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fermenting First ferment/2nd ferment 2013 Questions!! Suggestions?

Picture of first ferment of season. (Thanks, Wes/joemomma, Jamie/Romy/6, Shane/stc3248!) Rest of peppers are from garden.
 
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Recipe is: couple pounds scotch bonnets, mine; Bahamian goat and mushroom (Wes and Vincent/Coheed), JA Reds (seeds from Ramon/Walkgood) mine; JA Red scotch bonnets (milder and different seed, mine), Harold St. Barts, mine; Red Congo from Shane/stc3248, Red Brains from Jamie/Romie6, a few yellow fatalii or a lot of yellow fatalii (mine). A few red and green "cracked jals"--seed from Judy, killer hot and sweet jalapeño. A few serrano. A lotta rain from Universe! A lotta ideas from Rocketman/Brotha Bill, CM, the entire fermenting thread. Thank you!
 
I don't have any pics of process and was all set to do that as "the golfer" was gone. Baked a Red Kuri that was ripe--halved--just baked, super sweet meat, nice squash, last night. (Cut up a lot of stuff last night.) Only thing left to do today was mincing peppers.
 
I would have pics of before all and and process, but would rather not explain the "museum tours" my household received last night and this morning. :rolleyes: (I probably screwed something up and minced ginger rather than onions. "Boy this is tart!")
 
Recipe:
 
Two (2) to three (3) pounds peppers. Minced by hand and by little B&D.
 
Dixondale white Candy onions (or ginger :lol:). Dixondale sweet1015 TAYXiiis onions. (Gotta give some propers to Bob Wills.) A few small red onions.
 
a few ripe tomatillos (really sweet!)
 
Red Kuri winter squash baked enough to just peel and cut. Minced/grated.
 
Yellow raisins--attempted minced
 
3 cloves garlic--minced
 
some ginger--inch--minced
 
3 tablespoons Himalayan pink sea salt with 1.5 teaspoon canning dissolved in warm, purified water to cover--very dry mash--(like Greg/PIC1's idea of couple tablespoons salt and evaporated cane sugar but had no evaporated cane sugar).
 
1/4 cup whey from Greek yogurt
 
Stirred all in with wooden spoon into 1/2 gallon mason jar
 
Glass beads in ziplock sandwhich bag to weight.
 
Pressed beads down on mash to allow air bubbles to escape while pressing down on entire mess with gonzo pestle my grandmother gave me. (Had to remove 1/4 cup brine.)
 
Put airlock FIRMLY in grommet on plastic cap. Screwed on, tightly, added cheap vodka to airlock.
 
Sitting on grow shelf in darkness--tinfoil glued to boxes warms one side--have heat mats on other side of shelf--dark towels/blankets around grow shelves except side with tinfoil; air temp is 78-80 in AC'ed basement.
 
Will watch and :pray: for activity and swirl gently once per day.
 
Thanks for looking! Annie
 
(And any ideas completely welcome, please! My next few ferments are going to be simpler, much simpler. (A few carrots, onion, garlic, peppers, maybe smoked, some not, but just mince in 3 cup B&D, layer in quarts or 1/2 gallon mason jars, let ride. ;) )
 
annie57 said:
Thanks Mike! Had some brine go up into airlock today--day 2. Poured a tad off--kept airlock on--removed cap on airlock--added another tablespoon vodka . . . any thoughts?
I haven't had any go in the air lock (that I know of) but they all seem to spill out the top when they get a little too gassy. I just watch for it on day 2 thru 4 during the start up and keep the half gallon jar in a plastic container during that time to catch the overflow and not all over the counter top. I have added more distilled water to help keep the contents covered or at least liquified. Mine are slightly more pureed than chunky so I don't have a lot of stuff rising up out of the brine.

I saw that Ann/ Salsalady posted about the perfect pickler cup thing. It looks like a stainless cup type item but can't tell if it has holes in it etc. It looks like a neat idea. I bought the large glass weights and have used them on top of cheese cloth but it usually moves around and falls in before it's done which is no big deal. I'm trying one with Hatch green chile without anything just more slurpee.

I'm not sure what is best but like my Mom used to say, "You'll never amount to a hill of beans if you don't try."

Good luck, Mike
 
Thanks, Mike: love what ya Mama said (mine said same thing which is why we do this stuff, huh?)
 
My lid is too airtight from this source for seepage, but messaged with Chilli Monsta or CM yesterday: had too much in jar. Upon CM recommendation, took out 1/4th cup solids and 1/4th cup brine out--didn't want to, but CM said since ferment was early on, if I pressed back down on beads in ziplock bag to submerse all, shouldn't intro enough 02, since early in ferment, to bother it--so had everything ready, FAST--did the deed. It's rising again, so . . . we'll see! Next time, I suppose it gonna have to drip'n ooze, up in airlock or not. I put too much in, since this was a real dry mix until I added too much brine.
 
No Perfect Pickler, PIckelit, nothing is gonna help if one overfills, duh, even though doesn't appear to be: small dense minces? Oh, yeah: could be overfilled. Next time, as in probably today, am pouring warm brine solution over glass beads in z-lock sandwich bag while pressing down on the weights, to see how much brine I need to just cover by about 1/4 inch leaving 2" headspace. I had too much brine in there.
 
I like Greg/PIC1's method: only peppers. Minced dry. Add couple tablespoons of salt and couple teaspoons evap cane sugar to feed sugars for dry ferment. I have no clue how he stirs it in or whether he layers but I like the idea!
 
Mmm Hatch Greens!! Sounds delicious, Mike. Man, we'd leave Austin, ROAD TRIP! and play our way through Hatch Fest in NM, getting free bags of roasted hatch peppers for music!! Like in folks' yards, community roasts! Great fun. Oh to be young, stupid, and spontaneous again. See, we had no money so it was just as likely we'd wound up no chilies, washing dishes in some restaurant! But . . . again as our mothers said, "You'll never amount to a hatch of chilies if you don't try." :party:
 
Annie, that recipe sound Bodaciously,is that even a word :neutral: , good! The Raisins, onion and squash is going to impart an implied sweetness, the sweet won't be there as the sugars get consumed, and the squash will give it a really great consistence too. Good on ya, girl!!
 
Thanks Brotha Bill! Going for siphon tubing for it today! Yep: gonna make a blow-off. I have no choice! :rofl: (I used to make beer and wine and this mash, or "wort," is more active than any . . . ) Word: be careful how many raisins and sweet "squarsh" ya put in the mash. And I didn't put much or so I thought. And the dang this is only a quart with the beads out. Tried of fouling airlocks!
 
Actually, while it was indeed a process, found something that's working. The lids are from this "Cooking God's Way" site and they have a plastic seal that goes inside lid. AIRTIGHT seal. So, took beads out, covered with more brine, pushed down HARD w/2 clean pestles. Slapped on new clean TIGHT cap with airlock that started hopping. Also, put it in cooler place. Looks good. Gonna forgo tubing for now or have until 7pm to make a decision about tubing:
 
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Thanks for looking!
 
Wow... I never had a mash that active! You didn't say how many raisins you put in the mash... I've never added more than a teaspoon of sugar per quart when fermenting vegetables, and that was just to kick-start the lacto-bacteria if the kimchi brine was kinda old and not that energetic or I was starting from scratch without the brine to make kimchi in the first place. Once it kicks in, the sugars in the vegetables are enough food for them.
 
"Are we there yet?" 
 
Airlock's not moving--has a few bubbles in it--but not hopping. I understand that the hopping is just release of CO2. pH strips and meter with solutions ordered. (I was an idiot; among other real--i.e. "had to be member of union" and odd jobs to support music in Austin, until music took off, I cleaned and tested pools. Shoulda ordered meter before beginning ferments.) 
 
Moved to a little cooler place, just to be on safe side. 70F is about as cool as I can get today unless I stick it on AC vent when temps outside zoom back up next week. Smells good, no mold, and am going to cook it, so any thoughts?
 
Also started 2nd ferment 8-16 with smoked choc habs, a few smoked douglah, smoked choc bhuts--2 hour smoke with apple wood at 100-110F, ripe and green jals, 2 cups sweet onion, 1/3rd peeled large sweet potato minced (not heated, not baked, nada), a cup minced carrots, couple tablespoons canning salt--ground smoked habs with teaspoon course salt. 1/4 cup+ whey, added just a little room temp brine to cover. Nothing at ALL happened. So, yesterday, opened, weighted it with 2 bags of beads again surrounded with heat mat--loose but just to warm, since we had, unbelievably rain, and cool spell until tomorrow, Monday.
 
And it looked like this, initially but I weighted yesterday:
 
 
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Do smoked peppers and unripe jals effect/affect the time of ferment action? 2 questions: 1. Should I refer the other if still getting a few bubbles, without hop action in airlock without knowing pH? and 2. does smoking some peppers and using unripe jals slow ferment times? I do have a few bubbles in AL but no action in jar. Thanks!
 
stc3248 said:
They moving yet sister?
 
Shane, I added some Caldwell starter. Airlock moved up at least. And have been studying fermentation--took the other out of cold storage--just because don't see lots bubbles doesn't mean it's not fermenting. I'd like to see a study on how many stages of fermentation hot peppers go through; even so it would be tainted vis a vis this, since added carrots, onion etc. But . . . gonna give that bit of dissolved Caldwell some time (smoking peppers unless cold smoke, kills off bacteria, enzymes) but the fresh mixed in are working. In fact, unless they all start  smelling like "the dump" giving them 45 days or so. Also, pH testing. Found that if I put the 1/2 gallons on counter and whirl them, get a few bubbles, or a little fizz. Do it couple times a day and doing that for first two weeks. Just gonna use my nose, pH test, watch for molds, etc. How are yours going?
 
All kicking but the one batch of pure Wild Peppers...but I think they'll start, no "other stuff" in there for fuel just peppers, starter and salt. I can't look at them every day...I think that helps!!!.
 
stc3248 said:
All kicking but the one batch of pure Wild Peppers...but I think they'll start, no "other stuff" in there for fuel just peppers, starter and salt. I can't look at them every day...I think that helps!!!.
 
By all means, take them with you wherever you go. Never let them out of your sight. I promise: watched pots do boil. In Shane time, they'll ferment in 500 years. Get your wife to actually log real time :rofl:
 
Greg does something like that, but a dry brine with just peppers: 2 Tablesp. salt and 2 Tablesp. evaporated cane sugar. I'm just supposing that he mashes peppers down in big gallon or half gallon glass jar, layering iddy biddy bits of salt and EVCS until it sorta self-brines and peppers have sugar for LAB. Dunno. Ya know folks never give up all their secrets.
 
After my first comment on here to you, today, I was looking at more student profiles, histories, majors, which just depressed ever-lovin' hell outta me, so: went to "le jardin" and "What ho!" I found some ripe choc habs, some ripe douglah and ripe 7 pod brown x naga. So, again, messing with it, since added Caldwell's, ground up a good cup+ of those and stirred into to the smoked hab etc. and veggie mix. And I see more action. Now, I could be hallucinating. I likely am!
 
Annie, there does come a point where your active fermenting is going to slow or stop due to there being little to no sugars left for the lacto to feed on. At that point your aging the mash. I usually let mine go for 45 to 90 days depending on the amount of sugars in the jar. 
 
I've made several batches of sauce using smoked pods, unripe (green) Jalapenos and even using smoked green Jalapenos and have noticed no difference in the process. 
 
RocketMan said:
Annie, there does come a point where your active fermenting is going to slow or stop due to there being little to no sugars left for the lacto to feed on. At that point your aging the mash. I usually let mine go for 45 to 90 days depending on the amount of sugars in the jar. 
 
I've made several batches of sauce using smoked pods, unripe (green) Jalapenos and even using smoked green Jalapenos and have noticed no difference in the process. 
 
Hotdangit, Bill. I was gonna test pH tomorrow but you done tooked all the fun outta worrying about it :lol: Of course, if I get some just crazy reading like 8.5 . . . Pretty sure I won't after adding the Caldwell's. But if I do, be a lot of trouble to make a trip to Canada to kick some butt.  :shh: Just kiddin.' Sorta.
 
Did you use hooch with those smoked?
 
Also, I wanted you to check out this recipe and tell me how this is supposed to work if adding "lemon and lime juice to taste." And that's not added after the ferment. I suppose the L and L juice for fermenting just confused me as I add lemon/lime j. to salsa that I pressure can. ? I'm not doing this stuff for probiotic purposes. When I saw that recipe, I thought, "Yeah that'd make about a pint or < salsa. Put it in p.canner and . . . wait; this is for fermentation . . ." I've had salt fermented lime and lemon pickles but just curious.
 
Took a look at that recipe Annie, the additional acid isn;t going to affect the fermentation. Acid is what our little buddies produce after all, but I think they were just trying to get it all put together so you could just let it run it's course, chill and serve. If it were me I'd probably leave it out till the fermentation was done and add it so that you don't get it too sour. A little Lemon or Lime gives a nice flavor to a Salsa. Too much would just be more pucker power.
 
RocketMan said:
Took a look at that recipe Annie, the additional acid isn;t going to affect the fermentation. Acid is what our little buddies produce after all, but I think they were just trying to get it all put together so you could just let it run it's course, chill and serve. If it were me I'd probably leave it out till the fermentation was done and add it so that you don't get it too sour. A little Lemon or Lime gives a nice flavor to a Salsa. Too much would just be more pucker power.
 
Yeah: they were just doing small batch and eat, I think. Thanks for clearing up acidity and ferment-process on that one.
 
Oh and my strips and probe I calibrated last night read 4.2 on S.Bonnet sauce and 4.4 on the smoked choc hab, douglah, 7 Pod Brown x Naga--if it was a pepper, brownish by nature, it got smoked and went in--along with ripe and green jals. I also tested tap water, vinegar, mango nectar, and some homemade tom j. Strips just give general range but like it that the probe well, works. Not gonna open again until ready to sauce. And since I had samples . . . they are really good and SB mix is not sweet at all: just "full" or rounded tasting, deep?
 
Starting those two other ferments tomorrow: JA Hab with dried mango (no sulfides), onions, garlic, maybe carrots; with peach bhuts, apricots; and yes, had to be silly and buy few peaches today. Gonna see if can't get a pound of peach bhuts in with some sweet onion, peaches, dried apricot. Thank you, Bill!
 
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