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fermenting Favorite fermentation starter

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FloridaCracker

What is your favorite starter for fermented sauce?

In the past I did a few ferments using the natural yeast in the air. I then used a few tablespoons of the brine from those to start my new ferments. It worked great, but was a bit inconsistent flavor wise. That led me to finally explore using an actual starter.

The probiotic Ive been most drawn to is the Garden Of Life brand raw 100 billion. It seems to have a very diverse lactobacillus culture. I have only done a couple of ferments using it so far and they seem to be going great. Within 24 hours of starting everything theyre bubbling like crazy.

I usually use a 3% salt brine in flip top jars with a rubber band around the clasp so gasses can escape. I keep them in a cabinet with a warming mat in the corner. No contact with the warming mat but ambient temp hovers around 85 degrees. Ive never had a ferment mold or fail using this so Ive never even tried using some of the water seals... I also dont put anything other than garlic, salt, and peppers in my jars. Maybe a couple spices here and there but no fruit or anything. Ive tried sugar a couple times but it seems like my ferments start faster and crash early.

Anyway, Ive done gallons upon gallons of sauce and am just trying to refine my method into something more consistent and repeatable. Were planning on growing over 2000 plants next year and I want to have my method perfect before theyre producing.
 

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I’ve have good results with sourdough hooch. Usually starts fermenting within 24 hrs. But I’m small time and don’t know how viable of an option it would be for a big time operation.


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I usually throw a couple of heaping spoonfulls of my previous ferments into the next ferments to kick start them, but for home brewing purposes, I can definitely say that the Omega blend of lactobacillus brevis and lactobacillus plantarum will sour a wort in a blink of an eye.

If I was doing a commercial amount of fermented peppers, I would culture that Omega strain into a MASSIVE starter, and pitch a measured amount into each fermenting vessel, and carefully gauge weekly PH drops to determine efficacy for future batches.
 
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Layer cabbage leaves on top of the chopped produce and brine.
 
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I've been using store-bought kimchi brine as my starter. Find a brand of kimchi with a profile you like and save the brine if/when you finish the container. It should keep at 4°C for a while.
 
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nice.chili said:
if one uses a probiotic powder then how much for a 2 qt ferment?
Click to expand...
Depends on the "strength" of the powdered cultures (CFUs). Some brands are a lot more "potent" than others. 4g has never steered me wrong though, using Culturelle brand :)
 
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So as posted here - http://thehotpepper.com/topic/69624-espelette-ferment/, I have a ferment that's been going since 09 Sep 2018. Not doing poorly, but not doing great. I measured the pH on the weekend and it was at pH 4.84. As I say...
 
Anyway what to do? I investigated the different options mentioned in this thread and all looked fairly reasonable. But I didn't have any of the probiotic options at hand.
However I did happen to have some Bacillus Bulgaricus kefir starter (https://bacillusbulgaricus.com) - I bought a starter kit from them a little while back and made lots of great yogurt, but didn't want/need to make the kefir, sirene nor kashkaval.
 
Long story short: 1/4 tsp (1 g) kefir starter with 100 g brine @ 3 % and after 24 hours the ferment is now going nuts(!). I wish I'd done this at the start. Maybe it will taste great, maybe not. But certainly it is active! I'll give it a week and report back on results, both taste and acidity wise.
 
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Ive used a couple tbs of well aged homemade kimchi or kraut juice so many time ive lost track. Its never failed. Cabbage is ridiculously easy to ferment. You will never taste it in a finished hot sauce unless you add some of the kraut or kimchi to it. Thats pretty damn good too if you like kimchi. You really need to watch the commercial products. Most are pasteurized and/or had preservatives added which could kill your ferment.
 
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Update (no. 2): I tested the pH of the sauce today and it was at 3.4. So definitely a happy camper.
 
Taste-wise it's certainly got an "influence" of garlic. Not surprising given the recipe and so I doubt the choice of starter matters much.
 
(At first it was quite strong, but after walking away and in the time to write this up, I've now got that moreish taste in my mouth. So I'm thinking right on the money for sauce with a garlic "influence"...  :drooling: )
 
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