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fermenting Fermented Aji Lemon

frydad4

frydad4

This is my first attempt at a fermented sauce. I don't particularly care for the taste of Aji Lemons when they're fresh. Hoping a little aging will do them well, like it does tabasco.

Sanitized everything.

Put about 60 or so aji lemons in a blender with 2 cloves of garlic and chopped it up fine.
Threw it in a pot with a little water and a tsp of salt. I cooked that for a little bit, just to kill any germies that may be on the peppers. Softened it up too.

Into my bubbler jar. Added whatever whey I could harvest from some full-fat yogurt. Topped with water. Then I just let it sit.

Initially, all the peppers sunk to the bottom. When I woke up today, some of it had risen to the top, and it looked like parts of the mash were churning.

Does this mean it's working? Any advice would help.

FD

(pic is day 2)

IMGP2053.jpg
 
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frydad4 said:
This is my first attempt at a fermented sauce. I don't particularly care for the taste of Aji Lemons when they're fresh. Hoping a little aging will do them well, like it does tabasco.

Sanitized everything.

Put about 60 or so aji lemons in a blender with 2 cloves of garlic and chopped it up fine.
Threw it in a pot with a little water and a tsp of salt. I cooked that for a little bit, just to kill any germies that may be on the peppers. Softened it up too.

Into my bubbler jar. Added whatever whey I could harvest from some full-fat yogurt. Topped with water. Then I just let it sit.

Initially, all the peppers sunk to the bottom. When I woke up today, some of it had risen to the top, and it looked like parts of the mash were churning.

Does this mean it's working? Any advice would help.

FD

(pic is day 2)

IMGP2053.jpg
Click to expand...

Yeah Baby, It's working! See that foam at the top, that's the ticket. Lemons and garlic sounds like the beginings of a beautiful friendship. I usually throw everything in to ferment however adding some other ingredients, thinking maybe onion and carrots, during the cooking phase will work too. You actually dont have to cook them any to kill germies as the salt added at the begining provides an acid environment which they can't live in. Once the fermentation kicks in and the Lactic Acid levels build up then that prevents them. Also if you don't open it till your ready to cook the CO2 in the air space will keep the veggies that rise up above the water line protected. How long are you planning to let them go for?
Looks good!
 
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That mixture looks great frydad....and +1 to RM's remarks....

I've not had the chance to ferment Aji Lemon before...and thanks to another THP member,I've got some plants growing this year, So I'm very interested in your opinion of the finished product.

No surprise that its already beginning to "work" considering the use of whey...along with the temperature in Miami this time of year. The "friendly bacteria"(AKA-Lactobacillusacidophilus) is already doing its thing.

The only concern I might have...is the size of the air space you have above the mash and liquid.

When/If it begins working real hard in the days ahead, some of the liquid might be forced up into the air lock and then possible leak out. (even so...I would refrain from opening the jar and exposing the mash to any outside air)

So you might want to put the jar in a pie pan or something similar so you don't have a mess on your counter top or shelf.

You might also want to think about testing the pH when its finished.

Good luck...and please keep us posted.
CM
 
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Thanks RM and CM, good call on the pie pan!

A couple of quick questions from a noob:

1. Do I have to hide it from UV light, like I do beer? The glass is not protected right now.

2. Why would I test the PH? What would I be looking for?

3. Is 30 days long enough, or should I go longer?
 
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frydad4 said:
Thanks RM and CM, good call on the pie pan!

A couple of quick questions from a noob:

1. Do I have to hide it from UV light, like I do beer? The glass is not protected right now.

2. Why would I test the PH? What would I be looking for?

3. Is 30 days long enough, or should I go longer?
Click to expand...

CM good catch on the overflow possibility, you can check me on this...

1 No, UV is not an issue with peppers. My sit right out in the open for the whole processing time.

2. In order for the final sauce to be shelf stable, meaning that it can sit on a shelf in yur pantry till opened without required refrigeration, the ph needs to be about 4 or less. It is easy to test with test strips that you can get online or at a pool supply store or you can buy a meter for not too much.

3. I usually let mine go for 45 to 90 days and some let them go for years. I think that I would use 30 days as my minimum time to ferment. CM has been at this longer than me, What do you think?

Cheers,
RM

Edit: Next time you pull some of those Lemons how about hooking up a FloBro with some seeds :cool:
 
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here's my 4 hour update.
This is crazy. I took the first pic at 9 this morning.
Here it is at 1 pm, the same day, 4 hours later.
I guess it's working!! It's like looking at a lava lamp!
I'm prepared for the overflow, it's inevitable.
Any more tips or suggestions are appreciated!

IMGP2054.jpg
 
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That's perfect FD4 Looking really good. Wait and in a couple of days the smell of the sauce will start to kick in and drive your hungers crazy.
I will be following your action here!
 
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Hi duane,
Welcome to the forum. I dont stir them. I don't take the lid off till I'm ready to cook up the sauce. Since the air space will be filled with CO2 and not O2 it wont have an affect on the ingredients. I do give it a swirll or shake everyonce in a while to try and keep them below the water level. some even use weights to hold them down.

Cheers,
RM
 
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FryDad...here is a link for Leeners where I purchase my pH test strips.
They are with the wine making lab supplies...
http://www.leeners.com/wine-lab-tools.html

DSCF0406-1.jpg

The pH range is 2.8 to 4.4...and cost $6.95/100ct plus shipping.

While differentiating between the color/shade accurately might be somewhat subjective,it's easy to determine if the mash or sauce is above 4.0

Personally, anytime I get a reading that I think "might" be above 4.0, I go ahead and pressure can the sauce,just to be on the safe side.

Sometimes I don't cover the jar while it ferments...but my grandma always did if she didn't have room in the dark root cellar or a closet.
And old habits are tough to break, even though I believe RM is correct about peppers and UV rays.

So following Grandma's lead...I use an old black cotton sock, like with this batch of bird pepper mash from last season.
DSCF0490.jpg

This batch fermented with an airlock for around 3 months. It has been refrigerated for close to 6 months, and I used it as the heat for my Fathers Day bloody mary mix last weekend.
It just seems to keep getting better every time I dip in.
Stay patient and enjoy the process!!
CM
 
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frydad4 said:
here's my 4 hour update.
This is crazy. I took the first pic at 9 this morning.
Here it is at 1 pm, the same day, 4 hours later.
I guess it's working!! It's like looking at a lava lamp!
I'm prepared for the overflow, it's inevitable.
Any more tips or suggestions are appreciated!

IMGP2054.jpg
Click to expand...
Nice picture !...I can almost smell it all the way up here in Ky.
If it works so hard that you fear losing a significant amount of the liquid, you can always set it inside the fridge and bring the temperature down. The cooler temps slows the fermentation process.
How hot is the room where you're storing it while it works?
 
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I was over at FD's place today to see this bad boy in action. It was like watching beer ferment. Bubbler bubbling away... a slight hint of garlic.

His kitchen is about 80F. I can imagine this thing going bananas in 24 hrs.

I gotta hit up the store for one of those rubber grommets and make one of these. Put one of my unused air-locks back in action.
 
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Damn thing blew it's load all over my kitchen, where Sum keeps the silly bands!

How often should I shake down the stuff that accumulates up top?

Will the foaming subside soon, or does it do this the whole time?
 
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frydad4 said:
Damn thing blew it's load all over my kitchen, where Sum keeps the silly bands!

How often should I shake down the stuff that accumulates up top?

Will the foaming subside soon, or does it do this the whole time?
Click to expand...

DAMMMMMMN that thing must be active. That's what CM was talking about in reference to your air space but PLEASE, let us all know that no actual silly bands were harmed during this incident :)

Ok your probably going to have to swirl the jar whenever you see the peppers getting up close to the top so that the airlock stays clear until the fermentation settles down a bit. I'm going to guess that it should be better by Monday or Tuesday. There will still be some foam and you might see a layer of the lactobacillus on top but that's nothing to worry about. If you look through some of my old sauce threads you'll see pics of what I mean.

Now, while there will still be some foam, the fermentation will settle down after it has worked through a big portion of the sugars. This is just like making beer so think about what happens when you first pitch the yeast. Give it till Monday or Tuesday and see if it doesn't settle down a bit. Till then keep the airlock clear and enjoy the show.

Cheers,
RM
 
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yea, it's staying down. Looks great. I had to swirl it a bit to knock the peppers down to the liquid.
It seems the fermentation has stopped now. I cant wait to get into it!!!
Probably give it till mid-August, I guess.
 
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