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new guy

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Fireeater86

[SIZE=medium]Hello all I am a new member on this form and new to fermenting sauce. I have a couple of questions and I was wondering if you could help me out. I just finished my first ferment. I fermented 5 gallons of mash from my frozen harvest. It turned out great, but I am not sure how to process it. I put it through a mill and added citric acid. After doing this it was a little thin so I added xanthan gum. So far I have just put it in the fridge I have not cooked it or anything but I think the citric acid stopped the ferment. My questions are, is it ok to use this mash as a base for a sauce and add other non fermented ingredients post ferment? Also, has anyone used xanthan gum and have you had any issues with bottling? Also how long should this keep as is?[/SIZE]
 
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citric acid (vitamin C) will lower the pH like vinegar or lemon/lime juices.  If the fermentation was done properly, the pH should be at a good level as it was, but adding a bit of citric acid or vinegar just to be sure is fine.  It should last indefinitely as is in the refrigerator.  It'll work fine as a base, and as Sirex mentioned, either check pH or process it as oulined in Haking Hot Sauce 101 when adding other ingredients.
 
have fun and :welcome: to THP.
salsalady 
 
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[SIZE=10.5pt]Thanks everyone! Since I do not have a Ph meter (only litmus paper) I was a little worried about it being the proper pH to water bath can.  I only fermented it for a month and used too much salt. This is why I added a little citric acid, even though my litmus paper indicated a Ph of 3 ish. The citric acid did not change the flavor profile much, if at all. After adding Xanthan Gum, to thicken and to stop it from separating, I was told that I can not can it with xanthan gum in it. I found this odd because almost every bottle of hot sauce has xanthan gum as an ingredient. To error on the side of safety, I just put it in the fridge. I did so many thing wrong with this ferment and it still turned out to be the best sauce I have ever made.  I can’t believe I did not do this sooner.  [/SIZE]
 
 
 
[SIZE=10.5pt]I started my second batch on the 9th. This batch constituted of 1lbs home grown super hots and 3.5 lbs of store bought orange habaneros, because my frozen harvest was depleted.  For this batch I decided to use a cabbage leaf and weights to hold the mash down under the brine. I noticed around day 7 that there was a slime developing on top of the brine. I open the airlock and scooped it off. Is this normal? is my ferment ruined? Should I be concerened[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=10.5pt]Thanks again  [/SIZE]
 
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you're doing it right, have faith.
 
The xanthan will not effect the pH and you can can it/process it and the xanthan will hold.  TONS of processors (not just hot sauce makers) use xanthan in their heat-packed food items.  Xanthan holds up through the process and will keep the product emulsified when cool. 
 
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Thanks pepper lady. Yeah, I was told that Xanthan insulates the bacteria and so it’s not safe to water bath can, but since my pH is well below the safe range I thought it should be fine. If it was just me eating it I wouldn’t be so concerned. Now what to do about this slime?
 
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Is it a whitish growth like a yeast or slime? Pics would be good.

If.you look through my old posts you will see pics of Kham yeast. Kham yeast is harmless. You just scrape that off otherwise it will impart an undesirable flavor to your ferment. To me the kham smells sweeter than the ferment as ferment smell sour ( yet still appealing )to me.

Next time don't open your ferment up as this introduces more oxygen which is what we don't want in the ferment.
 
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