




Thanks Again for the great intructions and discussion!
Mike
 
Looks good there Capsidadburn, that Jonah / Datil should be a good combination of peppers. Let us know how it turns out.
 
One trick you can use if your finding it to be too salty is to add a peeled raw potato to the pot while it's simmering and it will soak up some of the salt for you. Learned that one from my Grandma, thank ya Ma'am :)
 
Thanks Rocketman,  I'll try out the potato.  Everybody loves it and want to buy them from me.  I'm just trying to keep new ferments going, but different so I always have something to share with friends.
 
Mike
 
 Free Fermentation how to E-Book 
 
After reading all the questions and the "wide" range of answers, this information might help those still on the fence about trying their first fermented peppers. This company has a long history of research on the topic and is a great source of information and recipes.
And yes....the last time I checked...hot peppers were still classified a vegetable, so their techniques and practices do apply.
Cultures for Health has a new e-book on Lacto Fermentation of vegetables.
 
This is the newest publication in their "free" e-book library that includes:
 

Kefir eBook
Yogurt eBook

Kombucha eBook
Sourdough eBook

 

 
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/cultures-for-health-ebooks
 
A question: When using a mason jar and an airlock like I use to make beer......how does one keep the mash below the liquid level???  After a while the mash rises to the top and the liquid is at the bottom.  Mash gushes out around the lid of the mason jar.  Any help would be appreciated!
 
I just purchased the Perfect Pickler kit which includes a small (probably 1 oz) ss cup (basically a small ss condiment cup like you'd get filled with tarter sauce with your fish and chips)  The instructions were to fill the jar with brine until the cup was floating about 1/4 inch above the rim of the jar.  Center it under the bubbler, and tighten lid.  The cup will allow some liquid to overflow into the cup while keeping the pulp out and allowing the gas togo through the bubbler.  I did have to take it apart on about day 2 to stir down the pulp and re-set the brine.  It seems to be working for the past 2 week.
 
Maybe using a small cup under the bubbler will help you.  I'd suggest SS or other food service grade cup.  Not sure how a plastic catchup cup from the deli would stand up to all the salt, etc....
 
Best way i have found is to get some glass stones like used in flower pots, I got mine from Walmart, and put a bunch into a ziplock bag.
 
Reminds me I need to get some more. My wife keeps taking mine to use in decorating.
 
Chuck Wagon said:
 Free Fermentation how to E-Book 
 
After reading all the questions and the "wide" range of answers, this information might help those still on the fence about trying their first fermented peppers. This company has a long history of research on the topic and is a great source of information and recipes.
And yes....the last time I checked...hot peppers were still classified a vegetable, so their techniques and practices do apply.
Cultures for Health has a new e-book on Lacto Fermentation of vegetables.
 
This is the newest publication in their "free" e-book library that includes:
 

Kefir eBook
Yogurt eBook

Kombucha eBook
Sourdough eBook

 

 
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/cultures-for-health-ebooks
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link to the ebook on lacto fermentation!  Lots of good information there.  I've bookmarked it and I'm sure I'll refer to it often :)
 
I'm trying to make sriracha for the first time. My mash has been sitting since 10pm Friday. Now it's 1:30pm Tuesday, and I can't tell if fermentation is happening. There are some bubble here & there but I don't see anything dramatic?
 
Should I just chill out? Is there something I can do to get this moving (go to the store and get some yeast?)? When might I have a risk of food poisoning and throw the stuff out?
 
In the jar is peppers, a little salt, garlic, sugar, and I'm experimenting with molasses. The jar is covered with saran wrap.
 
Yep chillin is the thing to do. While some mashed ferment more aggressive than others, if your a home brewer it's no where near what a beer wort ferments at. Put it away in a warm ( like 85 dF) and try to forget about it for 30 to 45 days or at least for as long as you can stand it. When its done process using te Hot Packing method described in here or as SalsaLady mentions in the Hot Sauce 101
 
I started several ferments a couple weeks ago (http://thehotpepper.com/topic/41758-advice-for-my-summer-fermentation/) and have a question about how it it proceeding.  I believe I put too little water in the fatali and choc hab mash.  I don't see any ferment action, but am seeing much action in the red savina ferment.  I noticed mold on the fatali mash yesterday so I took off the airlock to stir and replaced it w/ a regular non-venting lid.  Same w/ the choc hab ferment.  The problem is there does not appear to be enough water, so I'm wondering if it's ok to add water at this point?  And maybe a little more whey? There are too many solids and it will be hard keeping everything submerged.  Even after a stir there are peppers above the liquid.  Thanks in advance.
 
Usually I say once its closed up leave it alone. If you have already opened it though then the CO2 layer is already gone. So, you might as well add the extra water. Actually it should be salt water you add and extra whey is fine too if its needed.
 
RocketMan said:
Usually I say once its closed up leave it alone. If you have already opened it though then the CO2 layer is already gone. So, you might as well add the extra water. Actually it should be salt water you add and extra whey is fine too if its needed.
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I'm curious as to why more salt is needed.  Everything I have read is to add salt based on the dry weight of the peppers.  So 16 oz peppers + 1.6 oz salt = 10% by weight.  The volume of water was never brought into the equation.    Am I missing something?
 
I see a few comments from home brewers in this thread, and a few people mentioned using brewers yeast as a starter for fermenting peppers.  I would like to know which strain of brewers yeast people may have tried.
 
Also... since we're talking about lacto fermentation, I was wondering if anyone had used a brewers culture of pure lactobacillus.  Something like a Wyeast 5335 or a 4007.  I have used them to make sour beers, and to up the acidity in wines.  I figure either of these would much better than a regular saccharomyces cerevisae ale yeast.
 
PepperDaddy said:
 
I'm curious as to why more salt is needed.  Everything I have read is to add salt based on the dry weight of the peppers.  So 16 oz peppers + 1.6 oz salt = 10% by weight.  The volume of water was never brought into the equation.    Am I missing something?
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Man, there are a lot of websites that will take you through the process of fermenting vegetables but U have to see one where your question would be answered. This is just the way I've always seen it done.
dmoore714 said:
I see a few comments from home brewers in this thread, and a few people mentioned using brewers yeast as a starter for fermenting peppers.  I would like to know which strain of brewers yeast people may have tried.
 
Also... since we're talking about lacto fermentation, I was wondering if anyone had used a brewers culture of pure lactobacillus.  Something like a Wyeast 5335 or a 4007.  I have used them to make sour beers, and to up the acidity in wines.  I figure either of these would much better than a regular saccharomyces cerevisae ale yeast.
Click to expand...
Yep, seen it talked about a lot but never a posting where anyone has done it with a brewers yeast. Main problem would be available sugars, not much in peppers. There have been several postings where someone used the, I think it was White Labs, Lacto and had good results. Just do a search of the forum.
 
OK I have a few questions. Sorry if they have been answered, I've read through the article until my eyes hurt.

So if I add brine to my chopped peppers at 3.6%, I should add 36g of salt to 1L water. If I fill a 1L jar 3/4 full (to leave a bit of room) I obviously can't fit a litre of brine in the with it... and still leave a bit of headspace. Or does it not matter that I'm adding all the brine I mixed up since it's 3.6%?

Next, after I'm done fermenting, do I pour off the brine to try to minimize the saltiness?

Third, is there any problem with cooking the mash after when I'm making the sauce?
 
Heisenberg said:
OK I have a few questions. Sorry if they have been answered, I've read through the article until my eyes hurt.

So if I add brine to my chopped peppers at 3.6%, I should add 36g of salt to 1L water. If I fill a 1L jar 3/4 full (to leave a bit of room) I obviously can't fit a litre of brine in the with it... and still leave a bit of headspace. Or does it not matter that I'm adding all the brine I mixed up since it's 3.6%?
 
It doesn't matter so long as the brine that's added is at the correct percentage.

Next, after I'm done fermenting, do I pour off the brine to try to minimize the saltiness?
 
No, leave it in as you'd also be pouring off all the lactic acid that was produced.  If the saltiness is an issue you can add a peeled raw potato to the mix while simmering and it'll soak up a ton of the salt. Old trick my Grandma taught me :)

Third, is there any problem with cooking the mash after when I'm making the sauce?
 
Nope, no problem. I cook everyone of mine. Take a look back at the initial post and look for processing the mash. Basically I bring it to a boil for 10 or 15 minutes then reduce to a simmer for 45, run it through the blender to get it smooth and back into the pot for another 30 to 45 minute simmer. Bring it to 195 for at least 15 minutes and bottle.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the question, hope all is clear now.
 
Heisenberg said:
OK I have a few questions. Sorry if they have been answered, I've read through the article until my eyes hurt.

So if I add brine to my chopped peppers at 3.6%, I should add 36g of salt to 1L water. If I fill a 1L jar 3/4 full (to leave a bit of room) I obviously can't fit a litre of brine in the with it... and still leave a bit of headspace. Or does it not matter that I'm adding all the brine I mixed up since it's 3.6%?

Next, after I'm done fermenting, do I pour off the brine to try to minimize the saltiness?

Third, is there any problem with cooking the mash after when I'm making the sauce?
Click to expand...
 
the most recent ferment i did, I took a page out of this book. i make naturally fermented pickles each year and normally use a 5% brine, so I decided to use that for this hot sauce ferment. the previous ferment I did, which turned out fine, didn't appear to have much activity because I did the salt by weight method and pureed all of the ingredients into a thick mash, whereas this time I just did a shred/chop of the ingredients, added the brine and i'm seeing tons of activity (could be because of the ingredients I suppose). i probably could have gotten away with a 3.6% brine this time of year, but i've had good success with the 5% this year with the acidity, so I thought i'd try that for this one. i may do the 3.6% next.
 
looking forward to seeing your mash!

-Pablo- said:
I agree with Chuck Wagon.  In my experience, there's not enough CO2 released from lactic acid fermentation to require the use of an airlock.  In ethanol fermentation (for things like beer/wine) much much more CO2 is usually released so it makes sense to use an airlock for that, but not so much for LB fermentation.  Just burp the vessel every so few weeks when the lid puffs up slightly. 
Click to expand...
 
i would agree with that if you are only using peppers and maybe one or two other ingredients that are low in sugar. i've had a ton of airlock activity with pineapples/carrots in my ferment. 
 
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