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fermenting Advice for a first timer - Bhut ferment

Tigeris

Tigeris

First off, I'd like to really complement your community here. You've provided a ton of great information in the sticky's that really helped me understand what I'm doing by trying to make a sauce.

I grew my first pepper plant this year - a Bhut. When peppers started appearing, I realized that I didn't know what to do with these too-hot-to-just-eat peppers. Now they're on the verge of ripening and I think I'd like to make a sauce with a few. I'd like to make a sauce with a heat somewhere between Tobasco's and El Yucateco's Green Chile Habanero. I'd like it to be savory and smokey. Finally, I think I'd like to do a ferment. I'd love it if somebody wouldn't mind giving me some critique on the recipe I'm thinking about.
  • 1-2 Bhuts w/out seeds (not sure what they'll weigh until I pick them - thinking I should use somewhere around 30-60grams)
  • 3 Banana peppers - roasted (note: not Hungarian Wax. Sweet pepper similar to a bell pepper)
  • 1 small, fresh tomato
  • 1 head fresh garlic
  • 1 strip bacon - cooked
  • 1/2 yellow onion - caramelized
  • 1/2 yellow onion - raw
  • 1 Tbs dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (unless I can find a way to incorporate smoke otherwise)
  • Oak chips (in cheesecloth - removed after ferment)
  • 3 tsp whey starter from yogurt
  • Distilled water w/pickling salt to cover peppers
I'll run everything through a food processor for a couple spins - not enough to puree.

There seems to a lot of love for carrots here for making a good texture. I'm not a huge fan of orange roots (yams, carrots, etc) so I haven't included it. I'm wondering a red potato would have a similar effect on texture. Obviously, though, I've already deviated a lot from the standard cannon here and don't want to go further overboard on my first sauce.
 
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  • 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (unless I can find a way to incorporate smoke otherwise)
  • Oak chips (in cheesecloth - removed after ferment)
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If I were doing it, I would throw in some Chipoltle peppers and forget the above two ingredients. Since the Chips are smoke dried peppers, they don't need to be there through the ferment stage, so you could add them in at the final blending and keep adding them in until it is smokey enough for you.
 
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By contrast - I used about 12 oz of fresh superhot paste, 6 oz of smoked bhut powder, and 6 oz of a naga morrich sauce from the grocers... Not for a ferment... but I do like it hot :)
 
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Jeff H said:
If I were doing it, I would throw in some Chipoltle peppers and forget the above two ingredients. Since the Chips are smoke dried peppers, they don't need to be there through the ferment stage, so you could add them in at the final blending and keep adding them in until it is smokey enough for you.
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Cool, if I can find Chipoltes I'll definitely skip the smoke at least.

jsschrstrcks said:
By contrast - I used about 12 oz of fresh superhot paste, 6 oz of smoked bhut powder, and 6 oz of a naga morrich sauce from the grocers... Not for a ferment... but I do like it hot :)
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Well my 60 gram max is only 2oz so mine would be much less hot than yours, correct?
 
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not sure what you mean, my sauce is closer (though not quite) the consistency of pudding.

It fit into a pint, and 3 random containers I saved over the last 6 weeks or so for a total of: 16 + 8 + 6 + 4 oz = 34 oz, with 24 being peppers, the other 10 being garlic, onions, and water :)
 
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Hi Tigeris, Welcome!

Since you said you wanted to do a ferment, here's what I'd suggest-
  • 1-2 Bhuts w/out seeds (not sure what they'll weigh until I pick them - thinking I should use somewhere around 30-60grams)
  • 3 Banana peppers - roasted (note: not Hungarian Wax. Sweet pepper similar to a bell pepper)
  • 1 small, fresh tomato (not sure this should go into the ferment. Rocketman, what do you think?)
  • 1 head fresh garlic
  • Add all the above (and the raw onion) in a ferment, follow suggestions in Fermenting 101
  • 1 strip bacon - cooked No BACON! At least not in the ferment, it will go rancid and ruin everything. Add later, at the very end, if you really want it.
  • 1/2 yellow onion - caramelized Why not smoke the onion? It'll get that smoke flavor you want w/o the liquid smoke and chips. Add it after ferment.
  • 1/2 yellow onion - raw Add to the ferment
  • 1 Tbs dark brown sugar Add at the end, after fermentiing if needed/desired
  • 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (unless I can find a way to incorporate smoke otherwise)-(see onion notes)
  • Oak chips (in cheesecloth - removed after ferment) (see onion notes)
  • 3 tsp whey starter from yogurt
  • Distilled water w/pickling salt to cover peppers
2 bhuts will go a long way to heat up some sauce, if you are looking for something in the Tabasco/El Yuca heat range. And the quantity of ingredients you have will make about 1/2 cup of sauce. I'd suggest adding another bhut and 3 red bell peppers to give you some bulk. That should give you ~2 cups of pulp, enough to make it worthwhile to go through all the fuss of doing a ferment.

For the ferment, just use raw ingredients. Add the smoked onions and other ingredients after you're done fermenting. Taste the pulp to get an idea of the flavor, and that'll help you decide on sugar or not, etc.

Have Fun! And post pics if you can! we luv pics~~~ :cool:

salsalady
 
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What if the bacon had been pickled and then dehydrated... would it still risk going bad? or freeze dried? I ask because when i was in europe (UK specifically) a common table condiment was oil with pepper flakes, and freeze dried shirmp. it sat on the table at every meal I ate in the home of a particular ethnic group. Never seemed to be refridgerated... I was really liking it till I found a shrimp, and I asked someone later... Apparently they were freeze dried, and that made it safe... They said.

I still didn't eat any more of it.
 
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The big issue is that with the introduction af any fat to a sauce you increase the chances that it will go rancid. If you must add some, say adding some Avacado oil for a flavor, then it should be done during the processing of the final sauce and not during the fermentation. Fermentation take place at temperatures of 85 to 100 typically and the bacon fat would not be good. Also it would be best to add bacon, fresh cooked bacon to the dish and then add your sauce. Your flavors will be fresher and the crisp bacon will add another deminsion to your over all dish.
 
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Thanks all for the bacon advice - I'll leave it out, then.

Special thanks to Salsalady - you really offered some good advice. I'll leave out the tomato just to be safe. I'm not sure if I can find any way to smoke an onion by the time I'm ready to ferment - but I'll see if any friends have smokers.

Anybody have any input on the possibility of fermenting with a potato in the mix (instead of carrots)?
 
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JCR, I'm not a food scientist type person, but I'm guessing that, since freeze drying removes all the moisture from the item what's left is proteins which can then be added/submerged in oils and be safe. Just theorizing... though....

Tigeris, you have some time to find the smoker, the smoked onions should be added AFTER the raw veggies have fermented for 5-6-+ weeks. Just for inspiration... the first few times we smoked ribs, I used our regular gas BBQ grill. I put a SS tray (or you could use something cast iron) above the burner on one side and put the ribs on the other side (with the burner off), added the chips and kept it on low. It worked great! Indirect heat, smoke.....good to go!
 
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salsalady said:
Hi Tigeris, Welcome!

Since you said you wanted to do a ferment, here's what I'd suggest-
  • 1-2 Bhuts w/out seeds (not sure what they'll weigh until I pick them - thinking I should use somewhere around 30-60grams)
  • 3 Banana peppers - roasted (note: not Hungarian Wax. Sweet pepper similar to a bell pepper)
  • 1 small, fresh tomato (not sure this should go into the ferment. Rocketman, what do you think?) (Don't add, use Sundried Tomatoes when processing the sauce. Could also used smoked ones to get the smoked flavor)
  • 1 head fresh garlic (Use 1/2 the head raw in ferment and roast the rest and add during processing)
  • Add all the above (and the raw onion) in a ferment, follow suggestions in Fermenting 101
  • 1 strip bacon - cooked No BACON! At least not in the ferment, it will go rancid and ruin everything. Add later, at the very end, if you really want it.
  • 1/2 yellow onion - caramelized Why not smoke the onion? It'll get that smoke flavor you want w/o the liquid smoke and chips. Add it after ferment. (What SL said or add it all to the fermentation)
  • 1/2 yellow onion - raw Add to the ferment
  • 1 Tbs dark brown sugar Add at the end, after fermentiing if needed/desired (fermented it will loose the sweetness but you'll have the flavor)
  • 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (unless I can find a way to incorporate smoke otherwise)-(see onion notes) (YUCK, don't use it!)
  • Oak chips (in cheesecloth - removed after ferment) (see onion notes) (No cheese cloth, toast them in oven or with propane tourch and just throw them in)
  • 3 tsp whey starter from yogurt
  • Distilled water w/pickling salt to cover peppers
2 bhuts will go a long way to heat up some sauce, if you are looking for something in the Tabasco/El Yuca heat range. And the quantity of ingredients you have will make about 1/2 cup of sauce. I'd suggest adding another bhut and 3 red bell peppers to give you some bulk. That should give you ~2 cups of pulp, enough to make it worthwhile to go through all the fuss of doing a ferment.

I would probably add more Bhuts and some, say 3 shreded carrots to the ferment. The carrots will help to give the sauce some consistency and help to bind the sauce together.

For the ferment, just use raw ingredients. Add the smoked onions and other ingredients after you're done fermenting. Taste the pulp to get an idea of the flavor, and that'll help you decide on sugar or not, etc.

If you want to add some sweetness to the sauce it will have to be added after the fermentation is complete. Any sweetness added to the fermentation, Agave Nectar, Honey, Brown Sugar or sugar, all the sugars will be consumed by the lacto bacteria and made into Lactic Acid.

Have Fun! And post pics if you can! we luv pics~~~ :cool:

What she said :bold

salsalady
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I was thinking about this when I read an article about someone who made bacon flavored vodka. The article said basically that if you add the bacon fat to some alcohol, Vodka, the alcohol will take on the flavor of the bacon from the fat. So, as i understand it you'd cook up some bacon then let the fat cool some in the pan and then pour it off into a container. Add a couple of cups of vodka, personally I just use some cheap stuff, and let it sit for a couple of days giving it a shake in the morining and the evening. Place it in to the fridge to get the fat to congeal. Remove the fat and you have Bacon flavored Vodka which you could add to the sauce to give it the bacon flavor without having to add any fat the the sauce BUT, as said eariler, don't add it to the fermentation.

Cheers,
RM
 
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I would think, better than adding just the bacon fat to the vodka, put a whole piece or two of bacon in there and leave it sit for a while... Then pull the bacon out, refrigerate, remove the fat (and piece of bacon), and - perhaps - you'd end up with a better product...

I knew a guy that put a particular type of nut in vodka (aged for 3 years), and then mixed the result with 60:40 with a cheap wine (he lived in Milan, Italy, cheap wine there, costs a lot more here). The end result tasted like maple syrup, smoother than I thought was possible.
 
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RocketMan said:
[background=rgb(255, 250, 242)]I would probably add more Bhuts and some, say 3 shreded carrots to the ferment. The carrots will help to give the sauce some consistency and help to bind the sauce together.[/background]
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As I said in the original post, I'd like to avoid carrots due to their flavor (unless it's more or less unnoticeable in the final product). I'm still hoping somebody will have an opinion on using red potatoes. :violin:

Also, thanks for the advice on toasting the wood chips. You got it right on the nose that the sugar early on is only to help out the fermentation. Don't want those little guys to starve! I'll see about sugar to taste with the final sauce if I end up wanting any sweetness. I'm hoping smokey will do it just fine, though.

Finally, I'm quite amused by the unanimous aversion to liquid smoke. :rofl:

Also, I'll be quite happy to post pics when I do it. The amount of photos the users post is what drew me to the community. I'm just waiting for these guys to turn.
IMG_20120910_101033.jpg
 
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