• If you have a question about commercial production or the hot sauce business, please post in The Food Biz.

fermenting How can I tone down heat on Habanero ferment?

C

cgibsong002

Just recently finished my first ferment, and it went really well and everyone loved it. I gave most of it away, so I'm excited to try my second batch. I bought about 3/4 pound orange habaneros at the grocery (fermenting in a pint jar). Thing is my digestive system can't handle much spice. So I'm trying to make this flavorful without being too hot. 
 
My last ferment I did about half and half fresh to dried tabascos, and then probably equal weight with onion, apple, garlic, and a good amount of vinegar at the end. I also deseeded as much as I could. With the amount of filler I added in, it wasn't very spicy at all, but also much too oniony, not enough pepper flavor coming through. Deseeding was also a major pain. 
 
I'm wondering if deseeding is a must, or if I might be able to get around that issue by using enough fillers. I also want to keep it a pretty basic/straightforward sauce since it's still one of my first. I'm thinking onion, garlic, carrot, orange bells to keep it a nice vibrant orange. Also another issue I had last time was doing about 5% salt by weight turned out to be unacceptably salty (fixed by watering down with vinegar after ferment).. but at least I had no mold or yeast (did a mash using an airlock, no added water or weights).
 
TLDR; Can I avoid deseeding but also making not too spicy? What salt ratio should I go with, or should I try a different method? 
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Jase4224 said:
Many people are offering great advice here to add roasted veggies, but if it's the C.Chinense flavour your trying to focus on then there are mild options you can add to lower the heat whilst still sticking to your basic ingredients.
Click to expand...
 
As a hindsight suggestion, Trinidad Perfume pods taste exactly like habanero but almost zero heat. That could be a way to lower the heat without losing the hab flavor but the challenge to you would be in finding enough TP pods.
 
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I'm only on my 4th ferment, so not a lot of experience. However, when making salsa last year, I discovered that when I added Tomatillo puree to a batch, it tamed the heat.
 
I mentioned it in a thread where salsalady asked about fermenting them, to see if anyone else had ever noticed it. Yesterday, I processed a red jalapeno mash that had been going for 2 week, with the end result having a nice even heat. I took two samples, and did a 4-1 sauce to puree mix and the heat was much tamer according to 4 tasters. I did 1-1 sauce to puree, and the heat was just about non existent. 
 
The puree was just Tomatillos that I simmered in water to soften, then ran through a food mill with a fine screen. It seemed to only change the heat, and did not affect the overall flavor.
 
I'm interested to know if anyone else has ever noticed this. 
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top