I'm continuing to experiment with fermented sauces. With the help of this forum I've had some success, in that I've managed to successfully ferment peppers and turn that into passable sauce. However, I am finding the finished product to be much too salty. My last batch was made using a 10% brine which I saw suggested elsewhere on here, but to my taste it is far too salty. I have done some further reading in this forum, and it looks like many people go for a 6% brine, but considering how salty a 10% brine is, I suspect 6% will still be too much for me. So - can I go lower?
From what I read in the 'fermenting peppers 101' thread, it seems that the salt is mostly there to prevent bad stuff growing in the mash before the fermentation can start (is this right?), but that if the fermentation is given a boost with a starter culture, the salt can be drastically reduced. Well my interest in fermentation has perhaps inevitably also led to homemade sauerkraut, which I am enjoying so much there is probably always likely to be a jar on the go. So if I wanted to drastically reduce the salt level in my chilli mash, how much sauerkraut juice would I need to add to give an appropriate jump-start?
Obviously in the long term experimentation will win the day, but I'm hoping that with the help of everyone here I may be able to cut down on the number 'not quites' before I get to the 'just so' that I am after. So I will imminently be starting a new ferment - in a larger mason jar (1000ml) - without any guidance on the matter I might try weighing the mash (chillies, onion, garlic, carrot or similar), then adding 1% of that in salt, putting it in the jar, adding a tablespoon of sauerkraut juice, then topping up with water. Does this seem reasonable? Too much or too little of anything? Many thanks in advance for any help.
From what I read in the 'fermenting peppers 101' thread, it seems that the salt is mostly there to prevent bad stuff growing in the mash before the fermentation can start (is this right?), but that if the fermentation is given a boost with a starter culture, the salt can be drastically reduced. Well my interest in fermentation has perhaps inevitably also led to homemade sauerkraut, which I am enjoying so much there is probably always likely to be a jar on the go. So if I wanted to drastically reduce the salt level in my chilli mash, how much sauerkraut juice would I need to add to give an appropriate jump-start?
Obviously in the long term experimentation will win the day, but I'm hoping that with the help of everyone here I may be able to cut down on the number 'not quites' before I get to the 'just so' that I am after. So I will imminently be starting a new ferment - in a larger mason jar (1000ml) - without any guidance on the matter I might try weighing the mash (chillies, onion, garlic, carrot or similar), then adding 1% of that in salt, putting it in the jar, adding a tablespoon of sauerkraut juice, then topping up with water. Does this seem reasonable? Too much or too little of anything? Many thanks in advance for any help.
