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fermenting 1st Ferment! Thanks to THP!

First off, I want to thank this wonderful community for the wealth of knowledge you all have made available.
 
I just joined THP today, although I have been following for the past 2 weeks or so.. I started making hot sauce this past summer, and instantly fell in love with it.
I live in Alaska, so it is hard to find and grow fresh peppers up here, but I found a website a few weeks ago that sends fresh peppers in the mail. After ordering quite a few, I was really excited to make some new sauce! So after lots of research and reading, I decided to try SmokenFire's "Newest Ferment - Easy and Fun!" recipe.
 
I didn't have a 64oz jar, so I halved the recipe as many other folks did. I also only had SUPER HOTS, so i decided to use those instead of jalapenos and habaneros. This is what I came up with:
8oz of a mix of possibly Scorpion/ 7pot/ Infinity (not too sure, see picture below) ~45 peppers
2oz of Carolina Reapers ~ 16 peppers
2oz of Red Fatalii ~ 12 peppers
8 oz carrots - trimmed (~4 carrots)
8 oz onions - quartered (3/4 of a sweet onion)
3 ounces of garlic cloves - skinned (~ about 2 1/2 bulbs)
20 grams of sea salt
 
All in all, there are approximately over 70 superhots in this sauce :-) I threw a few extras in just for the hell of it

Here is a picture of the "mix" of peppers.. Not quite sure what they are, but they taste nice and hot!
IMGP7730_zpsgdp0ytga.jpg

 
Frozen Carolina Reapers and Red Fatalii's on the Left, Onions/carrot/garlic in the middle, and 8oz of mixed red peppers on the right
IMGP7732_zps1h7i168g.jpg

 
Put all the peppers in the blender (i dont have a food processor, but this worked fine).. Added onion/carrot/garlic and salt once peppers were mashed..
IMGP7734_zpsxfklw4va.jpg

 
Had to keep stirring it to help the blender till it was a good consistency:
IMGP7735_zps6dw8iuoq.jpg

 
Consistency check.. looking for any un-mashed material
IMGP7739_zpsn3qrosgi.jpg

 
Spooned it into a sterilized jar with an airlock
IMGP7740_zps7ihdslvp.jpg

 
And now we wait!!
 
 Funny story about this mash... After I filled the jar, there were a few air bubbles.. So I knocked it on the counter to get them out and a stream of this sauce squirted right into my eyeball.. I was running around, screaming like a girl, thought I was going to go blind.. One of the most painful things I've felt in my life!! I was about ready to call the fire department, but then I tried pouring milk in my eyes and it helped immensely!! 

My wife almost banned me from having peppers in the house.. :mope:
  
 I feel like such a n00b!  :high: 
 
Welcome friend! Great looking sauce, looks VERY hot!!

Sorry to laugh, but Hawaiianero wasn't kidding, damn man you really did hop right in!!

When making sauce keep gloves and a bottle of baby soap handy. Works good to flush the eyes ;). Also never smack the jar, could crack, break, spill or even shoot in your eye :).
 
JohnsMyName said:
Welcome friend! Great looking sauce, looks VERY hot!!

Sorry to laugh, but Hawaiianero wasn't kidding, damn man you really did hop right in!!

When making sauce keep gloves and a bottle of baby soap handy. Works good to flush the eyes ;). Also never smack the jar, could crack, break, spill or even shoot in your eye :).
Haha, I work on ski patrol, and I should have known to have safety precautions like that in place.. Next time I think I might even wear safety-goggles and put up tape in the kitchen to warn everybody!
Good point on smacking the jar.. I should have thought of that.. It was still hot from the oven and totally could have been worse! I'm just glad it got me and not my daughter, wife or dog! 

I tasted a little before going in the jar and it tasted heavenly.. All the previous sauces I have made, I've added fruit or fruit juice, and I was never really happy with the final product.. This sauce, with no fruit, is exactly what im looking for!
 
Codester said:
First off, I want to thank this wonderful community for the wealth of knowledge you all have made available.
 
I just joined THP today, although I have been following for the past 2 weeks or so.. I started making hot sauce this past summer, and instantly fell in love with it.
I live in Alaska, so it is hard to find and grow fresh peppers up here, but I found a website a few weeks ago that sends fresh peppers in the mail. After ordering quite a few, I was really excited to make some new sauce! So after lots of research and reading, I decided to try SmokenFire's "Newest Ferment - Easy and Fun!" recipe.
 
I didn't have a 64oz jar, so I halved the recipe as many other folks did. I also only had SUPER HOTS, so i decided to use those instead of jalapenos and habaneros. This is what I came up with:
8oz of a mix of possibly Scorpion/ 7pot/ Infinity (not too sure, see picture below) ~45 peppers
2oz of Carolina Reapers ~ 16 peppers
2oz of Red Fatalii ~ 12 peppers
8 oz carrots - trimmed (~4 carrots)
8 oz onions - quartered (3/4 of a sweet onion)
3 ounces of garlic cloves - skinned (~ about 2 1/2 bulbs)
20 grams of sea salt
 
All in all, there are approximately over 70 superhots in this sauce :-) I threw a few extras in just for the hell of it

Here is a picture of the "mix" of peppers.. Not quite sure what they are, but they taste nice and hot!
IMGP7730_zpsgdp0ytga.jpg

 
Frozen Carolina Reapers and Red Fatalii's on the Left, Onions/carrot/garlic in the middle, and 8oz of mixed red peppers on the right
IMGP7732_zps1h7i168g.jpg

 
Put all the peppers in the blender (i dont have a food processor, but this worked fine).. Added onion/carrot/garlic and salt once peppers were mashed..
IMGP7734_zpsxfklw4va.jpg

 
Had to keep stirring it to help the blender till it was a good consistency:
IMGP7735_zps6dw8iuoq.jpg

 
Consistency check.. looking for any un-mashed material
IMGP7739_zpsn3qrosgi.jpg

 
Spooned it into a sterilized jar with an airlock
IMGP7740_zps7ihdslvp.jpg

 
And now we wait!!
 
 Funny story about this mash... After I filled the jar, there were a few air bubbles.. So I knocked it on the counter to get them out and a stream of this sauce squirted right into my eyeball.. I was running around, screaming like a girl, thought I was going to go blind.. One of the most painful things I've felt in my life!! I was about ready to call the fire department, but then I tried pouring milk in my eyes and it helped immensely!! 

My wife almost banned me from having peppers in the house.. :mope:
  
 I feel like such a n00b!  :high: 
Quick question, I dont see water in that lock, did you fill it after the picture? Did you have to add any type of yeast?
 
Student of Spice said:
Quick question, I dont see water in that lock, did you fill it after the picture? Did you have to add any type of yeast?
I didn't add any water, and I did not add any type of yeast. After researching other folk's recipes, such as SmokenFire, there is enough water in the peppers and veggies, and the salt helps preserve/ kick off the process i believe? 

Other more experienced folks could give you a better answer, but it should ferment on its own without yeast
Ohhhh, now i see what ya mean.. I didnt add water to my airlock.. GOod observation. Shows how much of a noob i am! will do that right away
 
Codester said:
I didn't add any water, and I did not add any type of yeast. After researching other folk's recipes, such as SmokenFire, there is enough water in the peppers and veggies, and the salt helps preserve/ kick off the process i believe? 

Other more experienced folks could give you a better answer, but it should ferment on its own without yeast

Ohhhh, now i see what ya mean.. I didnt add water to my airlock.. GOod observation. Shows how much of a noob i am! will do that right away
Im a noob too I haven't done one yet just been reading alot about it, ready to do one in a week I have just been reviewing recipes to try. I am going to use three large wide mouth mason's. Glad you got what i was talking about, would have hated to see you get mold after you bought the airlocks.
 
First Bbbwwwaaaahhhhaaaahhhaaaaa that's the funniest first attempt I've ever heard of!! :) then the ferment that looks beautiful my friend!! A professional looking job as I have ever seen!! SmokenFire what can anyone say you sir are one of the best!! Very nice offer!! :) and great recipe!

Looks like that ferment is going to rock!! Have patience let it run 90 days and then process and let rest for 20+ days after processing. Then bottle and enjoy!! Will be a batch of blazing love!!!

Keep us posted!! Great pics
 
Brother, at least your first shot at sauce making only affected you. My first attempt was a non fermented sauce and I would up gassing everyone in the house giving then burning eyes and not able to breath. They all ran outside and man were there some words coming out of my wife that I never wanted to hear again. Now we can look back on it and laugh but at the time....
 
Funny thing is now that I've started to cook it outside, I've found several neighbors who love spicy foods or I should say they found me following the smell of that simmering sauce :)
 
Cheers Brothers
 
Codester said:
how important is it to keep this ferment in a dark place? the light places in my house are much warmer than my dark places..
 
I have several ferments on the counter in the kitchen without trouble.  They are not in direct sunlight, but they get some exposure to ambient light in the house.  The shelf next to the fridge is warm, so that's where I keep em.  Have kept a few on top of the fridge without issue too.  :)
 
I use a seedling heat mat in my cupboard to keep my ferments at an even 70 all the time (thanks for idea salty!). If you can I think this is best, but on the counter with ambient light shouldn't be an issue as the experienced advice above stated.

ETA: Here's my setup, I use the cooling rack to even the temp in the exposed area and a thermometer to monitor the temp. Mat was $20ish on amazon and rack $5ish at restaurant supply store.

 
This question is for folks who don't use kickstarters for their ferments..
How long does it typically take to see noticeable activity? Today is day 3 for me and it appears that tiny bubbles might be starting to form and there is a thin layer of liquid forming on top of the mash. Does the ferment ever get so active that you can actually see the bubbles moving? or is the process so slow it would be hard to see in real time?
 
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