fermenting Help with fermented sauce

Hot & Spicy, welcome to the forum! 
 
     I don't think anything should be thrown out at this point.  To me it seems something should be done about the cloudy one, (curious what the cloudiness is) but not sure what to do.  Hopefully someone more helpful will come along soon to set you on the right path.  The peppers do look fine though.  I generally use around 3% by weight for the salt since it's better for my health being my age.
 
I try not to open my ferments once they are going but have on occaision.
 
Good luck !
Mike

Thanks for the response.
 
I too think something should be done with the cloudy one, I am just not sure what is the cause or if it is ok.  As I have not done a fermented sauce I am unsure what to look for and what is good or bad. As you said the peppers do look ok so I don't know if they are actually still good or the cloudiness and dark colored yuck is and indication that there is some mold, etc. that has contaminated them and need to be tossed or that part can be removed and the rest is salvageable.
 
Any other thoughts from experience fermented sauce makers is appreciate.
Thanks

I would strongly suggest you not eat the dark mold one. If you want to salvage it, dump the liquid, rinse the pepper material and over dry it, then soak it in alcohol and reduce it for use as an additive. This is what I do with my bad ferments. The white stuff is likely yeast and should be ok, but you should have bubbling going on. Studies have shown (can't remember what group) that above 4 percent salt solution severely impedes growth of lactobacillus, so that may be why nothing is happening. Opening is ok if it's bubbling enough because the CO2 will be replaced quickly. I'm not saying eat it, consult others on that, but seriously consider throwing the dark mold one out.

The acknowledged experts here on THP are Rocketman and Salsa Lady, you might want to pm them... I wonder if you got your whey from a yogurt with an active culture? The yogurt should say so on its label If so... it's always a good idea to add a little bit of sugar to jump-start the lacto-bacteria since peppers are a low-sugar vegetable. Honey and Agave syrup are popular choices for this, but ordinary cane sugar should do the trick. Cleanliness is a must when processing the ingredients for a ferment... wash everything well beforehand... especially your hands, because you want to avoid cross-contamination. It's a good idea to avoid opening the ferment jar once you've started it for the same reason. If you don't have a grometed lid and airlock to vent excess Carbon Dioxide, crack the lid just enough to let it out but don't remove the lid. The CO2 in the jar inhibits aerobic bacteria. Cloudy liquid and off smells are definitely a red flag. Good luck!

Yeah id say the left one with dark growth = no good but would also wait for the above mentioned gurus

h&s, well, it looks like the one with the clear liquid might have gotten some Kahm yeast in it which is'nt a problem. I'd let it go another week and process it into sauce. The other one is a hard call. I've seen cloudy in a fermentation before and they turned out fine. The dark matter there is a concern and at this point I think I'd just let it go another 2 weeks or so and then open it. If it smells bad it is bad. If it smells good, like the other one then I'd go ahead and process it but take that dark questionable looking stuff out. If your even slightly concerned about it though, safety first and pitch it.

Thank you all for the input, I really appreciate it. Will leave it for another couple weeks and open it up and see.
 
I guess I read the sticky wrong as I used 8% salt and that is for wild fermentation not lacto.  Just curious for future reference, at that percentage of salt is possible to suck out the top liquid and save the peppers or is it a systemic thing that ruins the whole jar? 
 
How much bubbling should there be? A few bubbles here and there or like making bread where it is obvious that something is continually happening?
 
Yes, I used a yogurt with live and active cultures.  Will add a little sugar next time.
 
 
I'm sure you've all been there but it's still hard to throw it out with all the work to grow the peppers.
 
Other than reducing my salt percentage and making doubly sure everything is clean is there anything else that I should change in my procedure to ensure a good result?  Was adding the distilled water acceptable?  Lastly, can you do the fermentation with peppers I have frozen or does it only work and/or taste best using fresh ones?
 
Again, many thanks.

hot&spicy said:

 
Thank you all for the input, I really appreciate it. Will leave it for another couple weeks and open it up and see.
 
 
 
I guess I read the sticky wrong as I used 8% salt and that is for wild fermentation not lacto.  Just curious for future reference, at that percentage of salt is possible to suck out the top liquid and save the peppers or is it a systemic thing that ruins the whole jar? 
 
If your just wanting peppers and pepper juice you can do a dry fermentation. I've never done one but have seen others who  have and it's just ground up peppers and salt. Search the Hot Sauce forum and you'll find some examples where others have done it.
 
How much bubbling should there be? A few bubbles here and there or like making bread where it is obvious that something is continually happening?
 
Mine usually don't bubble much. This is mostly form the bubbles getting trapped in the peppers and is the reason that the mash tends to float up.
 
Yes, I used a yogurt with live and active cultures.  Will add a little sugar next time.
 
Next time add more whey, maybe a 1/4 cup
 
I'm sure you've all been there but it's still hard to throw it out with all the work to grow the peppers.
 
Let us know if you pitch it and we'll lower the flag to half staff and play taps.
 
Other than reducing my salt percentage and making doubly sure everything is clean is there anything else that I should change in my procedure to ensure a good result?  Was adding the distilled water acceptable?  Lastly, can you do the fermentation with peppers I have frozen or does it only work and/or taste best using fresh ones?
 
As i have High Blood Pressure i try to keep my salt to a min. When I add a starter to a mash I'll only use a couple of Tablespoons of salt in a gallon mash and pour it in right before closing so it's on top. A salt percentage for a wild fermentation, no starter, of around 6% by weight should be fine however there should be no problems going as high as 8% or even 10% if you really likes you salt and Yes, you can ferment frozen pods. I've done it many times  
 
Again, many thanks.
 

Click to expand...

 
Your very welcome, and have fun.
RM

+1 at at having fun!

Murky/cloudiness could be from the salt being used.

Regular kitchen salt contains anti clogging agents that will cloud up solutions. 

You'll want to use sea salt, sal de mer,kosher salt, tibetan salt, etc.

Well, thought I would update. Hoped to get around to this sooner but as they say life happens when your making other plans.  Anyway, 81 days later, the good looking one was still good and it turned out rather well for my first shot at it.  I thinned it with mostly distilled water, a little bit of vinegar and threw in around 1/4 tsp citric acid in around 2 cups of the final sauce. What do you all thin with, water or vinegar? In what ratios?  How much vinegar can you add before you end up killing the fermented taste?  In the end it had a good taste like a Franks Red Hot so I deemed it a success.
 
The bad looking one did not fare as well.  It smelled and looked way off.  Too much so to save it.  As I was scooping out the bad looking scum I think I found a little worm, real little, so I can't tell if it was or it was a piece of and edge of a discolored seed.  Either way I couldn't stand the smell let alone think of eating it.
 
Last question for this round.  As I mentioned I used 8% salt which was too salty and even once thinned still a little too salty.  Additionally once thinned the flavor diminished, as you can imagine.  
 
My question is in order not have to thin it as much, thus reducing the flavor, what can be done?  My initial thought would be to make the brine solution in an amount so that you would not have to thin it and thus could retain the flavor at the right consistency, e.g. for the correct consistency for an initial 1c peppers add 3c brine so that it would turn out right when blended, or what ever the correct ratio one works out for there desired consistency.
 
Thanks Again for all the help.

Sometimes, I drain off brine at end of ferment and use to kick-start other ferments. If heat that mixture and blender well, really blend, it will thin. But if using as is, that is blending, for probiotic purposes, homemade tomato juice is relatively acidic and goes pretty well with cayenne. Am sorry about one batch and glad you tossed it, trusting the nose!