I attempted an all yellow pepper ferment. I have a 5lbs mix of Datils, bonda me Jacques, and malaysian goronong peppers with 3 tbl spoons of salt. After 6 weeks, I opened my ferment and gave it a taste and found it to be extremely bitter. What gives? Is it fixable? How should I proceed?
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fermenting Bitter ferment
- Thread starter Fireeater86
- Start date
I'm not sure what you mean by a star pepper ferment?yes it has a tang to it. It smells great like a successful ferment. It looks good too. It even taste pretty good, until the strong bitter after taste. I'm wondering if it's because of the yellow peppers or if it's something fixable? It still hasn't been post ferment processed. I put the lid back on. I'm also wondering if letting it go longer might help. Or boiling, food milling and adding sugar might help?
Sweet always balances bitter.
Did you leave pepper tops? Did you process peppers and look for black seeds/rot? Did you add any other ingredients?
Did you leave pepper tops? Did you process peppers and look for black seeds/rot? Did you add any other ingredients?
How long has it been going? If it's been a short time further fermentation can help. Perhaps some of the peppers were not completely ripe, which can add a bitter note. In either case if your end product is bitter then you'll want to balance with sweet and perhaps a bit of salt and/or acid till you're happy. Many of my ferments come out of the jar as 'unfinished products' - that is they're fermented and all but they still need further processing and additions to achieve final balance prior to bottling.
Thanks for the input. It's been going about 6 weeks. I did cut off all the tops no black seeds, and then froze my peppers as they accumulated. After mashing, the peppers, seeds and all, went into fermenter. No other ingredients but salt. No way to tell for sure that peppers were fully ripe, but they where all yellow, no green. I guess I'm puzzled because none of my other ferments were like this, although I have only done a hand full. The last one was so good right out of the fermenter that I didn't want to risk screwing it up, so I did nothing to it but refrigerate it. Yellow peppers, especially yellow supers, are my favorite fresh but maybe I don't like them fermented, by themselves at least. I have another ferment going with these same peppers but primarily reds like Trinidad congos and cherry bombs. I wonder if that will be bitter too. Maybe I have just been lucky so far, not having to do anything post ferment but food mill and refrigerate. I think I'll let this go a couple more weeks and try to tweet it. How long should I let it go?
salsalady
Business Member
Ferments can go as long as you want. 6 months or 6 years...but they have to be properly maintained... as in the oxygen-free environment. Can you get the mash back to the correct environment?
I'd suggest ending the process, cook/blend up what you have, then consider what other ingredients to add if the sauce is not to taste.
Sugars in the form of bell peppers, fruit, honey, agave, sugar
salt? more or less? Acids?
taste the sauce and tweek it....
Tweeking can be a good thing!
I'd suggest ending the process, cook/blend up what you have, then consider what other ingredients to add if the sauce is not to taste.
Sugars in the form of bell peppers, fruit, honey, agave, sugar
salt? more or less? Acids?
taste the sauce and tweek it....
Tweeking can be a good thing!
[SIZE=10.5pt]Thanks for the advice. Yes, I can get it back to the correct environment. I only opened the lid, I did not remove the mash from the fermenter. I will take your advice and process it asap. I am reluctant to add ingredient post ferment because of PH reasons, but if I stick to acidic fruit and sugar I should be ok correct? Thanks again[/SIZE]
it's my personal belief that bitterness in peppers is caused by uneven watering. Too wet followed by too dry, whatever. I have also noticed that Habaneros seem the most vulnerable to "bitterness". I have found no way to remove it during saucing when it's severe. coreing helps alittle. again just my experience.
salsalady
Business Member
F-86, once you make the decision to process/cook the fermented product, then you are basically back at step one for making a sauce.
Other ingredients can be added as needed for the flavor of the sauce.
Most ferments have a good low pH from the fermentation process. You shouldn't have to add much more vinegar or acids, but sugars and other flavors are totally up to you.
Other ingredients can be added as needed for the flavor of the sauce.
Most ferments have a good low pH from the fermentation process. You shouldn't have to add much more vinegar or acids, but sugars and other flavors are totally up to you.
That's is cool information, but in my case, the peppers are not bitter when eaten fresh. I have been munching on them for months. Maybe something about fermenting them brought it out. have also found that super hots, especially reds, can be very bitter when fresh. That is why I tend to like the yellows a little more. These are not super hots and do not even have that strong of a yellow capsaicin flavor when compared to the supers. We will see how the other ferment turns out. If it bitter il blame it on fermenting yellow peppers. Thanks again for all the help.
When processing my peppers I added sugar, an entire pinapple, some apricot brandy, and citric acid. I think the sugar carmalized because it is no longer bright yellow, but the color of cinnamon apple sauce. Have you all run into this?
Fireeater86 said:
I'm certain that the sugar and pineapple would caramelize, especially if cooked and then deglazed with the brandy before adding to the sauce. If you added them all together with the mash then I'd suspect it was the citric acid that contributed to the color change.
note: that's a gut feeling, can't think of any science behind it.
Ok thank you. I am second guessing myself. I always do this every time I BWB can something. I wondering if my PH was low enough and am freaking out. I only used a teaspoon of citric acid. However, all my other ingredients were acidic. Do you think I am ok?
Citric acid actually stop browning from oxidation. Cut an apple in half, hit one half with citrus and leave the other as is, then put them in the fridge. The citrus one will look good for days, the plain will brown badly withing the hour. I'm guessing it was the sugar caramelization like you mentioned.
No one wants to touch the ph question huh? Can you tell me if you add vinegar after fermenting for a month?
Fireeater86 said:
Without a full list of ingredients it's hard to guess on pH. A meter would be your best bet. You can certainly add vinegar to a mash after it has fermented - I do so in several sauces that I make. Note that I'm adding vinegar after the ferment is done though - during cook down before I process them into bottles.
I've found that bitter sauces are countered by adding an acid or vinegar to neutralize the base ferment. Roasting carrots garlic and adding will also help with bitter taste. Then add vinegar 1/4 cup at a time. It seems strange but eventually you reach a balance. It's amazing but has worked on every sauce I've had a bitter taste. Then I heat and allow to rest 48 hours in my fridge. Then heat taste and bottle. This rest period gives everything time to meld. The vinegar taste becomes secondary with a bloom of flavors from the roasted vegetables and a strong pepper pop!! Actually some of my best sauces started out bitter. Don't lose hope most are salvageable.
As far as ph this method has never caused a decrease in my ph levels due to additional acid. But I ph test every batch regardless. There's no oops in food poisoning!!! So test test test!!! A healthy chili head is a happy chili head!
As far as ph this method has never caused a decrease in my ph levels due to additional acid. But I ph test every batch regardless. There's no oops in food poisoning!!! So test test test!!! A healthy chili head is a happy chili head!
I was going through exactly the same thing on Halloween. Not sure how we missed each other's posts. I cooked, blended, cooked. Added lime juice, Apple, brown sugar, cooked and blended again, still bitter. Then I strained the seeds out, put in the fridge for a week and now have something I am happy with. Get the seeds out and give it a rest. Made a world of difference to me.