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  You misspelled "head" as "cloves." In all seriousness, for a first-timer, if you're worried about going wrong, follow the advice given above. You *could* ferment the peppers, but that adds the risk of losing them, and if you've only got 14 to work with you probably don't want to risk that.

Having some leftovers from ramen my wife and I made for some friends last night. Chashu pork, reheating in the braising liquid (soy sauce, sake, mirin).   Before adding the pork to the top: Ramen, Ajitsuke Tamago, bamboo, shitake mushroom, nori, mung bean, green onion, chili oil, togaroshi in a...

  Cloudy brine tends to happen when you use salt that isn't pickling salt. It's fine. Generally speaking, give it a sniff. If it smells fine ("like pickles" is okay), and doesn't smell like nasty mold, it's fine. With a pH between 3.0 and 4.0, it's probably shelf-stable. If you boil and simmer...

  I had it with a red-pepper, thai-chili, habanero mix.

  Room temperature is actually ideal. Tabasco keeps their barrels at ambient temperature, which in Lousiana can heat 100F. Most recipes state to simply keep the ferment "in a cool dark area away from direct sunlight." I do mine in a cupboard in the kitchen. As long as your salt-ratio is okay...

  Satisfied? Yes. But it's not quite the flavor I was going for. I was hoping for something closer to cajun. What I got tastes more like liquid red-pepper flakes you'd put on a pizza.

Second batch, started fermenting at the same time as the first. This time I used White House White Distilled Vinegar. Much better choice than the White Wine Vinegar before. It still has a slightly sweet flavor, which is good. QUESTION: My pH meter broke. I cooked the sauce, bringing it to a...

  I approve. I approve wholeheartedly. This. This is a real Ramen.  

Rice vinegars are excellent to use! As for how much, it depends on just how much of your original liquid you retain and what you’re working with in terms of material. I usually just keep adding vinegar in my blender until it’s the consistency I want. It can be anywhere from using the same...

Processed the first batch of sauce today, using White House white distilled vinegar. Turned out well.   Has a smooth garlicky flavor, but it has a bit of a bitter aftertaste. Two options I have to fix this: 1) Roast it next time. 2) Add sugar.

  The problem with trying silver nitrate is that it's rather sensitive to salt. Residual salt on knives, fingers, cutting boards, etc. could cause it to cloud; even a dirty test tube can give you bad results. You'd probably have to find some sort of calculator to determine how much you need to...

I've been experimenting with different vinegars thusfar, and so far my go-tos are rice-vinegar and white vinegar. I'd sworn off regular white vinegar after I tried using Heinz, which seems to make everything just taste vinegary, and not in the way I wanted it to, even if I used 50% vinegar/50%...

Could you post up a recipe, or an approximate one?

  Kahm yeast is kahm yeast. Mold is mold. They are different. Kahm yeast looks like a stringy mold, but it's fine for you to ingest. Mold is not. Mold that you have to worry about is going to be more of a uniform fuzz, and white, yellow, greenish, or black.  I understand you not wanting to...

  As stated, that's kahm yeast. It's harmless, though it can affect the flavor. Don't worry about it too much, though you do want to get rid of it with a sterilized spoon, generally, to protect the flavor. As for cloudiness, I did recently read something online that suggested it may be due to...

  Blending is totally fine... in the initial preparation. Afterwards, though, you risk introducing bad stuff.  I do all of my ferments as blended mashes.  

"Standard" advised is 3 months. I've done 1 and 2 month (I made sure there was fermenation first) and I only processed it into hot sauce because I needed to make sure the rest of the batches would be worthwhile letting continue.  You absolutely can go for years, but you don't have to.

  If you don't have an airlock, anything that indicates a pressure-buildup (bulging lid), if the lid is one that can do so. If you don't have something like this, every day or two "burp" the jar by cracking the lid open slightly until there is enough space for air (CO2) to get out if it needs to...

  When fermenting, you'll notice that the CO2 will build and cause the lid to bulge.  You will need to "burp" it daily. Your goal is the loosen the cap just enough that you can hear the CO2 rush out, then you want to close the lid tight again, minimizing air introduction into the ferment. The...

  You will typically want to use anywhere from 2%-8% brine by weight. Most seem to prefer about 4% of the weight of the peppers or water. I tend to go with a 4% by weight of peppers and water. Your peppers are likely floating because there is CO2 forming in them from fermentation, or simply...