fermenting made my first ferment, now i am stuck

[Burning Colon]

so april 23 i ground up red scotch bonnets with some salt and put them into a jar.
 
almost 8 weeks later it should just about be ready to process. 2 weeks ago i did get some separation and the lid started to pop but pushed it back down.
 
if i get some cheese cloth and strain the must, i am not going to get that much sauce to bottle, i will end up with more pulp in the cloth than juice. it is thick.
 
any idea on my options. i wanted to make a tobasco like pouring sauce. perhaps i have to add more water and let sit another month or so.

 

[Dustin]

Don't add water. Use vinegar. It will preserve the fermented peppers and also break it down a bit. You don't have to use a lot, but give it a good blend before and after you let it sit a few more weeks with the vinegar in it, and you'll have a pretty nice sauce.
Also, you can use flavored vinegar like Sherry, Red Wine, Apple Cider, Rice Wine, but if you want to keep the flavor as close to the original peppers as possible I would highly recommend regular Distilled Vinegar.

For reference, Tabasco uses 3/4 Vinegar to 1/4 Pepper Mash. I use 1/2 to 1/2. It is all up to you and what you want the consistency to be.

 

[howardsaz9]

How much mash did you make? I typically do about a case of peppers ( 10 lbs) at a time.. so 1-2 gallons of mash.  I have my last ferment ready to go for bottling  (about 2 gallons total) and it has been sitting for  6 months. I prefer to add extra flavors into it also.. an apple possibly some agave for sweetness. I have been delaying the bottling till my move to az was complete, and not i think i will be short a few cases of woozies.
 
Just my 2 cents..

 

[Burning Colon]

thank you for your responses.
 
i made less than a quart. it is my first attempt, so i thought i would start small incase something went wrong. fresh peppers are hard to come by, in large volumes. i always have a batch of sauerkraut on the go, so i am not completely void of fermenting - just not peppers as a pouring sauce. i did read most articles on THP and watched a few youtube vids before giving it a go.
 
the peppers were frozen and i thought the thaw would increase moisture content. you can see by the picture, it has a tomato paste consistency. smells and taste great as a paste but i want a pouring sauce - this time round. i have been saving woozies for a few years.
 
i am guessing i will have to cut the consistency with vinegar, i may start by topping up the jar and see how it progresses in a few weeks. we are doing the disneyland vacation thing july 2, so when i get back if i have to add more vinegar i can make the final preparation when i get back.
 

 

[RocketMan]

As Dustin said Tobasco uses a ratio of something like 80% Vinegar to 20% mash.

Couple of things to think about:

Why get rid of the pulp? Use it and add liquid, vinegar, fruit juice, water to thin it. Run it through a blender to get it smooth and a wire sieve to remove chunks and seeds.

After fermenting your ph is going to be low, try adding some onion, garlic, carrots, maybe some fruit if your goal is a sweeter sauce to it and process. You'll only need to add enough vinegar, lemon, lime juice to bring the ph down to below 4.0 if needed.

Lastly, you could always process it as is and have a purée. Just add a bit of liquid to it, again after fermenting the Ph should be good, and blender it till smooth and run it through a wire sieve and can it.

Mostly though envoy the heck out of it
RM