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fermenting Everything Red, Get In! - Ferment #1

boostdemon

boostdemon

Ok so i have a pile of peppers that were quickly wilting as I figured out what to do with them. After doing some reading and asking a few questions I went and built some fermenter lids with airlocks. 
 
Materials: 
  1. Ball wide-mouth plastic lids - 8 for $6.48
  2. Double bubble air locks - 3 for $5.99
  3. 3/8" ID electrical rubber grommets - $0.42 each at hardware store 
 
Instructions: 
  1. Drill 1/2" hole in plastic lid
  2. Stuff grommet into hole
  3. Smooth out seam on airlock tube with razor blade or sand paper so it seals well
  4. Put some olive oil on the grommet and slide the airlock through 

Fermented Hot Sauce by boostdemon, on Flickr
 

Fermented Hot Sauce by boostdemon, on Flickr
 

Fermented Hot Sauce by boostdemon, on Flickr
 
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The mash I made consists of everything that I had laying around that was red. It made about 2.5 cups of mash from the following ingredients:
 

Fermented Hot Sauce by boostdemon, on Flickr
 
Top row: Vidalia Onion, 1/2 lime juiced, 1 clove of garlic, Cayenne
Middle row: Prik Chi Faa, Paper Lantern Habaneros, Jalapeños
Bottom row: Peter Pepper, Aji Brazilian Starfish, Brandywine Tomato
 
(the only two I grew are the Peter peppers and the tomato, the rest are from Juanitos Peppers)
 
Chopped and processed to a mash:
 

Fermented Hot Sauce by boostdemon, on Flickr
 
Then I added the mash to a bowl and mixed in the following: 
 
1/2 tsp of Cumin powder
1/2 tsp of Turmeric
1 tsp of Cinnamon 
1 tsp of Ginger powder
1 tbsp of Mortons pickling salt
1 cup of distilled water
1/4 tsp of whey from greek yogurt
 
Filled up the jar and put some distilled water in the airlock to the max fill line. 
 

Fermented Hot Sauce by boostdemon, on Flickr
 
 
Now I just wait to see if I grow lactobacillus or mold!
Checked it this morning and the water in the airlock is mostly in the bottle side of the trap - to me that indicates a vacuum in the jar? that normal for just starting out or should I redo it now while its still fresh?
 
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boostdemon said:
 
Checked it this morning and the water in the airlock is mostly in the bottle side of the trap - to me that indicates a vacuum in the jar? that normal for just starting out or should I redo it now while its still fresh?
Click to expand...
 
     Until the bacteria get going and start to produce CO2, atmospheric pressure will cause the water level to fluctuate a bit. Nothing to worry about. Just make sure to add more water to the lock if a high pressure system pushes all the water into the jar.
     The only concern I'd have with your setup is the lack of headspace in the jar. Once the ferment gets going, your mash is probably going to erupt out of the airlock unless you shake the bubbles down a couple of times a day. I usually only fill my mash jars about halfway to account for this.
 
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It smelled pretty tart, like a rubber balloon. I suspect it will mellow out and take on a hint of nutty flavoring from the spices. Nothing in it was super hot either but it definitely has some kick since its more or less a puree of peppers with an onion tossed in. No fruits or added sugar besides the tomato so i'm hoping the high salt brine works at leeching out the peppers and making food for the bacterias.
 
I left the 1.5" at the top as i thought i read... should i scoop out some more now before anything starts going?
 
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1 week update: 
 
Looks like a little bit of separation and a 5mm layer of water is floating above everything. Not a lot of bubbles - there have been a few but hardly any movement. The airlock still showing a vacuum from day 1. no mold growing yet though.
 
DSF0252.jpg
 
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boostdemon said:
Ok so i have a pile of peppers that were quickly wilting as I figured out what to do with them. After doing some reading and asking a few questions I went and built some fermenter lids with airlocks. 
 
Materials: 
  1. Ball wide-mouth plastic lids - 8 for $6.48
  2. Double bubble air locks - 3 for $5.99
  3. 3/8" ID electrical rubber grommets - $0.42 each at hardware store 
 
Instructions: 
  1. Drill 1/2" hole in plastic lid
  2. Stuff grommet into hole
  3. Smooth out seam on airlock tube with razor blade or sand paper so it seals well
  4. Put some olive oil on the grommet and slide the airlock through
Click to expand...
 
Been there, done that. Great minds think alike!
 
I too experienced minimal bubbling, which in itself isn't always "bad". But it was a lot different than what I usually experience. I got to fiddling around with it and discovered the lids did not create an airtight seal with the jar, especially if you over-tighten them. You can actually see the lid begin to "warp". I ended up buying some gaskets and using them to get a good seal.
 
Just an fyi. Good luck with your ferment. Looks like a good recipe!
 
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DownRiver said:
 
...... discovered the lids did not create an airtight seal with the jar, especially if you over-tighten them. You can actually see the lid begin to "warp". I ended up buying some gaskets and using them to get a good seal.
 
Just an fyi. Good luck with your ferment. Looks like a good recipe!
Click to expand...
Excellent point DR.
I've had the same issue from  time to time. From my observations, I was getting questionable lid seals ... (1) If I overtightened, rather than just "snugging it up"...but most often when I used a lid that had been run through the dishwasher.
Now days...I hand wash all my ferment lids.
But I'm sort of a "waste not want not sorta guy...and couldn't bring myself to toss out my questionable ferment lids.
So I tinkered around and found that I can make a nice gasket using some of that Glad wrap that sticks to itself. Just fold it over on itself so I get a double layer, roughly cut a circle in the middle for the stem of the airlock....and tighten the lid. I'm pretty careful not to overfill the vessel these days(finally learned my lesson after cleaning up numerous messes), so the brine never comes in contact with the glad wrap DIY gasket.
I Op checked the air tight seal by filling the vessel with some carbonated beverage...figuring the escaping co2 would take the path of least resistance...which it did....the air lock was dancing until the co2 was depleted.
CM
boostdemon said:
1 week update: 
 
Looks like a little bit of separation and a 5mm layer of water is floating above everything. Not a lot of bubbles - there have been a few but hardly any movement. The airlock still showing a vacuum from day 1. no mold growing yet though.
 
DSF0252.jpg
Click to expand...
That's a good looking ferment you've got going boostdeamon...and some nice pics and details. Thanks for the posts. looking forward to hearing how it turns out.
 
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Update 1 month: 
 
Plenty of big bubbles and the air lock water has gone to the other side showing significant positive pressure. Gave it a nice big shake after this photo and got a "burp" out of it. Hoping to "spread" around the active bacteria to help kick off everything else. No signs of mold or anything else growing. Looks good so far... definitely slow going though,. probably because of the salt.
 
15211252659_eef8121f94_c.jpg
 
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Dana - all the tiny bubbles in the 2nd pic are hallmarks of fermentation, so don't worry that its not as active as the yellow ferment you have going.  Without much sugar (vidalia onion and peppers) it was bound to go slow from the start anyway.  Acid from the lime juice and/or the turmeric might have slowed things too, but the salt is definitely doing it's job helping things along.  In any case it's 2 months old right now, so I would say you're fine to pull and process (or cold storage) now.  Do you intend to keep this as a paste (raw) or are you going to cook it?  Either way it looks mighty tasty!!
 
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I'll probably cook it and then put it through a food mill. I'll check and see if it needs anything and bottle it. 
I'm going to attempt to dehydrate the remaining mash for pepper flakes too but we'll see what happens.
 
Should i save some of the mash or the brine for a "starter" for my next ferment?
 
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boostdemon said:
I'll probably cook it and then put it through a food mill. I'll check and see if it needs anything and bottle it. 
I'm going to attempt to dehydrate the remaining mash for pepper flakes too but we'll see what happens.
 
Should i save some of the mash or the brine for a "starter" for my next ferment?
Click to expand...
 
You certainly can save some back!  I almost always save a cup or two of any finished ferment in the fridge.  A couple tbsp of that in your next ferment helps get things going.  
 
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boostdemon said:
I'll probably cook it and then put it through a food mill. I'll check and see if it needs anything and bottle it. 
I'm going to attempt to dehydrate the remaining mash for pepper flakes too but we'll see what happens.
 
Should i save some of the mash or the brine for a "starter" for my next ferment?
Click to expand...
 
Its your choice, but I would not cook it. You can just put it back into the processor and then leave it as is, or filter it. If you boil it, you will remove some of the nutritional benefits that come from the beneficial probiotics. I have seen studies confirming that most ferments contain roughly between 100 to 300 billion probiotics per ounce, not to mention all the enzymes that really help the body. If you cook it, you will destroy those.
 
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if i dont cook it and just put it through the blender and food mill - what about for long term storage in woozies? wont they start building up pressure as they continue to ferment? I guess i can just store them in the fridge to slow them down
 
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boostdemon said:
if i dont cook it and just put it through the blender and food mill - what about for long term storage in woozies? wont they start building up pressure as they continue to ferment? I guess i can just store them in the fridge to slow them down
Click to expand...
 
Uncooked ferment will definitely build pressure in woozys.  I ferment to achieve flavor profile and shelf stability and then I cook/bottle for woozys.  If I'm just keeping it for myself it stays uncooked in pint mason jars in the fridge.
 
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