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fermenting First Ferment Underway

mrbill

mrbill


 
starting small- 8 jalapenos, 5 habaneros, 3 shallots, some peach slices, splash of white vinegar and some fine grain sea salt. read somewhere that sauerkraut brine can be used as a starter, so there's some of that in there too. there is an airlock in the lid that you can't see in the pic. planning to let it go for at least a month before final processing. will check on it tomorrow and tuesday to make sure it's fermenting, then leave it alone til I think it's done.
 
i've done fresh hot sauces before, but this is my first time trying a ferment. got my courage from the threads here. looking at the pic, it makes the mash look less pulpy that it really is. hoping i don't mess it up.
 
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so i'm about a week into this and i'm not seeing any bubble action. none in the mash and nothing in the airlock. not sure that it's fermenting. is that normal? would the splash of vinegar possibly be keeping the fermentation at bay? should i scrap this batch and start over or let it ride?
 
edited to add- around wednesday i bought some probiotic capsules from the store. i emptied 4 of them into a cup and added some water to it, then added it to the mash and stirred with a fork in hopes of jumpstarting the fermentation.
 
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No idea how much vinegar you added, but it can slow or stop fermentation in high enough concentration.  My pepper ferments are no where near as active as the batches of beer I've brewed.  It's normal for me to not see much activity - other than bubbles suspended in the mash - for the duration of some ferments.  
 
I've also found that ferments with green peppers tend to be slower and take more time.  I think (don't know for sure) that it might be because the unripe fruit does not have as much sugar in it as ripe fruits do.  At least that's my theory.  There are others here who have been fermenting a lot longer than I have.  
 
It's only been a week.  I'd advise you to let it ride for at least a couple more weeks.  You can observe the batch along the way, take notes and then test pH to see where it's at.  
 
 
 
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++ to what SnF said.  THe vinegar doesn't help and will hinder fermentation.  Hopefully the kraut juice will counteract the vinegar and keep things moving along.  I tend to agree with SnF's theory about green ferments not having as much natural sugars to get things going. 
 
I started one a couple weeks ago with ripe habanero, apples, onion, garlic, orange bell peppers, 2% salt by weight and about 1/2 cup of sauer kraut juice in 6 gallons of produce.  HolySmokes!  2 days later the stuff was like The Blob coming out the top through the bubbler.  There was a lot of sweet/sugar in the apples, orange bells, and ripe habs. 
 
 
Try to avoid opening the jar any more.  Let it get the oxygen-free environment started. Hang in there and see what happens.  Once it starts to get a little gas going you should be able to smell it (without opening it).  As long as it has a good fermenting smell, let it go. 
 
Oh, and make sure it's in a warm environment.  Cooler places will ferment, just slower.
 
Good Luck and keep us posted~
SL
 
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on sunday it'll be 4 weeks since i started this. my original plan was to final process and bottle after 30 days. however, i think i'm going to let it roll for a couple more weeks because the activity seems to have increased over the past several days. took a pic of the jar from opposite sides for ya'll to see.
 
side 1
 

 
 
side 2
 
 
 
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couldn't wait until tomorrow, so i went ahead and processed it today.
 
 
mash pulled from cabinet, ph meter reading below 4.
 

 
 
 
final product canned up(it's the little 4oz jar w/bluish tint, so color looks very green). i have 1 more full jar and one 1/2 full.
 

 
 
 
 
broke up the mash a bit in the blender, then pressure cooked it for 20ish minutes. then blendered the snot out of it for a while on high. poured through a sieve. the one i have is not quite super fine as it allowed some pulp to go through, which i wanted. may decide to get a finer one later in case i decide to do pure liquid sauces. after sieving, put back in pressure cooker on sautee setting while my jars and lids were heating up. once they were ready, filled the jars and topped them. inverted for 3-5min each then righted.
 
not sure how it's gonna taste, but i'll make some eggs tomorrow and put some on. this actually represents two first for me. 1-obviously based on thread title, my first fermented hot sauce. 2- first time canning anything, was kinda exciting to hear that first lid pop. now that i know i have my methodology down
 
 
 
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just had some breakfast tacos with this on it. there was enough heat to put a sheen on ya. flavor was good and not overpowered by the heat, but fairly pedestrian for a hot sauce. there was a bit of a fruit note coming through which was nice. all in all, i'm calling it a success and will be trying something a bit less run of the mill for my next go.
 
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