• If you have a question about commercial production or the hot sauce business, please post in The Food Biz.

fermenting Please help me use my jalepeno and serrano ferment.

Hi, 
 
I am in the later stages of my ferment.  I have been procrastinating because I am unsure exactly how to proceed.  I was hoping to lay out my progress so far and maybe get a couple ideas from the community here about how to proceed.  I don't mind doing the research but experience goes a long way and I see lots of experience here.
 
I received a huge bounty of jalepenos and some serranos in the fall and read up on making lacto fermented peppers for making a hot sauce.  I have home brewing supplies so I used a clean plastic 5 gallon fermenter with an airlock (grain alcohol in it) to ferment the peppers.  
 
To prepare the peppers, I soaked them in a sink of water with some lemon juice added to help clean them a bit.  A quick rinse and then I made a slice down the side to open them up and put them in brine.  I used starsan to keep things pretty clean.  I used a heavy plate to hold them a few inches below the brine and ended up with a 5 gallon fermenter just over half full when pushed down.  The contents are about 70% jalepenos, 20% red and green serranos, and 10% small red/green bell peppers.  I may have added a quartered onion and carrot too, I cannot recall for sure.   
 
It has been 5 months in the cellar and I never saw the airlock bubble much but it does appear that there is some pressure inside because it will bubble if I press the lid down a bit.  I have not opened it to know if I have any fuzzies but there shouldn't be any way for anything to float because the plate fits nicely in the bucket.
 
My first creeping doubt involved the use of the lemon juice.  Is it possible to kill the good microbes with a mild acid soak?  
 
Anyhow, I plan to open them up and take a ph reading as soon as I can find my ph meter.  I assume I just scoop out some brine with a clean spoon and test it straight away with my pen?  If it is 4.6 or less, they are good but I'm not confident on my next step. There are lots of peppers here...What is the best way to use them if they are indeed pickled?
 
I have considered making a hot sauce from them and maybe share some with friends. I was thinking of using a food processor to puree them and then strain through a food mill.  I guess my big questions are, do I use the brine in the sauce or do I use vinegar?  After reading advice on here, I am inclined to pressure can the resulting sauce as a safeguard from botulism.  If my batch looks, smells, tastes good, is it better to use them uncooked but refrigerated in brine?  
 
I see lots of advice on fermenting pepper mash but not much specifically about fermenting whole jalepenos.  Is there enough sugar in my pepper mix to get decent results?  Will fermented jalepenos and serranos be any good for sauce? Any ideas or recipes are appreciated.  Thanks for any help.
 
My first thought when I got to your line about the lemon juice used to clean off the peppers that it could kill beneficial microbes needed. I have used Caldwells Vegetable starter for my ferments with good results. I also cook down my fermented sauce and use brine when blending it up. They have all been around 3.5pH so i haven't needed to add vinegar but I did once to see how it tasted with it. I dont know about the pickling of the whole peppers but I know there are a few guys on here that will. Good luck.
 
Thanks for your reply....I may be winging it here.  
 
I will be able to tell by PH if sufficient fermentation has occurred right?  
Do you use new brine in your sauce or is there any reason to use the brine from the ferment?
 
Hi Winsall :welcome:
 
 
I think you're confusing a couple different processes, here's what it looks like to me if I understand things correctly.
 
peppers into a (salt?) brine with an airlock in a cool cellar for 5 months
currently, the airlock will bubble if the lid is pressed
no mention of mold or fuzzy stuff on the top of the ferment
 
 
This leads me to think you do have a good safe fermentation going on, although a slooooow one from being in the cool cellar.  Fermentation usually does better and faster at warmer room temps, but it sounds like it did it's thing because it bubbles when pressed, indicating the release of gas inside the vessel.
 
The process of fermentation lowers the pH of the Stuff.  But you will want to get a pH reading of the PRODUCE, not the brine.  Being as this is a failry long ferment, it's likely the brine and the vegetables would have similar pH but that's not necessarily the case with shorter ferments and thicker walled vegetables (like jalapenos and bells).  It takes a while for the flesh of the vegetables to work through the fermentation process.
 
I'd do it like this- When you are ready to open and process, if it all smells and looks good when it's first opened, pour off some or most of the liquid and save it for later if needed.  Run everything through the food processor, and through the food mill if desired.  At this point, the pulp can be tested for pH.  If the pH is good, you don't have to add vinegar unless it is desired for flavor.
 
At this point you have a fermented, not pickled, product that is still an active ferment.  It will stay active with all the live cultures etc until you either add vinegar or cook it/heat pack it.  Cooking it and vinegars will both kill the Good Bugs in the ferment.  If it had a good safe pH, below 4.0 at a minimum, the mash can be hot-packed or boiling water bathed, doesn't need to be pressure canned unless you want to.
 
 
I know it's sometimes confusing, but these are all separate and often overlapping preservation methods-
fermentation
pickling
hot packing (hot fill hold/ boiling water bath)
pressure canning
 
 
Good Luck and Have Fun!
SL
 
Back
Top