dang it- had a long post written and deleted it~~~
Check out the info here-
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/49801-chile-pepper-weights-measures-and-other-things/
What's the difference between fermenting a sauce and just cooking a sauce?
In order to be considered safe to be stored for an extended period of time, sauces need to have a low pH or be pressure canned. pH numbers indicate the levels of acidity or alkalinity in foods or other things like hydroponics, fish tanks, etc. Neutral pH is 7.0. Things with a pH of above 7.0 are alkaline, things below 7.0 are acidic. Sauces should be below 4.0 (minimum), preferable below 3.5 pH, to be considered safe to process/can/bottle and be considered shelf stable using the common Hot Fill-Hold processing method.
2 ways to lower the pH of foods is by fermentation or by adding acids. Fermentation uses good bacteria to eat up the natural sugars in chiles and other produce to the point where the pH is below 4.0 and considered safe. Kimchee and sauerkraut also use fermentation for food preservation.
Fermentation requires time, anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months, but once it's properly done, the resulting product has a low pH and can be processed or refrigerated without the addition of any other vinegar or acids.
The other method of getting a safe pH in a sauce or product is to simply add vinegar or lemon/lime juice to pods/produce. Using vinegar to lower the pH is quick, the sauce can be cooked, bottled and eaten immediately.
Fermenting Peppers 101 is an excellent tutorial on fermentation.
What is a mash?
Technically, a "mash" is anything that is ground up very fine, it refers to texture and consistency.
A "mash" does not automatically mean the ground up stuff is fermented!
Lots of chiles are sold commercially as "Mash" and there are any number of combinations of ground up chiles, some with salt, some without salt, some with vinegar, some without, some fermented, some not.....It's an ongoing process to make people aware that "mash" does not mean "fermented". A lot of people assume mash=fermented, but that is not correct.
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most think of "salsa" as being a bit chunky, dippable with a chip, could be any flavor base, could be fresh or shelf stable. There are tons of canned salsa out there, and by canned I'm also referring to those in jars that are not refrigerated. Most hot sauces are more pour-able, in the narrow necked bottles. Again, could be refrigerated or shelf stable.
Often, here on THP we refer to AJ's Puree, which is a concentrated smooth blend of peppers and a couple other ingredients. Brewing topics often refer to a ground up fermented thing, but not all mashes are fermented.
Hope this helps~
SL