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fermenting Advice for My "Summer Fermentation"

This is my first year of growing superhots and many others like chocolate habs, datils, scotch bonnets, etc.  I hope to turn most of it into mash I can use for testing new hot sauce recipes.  So far I have tried fermentation 3 times.  The first two failed (cayenne and orange hab) and the third turned out wonderfully (orange hab).  The ferment that worked for me had nothing other than whey, orange habs, salt and water.  As a result, I never saw much fermentation action but after 4 months it was a success.  I also did not use an airlock.  I just closed the mason jar lid and crossed my fingers.  I did use glass beads in a ziplock but am not sure it was necessary since there was little fermentation action.
 
So yesterday and today I processed the following:
 
Chocolate Hab Mash
P8316169.JPG

 
INGREDIENTS
22 oz choc hab
2 oz carrot
2 oz sweet onion
1 oz garlic
1 oz jicama
8 oz warm water
1/2 cup whey
2 oz kosher salt (7.14% by weight)
Used 1/2 gallon jar
 
Fatali Mash
P9016193.JPG

 
INGREDIENTS
24.5 oz fatali
2 oz carrot
2 oz sweet onion
2 oz yellow squash
1.5 oz garlic
8 oz warm water
1/2 cup whey
2 oz kosher salt (6.25% by weight)
Used 1/2 gallon jar
 
Bhut Jolokia Mash
P9016191.JPG

 
INGREDIENTS
8 3/8 oz bhut jolokia
6 oz warm water
3 oz whey
1 oz kosher salt (11.9% by weight)
Used 1 quart jar
 
Red Savina Mash
Red_Savina_Mash_090113.JPG

 
INGREDIENTS

9.625 oz red savina
4 oz water
3 oz whey
0.875 oz kosher salt (9.1% by weight)
1 quart jar
 
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Mash
Trinidad_Scorpion_Mash_090113.JPG

 
INGREDIENTS

4 oz trinidad moruga scorpion
1 oz carrot
3/4 oz garlic
1/4 oz shallot
2 oz water
2 oz whey
0.5 oz kosher salt (8.3% by weight)
1 pint jar

 
So here are my theories and if I am making any wrong assumptions, please let me know:
  • The chocolate hab and fatali have vegetables included, which will help the fermentation process.  I may need to get glass beads in a ziplock for these to hold down the mash, but it seems less likely to work in the larger 1/2 gallon jar.
  • The bhut and savina mash have no vegetables so I added more salt and whey as a percentage of weight and volume because it will ferment slower.
  • The bhut, savina and scorpion mashes will not have an airlock because fermentation will be very slow, at least in the bhut and scorpion.  I can burp one/week for the first couple weeks and then let it ride.
  • The bhut, savina and scorpion mashes are covered w/ cheesecloth for 24-36 hours to allow good bacteria to find it's way in.  After 24-36 hours I will cap w/ the jar lid.
And here are my main questions:
  • Is it okay to cap the choc hab and fatali w/ a lid and airlock immediately to begin fermenting or should I leave it off a few days?
  • The inverse - should I immediately cap the bhut mash and forgo the cheesecloth?
  • After 2 or 3 weeks or as soon as fermentation activity begins to reside, can I remove the airlocks and cap w/ a non-venting lid?  This would allow me to use the airlocks on the next batch that may be ready.
  • The scorpion mash also does not have an airlock.  I did add vegetables to speed up fermentation.  Am I rolling the dice?  Is a weekly "burp" okay?
I guess that's it for now.  I will provide updates and other mash recipes as I make them.  I hope to also ferment datils, scotch bonnets, an end of season mixture, and more of what I have already started.  So I have much fermentation in my future!  Finally, a shout out to annie57 for the link to the airlock system: http://www.cookinggodsway.com/eshop/lacto-fermentation-air-lock-kit/#sthash.fgEj7qAQ.dpbs.  Cheapest I've found and good quality.
 
Thanks in advance for your help and I hope this post was not too long.
 
I believe I put too little water in the fatali and choc hab mash.  I don't see any ferment action. I noticed mold on the fatali mash yesterday so I took off the airlock to stir and replaced it w/ a regular non-venting lid.  Same w/ the choc hab ferment.  The problem is there does not appear to be enough water.  There are too many solids and I cannot keep everything submerged.  So I added 10 oz water and 2 oz whey to each vessel.  When I removed the lid to add the water and whey, they both burped.  So that is good that they continue to ferment and produce C02 even after I stirred and removed the airlocks.
 
On another note, the red savina ferment is going gangbusters.  Just burped it for the second time today.  There was nothing to burp in the others. This is the opposite of what I expected.  I expected the mash w/ the vegetables to be more active.
 
I will continue to provide updates as the ferment progresses.
 
Most of what you see in a fermentation jar is a white growth which isn't a mild though its called that a lot. Actually it's a Kahm Yeast and it totally harmless. Now if its a black growth, time to pitch it.
 
Well, last week I processed all my ferment.  Below are the before and after pics.  I kept every jar except one.  It had a strong plastic smell.  I noticed the same on others but much less prevalent.  If I had to guess, I would say having the glass beads in a ziplock scrunched in a jar for 4 months was too much. The one I threw away was a ghost pepper ferment. Maybe the acidic mash broke down the plastic bag?  Has anyone ever noticed this before?  I think I'm done w/ glass beads and ziplocks.  If you add enough liquid and shake it once/day, it seems to be enough.
 
A summer's worth of mash ready to process:
DSC_0142.JPG

 
 
Processed and ready to make hot sauce:
DSC_0153.JPG
 
     Is that jar of red savina mash big enough to dive into? I want to do that. Good GRAVY, does that stuff look tasty! 
     How did the chocolate hab mash turn out? I hope to have enough pods to do just what you did this year (I have 2 OW's and one seedling, so I should be good!). I want to use it primarily as a base for barbecue sauce. 
 
It is big enough to dive into if you are very small.  So everyone, lets get small (ala Steve Martin).
 
The choc hab turned out very good. I have not done anything w/ it yet, but they easily passed the nose test before I canned them.  They were very prolific last year.  They loved the fish emulsion!
 
Ken
 
Halbrust said:
Any new update on the Chocolate Hab mash?
 
I'm interested in using jicima in a sauce, and you seem to be the only one who has done it.
 
I have not opened that one yet.  Personnally, I don't think 1 oz of jicama mixed in w/ 27 oz of other ingredients will make much diff.  Besides, all the flavors are more subtle after a ferment.  I say go for it.  I think jicama would be great in a sauce.  It might be a good thickener as well.  I'll post back if I try it soon.
 
 
Ken
 
You should consider adding the Jicama to te ferment. Keep the flavor, loose the additional sugars. I do it with fruits all the time and get some really bold flavors back.
 
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