fermenting Fermented Cranberry Chile Sauce

[kentishman]

Recently, I posted an enquiry here for ideas on how to make a sauce using cranberries. RocketMan gave me some ideas, and today I started a fermentation using the following:

Crushed Cranberries (32 oz)
Chopped Congo Trinidad Chiles (16 oz, which was 12 pods)
Sweet Onion (8 oz)
1 Pear (14 oz)
1 Medium Carrot (grated)
10 Garlic Cloves (roasted)
Zest from 1 Lemon

It took 4 cups of brine to cover the solids (3.6% brine, 2 tablespoons pickling salt in 4 cups water).

I innoculated with 2 oz of whey drained from yoghurt.

I'm hoping to ferment it for 6 weeks, and then make a sauce.

(I took a couple of pictures, but I haven't figured out how to post them.)

This is my first attempt at a fermented sauce, and I'd appreciate feedback on the ingredients and proportions.

Tom

 

[RocketMan]

Looks and sounds good there Tom. The pear and carrots should give you a nice consistence and you have plenty of sugars in the mash so it might be a bit aggressive at first so keep an eye on it.

 

[Heisenberg]

I was thinking the same thing. The sugars in the cranberries alone should blow the top off the jar.

 

[kentishman]

After less than 48 hours, the fermentation is well underway. I got up this morning to find a small pool of brine on the kitchen counter.

 

[howardsaz9]

so update???

 

[kentishman]

Sorry Howard, I started other posts with progress reports and asking for advice, but here's the rest of the story....

I had a vigorous ferment for a few days, and then it calmed down. Just as I'd been advised, a white kahm yeast formed on the surface. I let the ferment go for about 40 days and finished the sauce up just before New Year's. Ran it all through a blender then brought it to a boil and canned it using a water bath.

It has a nice pink red color. The first taste sensation is saltiness from the brine, then comes tart acidity but different to what you get with vinegar, and then heat from the Congo Trinidads.

I'm pleased with the result, happy that it didn't go south with some nasty contaminant bugs and have to be tossed out.

I'd post a picture, but I can't master the process. Joined Dropbox, then Photobucket, but can't make it work.

Cheers, Tom