MikeUSMC said:RocketMan AND Chili Monsta are back?!
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Sooo cool
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If you have a question about commercial production or the hot sauce business, please post in The Food Biz.
tutorial Fermenting Peppers 101
- Thread starter RocketMan
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I KNOW RIGHT!?!?
Sooo cool
He is good. I just subscribed to his channel. Not sure why it isnt more popularmitchNC said:
Has anyone done any fermentation time experiments? Eg: Make one large mash batch, innoculate, then aliquot to smaller fermentation vessels. After primary fermentation is complete, start bottling them at monthly intervals or something.
I'm curious to know what "smoother flavor profile" means in hot sauce. Whiskeys and wines are aged in casks which impart flavors to the drinks. Same with barrel aged beers.But whiskeys and wine don't mature in bottle. Some aging does happen in bottle, but there's also aged too long for wine. Big beers can also benefit from bottle aging. Long fermentations in glass don't really make a whole lot of sense to me, though to be fair, my three batches so far have been 6+ months. I know Tabasco ferments for three years but they use Jack Daniels barrels so they get flavor from that.
Mellowing out the pepper's flavors? Blending them more? Any insight on direct correlation between long fermentation and flavor...
The more I search the forum, the more I see "after fermentation it's all about aging..." but have yet to find anything that really pinpoints what aging does. The search continues.
I'm curious to know what "smoother flavor profile" means in hot sauce. Whiskeys and wines are aged in casks which impart flavors to the drinks. Same with barrel aged beers.
Mellowing out the pepper's flavors? Blending them more? Any insight on direct correlation between long fermentation and flavor...
The more I search the forum, the more I see "after fermentation it's all about aging..." but have yet to find anything that really pinpoints what aging does. The search continues.
salsalady
Business Member
To shortsonfire...
Fermenting produce is different than fermenting fruit for alcohol. One huge difference is that once the produce fermentation starts, the batch can't be opened or racked. It has to stay in the oxygen free environment. Fermentation will slow down to what looks like nonexistent, which is where the discussion of aging comes in. The sauce is still in its original oxygen free container.
Once that seal has been broken and oxygen gets into the mix, it has to be refrigerated or cooked/processed.
Fermenting produce is different than fermenting fruit for alcohol. One huge difference is that once the produce fermentation starts, the batch can't be opened or racked. It has to stay in the oxygen free environment. Fermentation will slow down to what looks like nonexistent, which is where the discussion of aging comes in. The sauce is still in its original oxygen free container.
Once that seal has been broken and oxygen gets into the mix, it has to be refrigerated or cooked/processed.
salsalady
Business Member
Some people have done some very long ferments. But to your question and thoughts....I think to do that kind of experiment, someone would need to make a large portion of fresh produce, pack it into several individual fermentation jars, put them all in the same closet/location and then open them one at a time at (6 month?) Intervals and cook/process each batch.
Then at the end...They would open up 6 sauces that were processed at different times, do the taste tests and see if there is a difference for aged sauces.
It would be quite an experiment which could take...Literally...Years....
Then at the end...They would open up 6 sauces that were processed at different times, do the taste tests and see if there is a difference for aged sauces.
It would be quite an experiment which could take...Literally...Years....
Last year I fermented some super hots for 3 weeks. I made the same recipe from those and fresh peppers.
The non-fermented sauce was brutally hot. It also had a "sharp edge" to the flavor.
The fermented sauce was not nearly as hot. In fact, I wanted it hotter. After all it was ghosts and reapers. But the flavor was delicious and mellow. Smoother.
I think I'll probably ferment everything from now on. If I find out it kills too much heat maybe I'll blend in one fresh pepper at the end. Not sure.
The non-fermented sauce was brutally hot. It also had a "sharp edge" to the flavor.
The fermented sauce was not nearly as hot. In fact, I wanted it hotter. After all it was ghosts and reapers. But the flavor was delicious and mellow. Smoother.
I think I'll probably ferment everything from now on. If I find out it kills too much heat maybe I'll blend in one fresh pepper at the end. Not sure.
salsalady
Business Member
The fermented flavor is unique. Some like it, some don't. Personally, I don't like the rooster sauce. Too salty to start with. And I don't like a strong fermented flavor.
I have taken a nicely fermented red jalapeño mash, added about the same amount of nonfermented ingredients and come out with a wonderful sauce.
So many options and they are all good!
Have fun!
SL
I have taken a nicely fermented red jalapeño mash, added about the same amount of nonfermented ingredients and come out with a wonderful sauce.
So many options and they are all good!
Have fun!
SL
Lady, that's great. Endless possibilities.
I was hoping for more yield. My plants crapped out.
I have a gallon freezer bag stuffed with super hots.
It looks like I'll get about 15 more ghosts, 30 or so reapers, maybe 15 scotch bonnets.
In the past my cayenne bushes have been massive. This year...booooo.
But honestly I think half the fun is making notes and planning for the next season.
I was hoping for more yield. My plants crapped out.
I have a gallon freezer bag stuffed with super hots.
It looks like I'll get about 15 more ghosts, 30 or so reapers, maybe 15 scotch bonnets.
In the past my cayenne bushes have been massive. This year...booooo.
But honestly I think half the fun is making notes and planning for the next season.
salsalady said:
Hmm, I didn't even consider opening them all at once. That would keep the experiment controlled I suppose.
Well, I have two containers (roughly 2 gal) of the same mash going and just received my bottles. I'll bottle some of one container today and hold off on the others for a while longer. Should be interesting to look at.
I guess to make it proper I'll have to recombine the two, mix, then pull off a portion to bottle, then back into the fermentation vessels. No way to keep that oxygen free. More thought needs to go into this. Hmm
I've just begun to try my hand at fermentation and am wondering what to expect while the process is under way. Should I see active CO2 bubbling up through my peppers? I started with a mix of peppers and a 1 quart/3 T. salt brine, along with some 2% Fage plain yogurt whey on 9/10 and still haven't seen any activity. These are pint jars with glass weights and "silicone airlock waterless fermentation lid." Everything is covered with brine. Shouldn't I be seeing some sort of action by now? I should also say the jars spent the first 2 weeks of their life on a shelf in my kitchen, out of direct sunlight but not behind a door.
I’ve never weighted down my mash. When mine start to ferment I see pockets of air (CO2) in the mash, kinda like risen bread dough. Also the mash level likes to rise in the jar.
Your glass weights may be heavy enough to keep the air pockets from forming and to keep the mash level from pushing up in your jars.
I’m not an expert, this is just my experience. Hopefully the experts will chime in. [emoji16]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Your glass weights may be heavy enough to keep the air pockets from forming and to keep the mash level from pushing up in your jars.
I’m not an expert, this is just my experience. Hopefully the experts will chime in. [emoji16]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
PtMD989 said:
Thanks for the input. Yesterday, I put some rubber gloves over the tops of the jars, just to see if I saw any evidence of CO2 being generated and expelled. Nothing yet. I started some new jars a couple of days ago and think I'll pull the weight off one of the jars, just to see what happens.
Me too 
still keep moving forward though haven't fridge as it's only been 3weeks and wanted to go longer
still keep moving forward though haven't fridge as it's only been 3weeks and wanted to go longer
Sent from my XT1565 using TapatalkPjar said:
Ok, shortsonfire79 and anyone else looking at timing their ferments. When I started this thread I would run my ferments for no less than 30 days, longer if there were a lot of sugars in it and over the years since then have pretty much followed that line of thinking. Quite by accident though Ive had one that as of this month has been going for 3 years. After it ran for 6 months I moved it to a fridge and its been in there every since. Thinking I might need to process this soon and see if all that extra time has done anything.
Heres a couple of pics:
Heres a couple of pics:
Attachments
How ya got that layered? Looks like carrots on top, mash in the middle, and green tomato or green pepper mash on the bottom? Let us know how it tastes!
Sent from my XT1565 using TapatalkRocketMan said: