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fermenting Ferment not active?

K

Knirfie

Hello All,

I am completely new to fermenting, so I watched some video's and tried making a pepper mash with 500g of habanero's I got from a friend.
As instructed I cleaned all tools and containers thoroughly, processed the peppers and some garlic in a food processor, added about 2% salt, and put everything in a large mason jar with a weight on top and closed with a pickle pipe. I did not add a starter as is recommended in the Fermenting peppers 101 here.
 
After a day some liquid had appeared on top of the mash, but no bubbles yet. After several days the liquid had turned cloudy, but still no bubbles.
I am now two weeks in and still seeing no bubbles, but also no mold or other bad stuff and it doesn't smell funky. PH is testing between 4 and 5, probably closer to 4.
So my question: Is the mash OK to use? Or should I toss it?
 
(I'll make a photo and upload this evening)
 
Thanks in advance!
 
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Hi Knirfie,
 
Sounds like you are okay as far as food safety, and I'm glad you went through the 101 threads.  Starters are not mandatory, but if you are NOT using a starter I would recommend bumping salt content to 4-5% at least for future ferments.
 
Pepper ferments (especially those with a ground up mash) are VERY slow acting ferments.  When I run this ferment it is normal for me to not see any action for the first 2-3 weeks and even after I really only see bubbles suspended in the mash rather than active bubbling from the airlock.  Nothing at all like the beer or sauerkraut ferments I have done over the years. 
 
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I had one take off the next day after I started it, and started overflowing because I had it too full.

My second ferment was blended and it took about a month, then started overflowing lol. They both still look good, I need to process them
 
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Knirfie said:
Thanks both of you, that is good to know.

I guess I will leave it for an additional week or two before I make my hot sauce.
Click to expand...
 

While waiting for just fermentation is okay (I actually did this with a sauce just two days ago), you may also want to consider allowing it to age for at least 3 months total. This isn't mandatory, but can help the flavor. People on this site often rave about mashes they let age for years.

With the low salt content, though, it may be a good idea to process it into a sauce earlier rather than later. My first recipe, like yours, was a 2% salt mix, and developed kahm yeast. This hurt the flavor, though it was still safe for consumption.
 
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