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fermenting My first fermented hot sauce

After reading a bit on here I decided to give it a shot at making a fermented hot sauce yesterday. Since I have a few beer growlers I decided to use one of the to do it in and have an air lock on top. I figured I would have better success doing this that the loose lid method on a mason jar. Plus I already had everything for it since I brew beer and wouldn't have to modify a jar lid for the air lock.
 
I went with using a whey starter from some yogurt to give me the jump start and some frozen pods I had in the freezer. 
 
My ingredients (approximate measurements)
1 qt bag moruga scorpions (~1 cup)
1 qt bag fatalii's (~ 1cup)
1 small onion
5 cloves of garlic
~ 5 cups carrots
1/2 cup whey from yogurt 
 
I don't have any pics of the process. I guess I was to focused on the task at hand and trying to keep everything sterile. But I basically mixed all the ingredients with the some 3.6% brine to help chop up in the blender (did this in two steps since the blender can't hold it all at once). Then mixed it all up in a bowl with the whey and into the growler it went. Topped it off with some more brine.
 
IMG_0641.jpg

 
It was interesting that when I topped it off with the brine it took the color of the mixture a bit. Not sure if that is an issue. We will see how it goes!
 
 
 
Looks tasty all ready.
I had pretty good luck with the loose-lid mason jar method. I don't think I used any whey, peppers only, and decided about 3-4% by weight on salt worked well.
This year I'm going to mod some mason lids for an airlock and maybe toss in some veggies in a few jars.
I would have been leery of the garlic on account of it's supposed anti-microbial properties, but it may work  just fine. 
Looks pretty too!
 
Hmm. I didn't even think about garlic being anti-microbial. I think I saw it in other posts of people adding it but I'm not sure. I'll have to look. I guess only time will tell now.
 
garlic is fine, especially with the whey starter. 
 
The pulp will tend to float up and there's not much head room in your growler.  Keep an eye on it that it doesn't get up into the airlock.  Sometimes, I take the jar and (keeping it on the counter) wiggle/wiggle/wiggle it back and forth to work the pulp back down into the brine. 
 
Have Fun!
 
Good luck with it. I just completed my first fermented sauce. Fermented it 40 days or so. I used the open top jar, and I got lucky and didn't get any bad stuff in there. Like you, I used whey starter, 3.2% brine, but I didn't run the solids through the blender until the end. The fermentation took off after 48 hours and was going strong for a week or so, then it quietened down. A heavy white yeast (Kahm yeast I believe) formed on the surface, but apparently that's OK.

Tom
 
Garlic is ok in a fermentation. I just finished up one that had 2.5 pounds in it, gallon total, and it fermented just fine.

Looking good, how long are you planning on letting run?
 
RocketMan said:
Garlic is ok I'm a fermentation. I just finished up one that had 2.5 pounds in it, gallon total, and it fermented just fine.

Looking good, how long are you planning on letting run?
I was thinking 60 days and see how it turns out.
 
Today I came home to a surprise. The brine got pushed up into the air lock.
IMG_0642.jpg

 
SL, I did as you suggested and wiggled it. I help a little bit and got the brine to drop below the stopper. It looks to me that the mash itself stayed below the brine surface and just displaced it. should I be worried that the airlock isn't just water anymore? Should I change the airlock out? I'm thinking of probably adding some tubing to the top to create a makeshift blowoff.
 
What does everyone think?
 
Yes. Un cap it. Cover it. Clean the airlock. Putnit back on. Probably be just fine. 
A blow off hose would probably be safer, but it may have eaten it's sugar and you'll safe now.
In the future don't go past the bottle shoulder, especially with a rich mix.
What's the aroma like?
 
This is something I want to try this year. I used to homebrew so I have all the necessary equipment so all I need is a recipe and the technique. I'll be following your adventure penny!
 
JJJessee said:
Yes. Un cap it. Cover it. Clean the airlock. Putnit back on. Probably be just fine. 
A blow off hose would probably be safer, but it may have eaten it's sugar and you'll safe now.
In the future don't go past the bottle shoulder, especially with a rich mix.
What's the aroma like?
 
Well I went with the blow off hose for now. Did that Thursday night. As for the aroma, I'm not sure how to describe it. Never smelled anything like it. Sweet yet funky? Maybe you guys can maybe describe a little what it should smell like.
Here is the set up currently with the rigged blow off tube as of today. 
 
IMG_0643.jpg

 
It definitely pushed more of the brine into it. Well I think all of it now after about 2-3 days. There is nothing covering the top of the mash.
 
IMG_0644.jpg

 
I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. I haven't opened it to expose it to the air. Do I need to add some brine? What do you guys advise? 
 
I'd  reclean that lock and hose. Put the blow off bottle on the floor beside the mash to prevent the possibility of a siphon.
The air lock is not necessary unlesthat's the only way you can connect a hose. Just make sure the exhaust end stays under water.
If it doesn't have a foul odor, probably ok.
 
It's hard to say exactly as, we'll to me, the smell of a mash is different based on the ingredients used. Primary to them all is a fresh cut up pepper element though. You have to learn what each of your mashes smell like and then in future mashes you'll know instantly if something is off by the scent. Also be aware though that running multiple mashes will cause a blending of the scents making for a different scent.

Very interesting blowoff tube. I would say that if you had run everything through some Ifophor or Star San, they're no rinse sanitizers used by home brewers, I run everything through it, then your safe to allow the brine to run back into the bottle. If not then no, just let it finish as it is. My catch phrase to everyone is "Don't open the fermentation vessel till it's done!" I've never lost a mash following this rule. The one mash I did use was one that I had forgotten to add a starter to and with the low salt I use because of high blood pressure it got a really stinky mold in it.

Hope this helps but is JMHO.

:)
 
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