fermenting Fermented Pepper Mash

[charlesNYC]

Ok so i'm throughly confused on this subject.
Some people boil their blended peppers before setting them up to ferment, other don't because it kills the fermenting bacteria.
Some say just add salt, others say add enough to create a protective coating on top of the pepper concentrate.
Some say use an airtight jar, others say a loosely fitting peanut butter jar so that air escapes.

How do you do it?
I trust everyone here far more than all those geniuses in Gardenweb.

 

[crazy8]

So then you make the flour/water mix until you get the bubble action going on then add in all the veges? Do I got that right?

 

[jjs7741]

After the sourdough starter is ready and starts bubbling, prepare your mash with the ingredients you want then add a tbsp or so of the hooch (liquid that seperated) to a seperate container with your mash.

jacob

 

[crazy8]

Awesome, that clears it up. I think I may have to give this a try. So then once you add the hooch to the mash and it eventually stops bubbling you just make more of the flour/water mixture and add the hooch from that to the now fermenting mash correct?

 

[crazy8]

Now thinking about it, I think I do have one more part of the equation to figure out. Lets say I get all of my ingredients together, mash them all up and fill a 1qt canning jar with the mash and I know I want to fully drown the contents with the hooch. So fallowing the kilted chef's exact recipe how much hooch would you yield from that?

 

[jjs7741]

Awesome, that clears it up. I think I may have to give this a try. So then once you add the hooch to the mash and it eventually stops bubbling you just make more of the flour/water mixture and add the hooch from that to the now fermenting mash correct?

You only have to add the hooch once. It should start to bubble in a few days and will stop in about 4-6 weeks. Leaving it longer than that will not hurt anything as the Ph will be pretty low at that point. When I tested this last batch, it was at 3.3 after about 6 weeks or so. Also, by bubbling, it could be very frothy and start to rise to the top of the container and will actually pour out if you do not shake it a little to get it down, or could be very light bubbling that is really only visible when you move the jar slightly and then you will see some small bubbles release and come to the top. I have had both and the Ph tested the same after 6 weeks although the frothy one was probably finished sooner than that.

Now thinking about it, I think I do have one more part of the equation to figure out. Lets say I get all of my ingredients together, mash them all up and fill a 1qt canning jar with the mash and I know I want to fully drown the contents with the hooch. So fallowing the kilted chef's exact recipe how much hooch would you yield from that?

With the 1 cup each of flour/water, I get about 1/4 cup or slightly more of hooch. Once you get it started, you can change to adding 1 cup water to 1/2 cup flour to feed with to create more hooch. You also don't need to drown the mash with the hooch. Only need a little to get it started. I drown with distilled water, but you can also just weight it to hold it under the water just as well.

I just started a batch of mash yesterday using (by weight):

6 oz Yellow 7
1.5 oz baby carrots
2 oz white onion
1 oz yellow tomato
2 cloves of garlic
1.5 tbsp canning salt

Put everything in the blender and chopped it fine. Put everything in a sterilized quart cannning jar and added distilled water to about 1 1/2 inches from top. Added 1 1/2 tbsp sourdough hooch and gave it a little shake to mix it in. It should be ready in about 6 weeks or so.

Hope that helps.
jacob

 

[crazy8]

That all helps a ton. Thank you so much. Im going to try this with all the cayenne's that I have ripening right now and maybe some others if I get any in time. So once this is completed with fermenting, would I want to blend it all again or just directly pour whats in the canning jar, into woozies?

 

[jjs7741]

I would. I add a lot of extra water the way I do it, so I will blend it again and boil down to the consistancy I want then bottle it.

jacob

 

[crazy8]

So by now I may be beating a dead horse with a stick but I am documenting all of this into a "recipe" and want to make sure I got it all right. As I was putting it all together a couple questions have popped up.

With the 1 cup each of flour/water, I get about 1/4 cup or slightly more of hooch.

Do you make that 1cp each in just one batch? The video shows the guy doing it in 3 separate batches so in my recipe I did 1/4cp each for batch one and two, then batch three was 1/2cp each and 8 hours for each batch.

I think I also read or heard somewhere you could store the extra hooch in the fridge. Is this accurate?

Here is what I got put together. Does this all look good?

Fermenting Peppers

*Making hooch for the fermentation.
1/4cp flour + 1/4cp water. Mix and let stand for 8 hours
1/4cp flour + 1/4cp water. Mix and let stand for 8 hours
1/2cp flour + 1/2cp water. Mix and let stand for 8 hours
*Separate liquid from mixture. The liquid is the “hooch”. Extra hooch can be stored in fridge.
*Once you get it started you can add 1cp water + 1/2cp flour to feed with to create more hooch.

*Add all the ingredients you want in the mash, into the blender.
Peppers (of one kind or a blend of multiple kinds)
Onion
Garlic
Canning Salt
Baby Carrots (optional)
Other vegetables you may want to add at this point.
*Blend all ingredients to a very fine mash.
*Pour the mash into a 1qt canning jar
*Add enough distilled water to be about 1.5 inches from the top of the jar. Weigh down mash if needed so that it is totally submerged.s
*Add 1.5tbsp of hooch to the jar
*Shake jar up so all the contents will mix well. Contents should be ready in 6 weeks
*Once 6 weeks has passed blend the contents again and if preferred, boil down to get desired consistency.


NOTE: This should not be done in a sealed jar. Gases need to escape during the process. When using a canning jar put the ring of the jar on first, then put the lid on top of the ring. This will allow for a lose seal and allow for gasses to release.

 

[jjs7741]

I make my sourdough starter differently, but if that was what was in the video, I am sure it would work as well. I start with 1 cup water and 1 cup flour and mix. Let sit for 24 hours, then pour half out and add 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup flour. Repeat everyday until the culture has a good start (about a week). After that I store the whole thing in the fridge. I don't seperate the hooch from the flour/water mixture. Just dip some out when I need it. Keeping it in the fridge will slow down the microbes so you don't have it foam up too much and have to feed it too often.

The recipe for the mash looks good. I give it a little shake every couple of days to mix it up some. Also, I close the canning jars tightly and never had a problem. Even on the really active ones that foamed up some, the worst that happened is some of the foam seeped out from under the lid. Without boiling the jars, they are not really sealed too well.

After picking about 5 pounds of peppers so far this week, and probably twice that ready to be picked, I plan on starting at least a couple more batches this coming weekend or early next week and will start a thread with pictures showing how I do it for those who are interested. I just ordered some woozies and as soon as they come in, I will boil down the 3 jars that are already finished and pack into the woozies. They smell soooo good and I can't wait to taste them.

jacob

 

[Chili Monsta]

I make my sourdough starter differently, but if that was what was in the video, I am sure it would work as well. I start with 1 cup water and 1 cup flour and mix. Let sit for 24 hours, then pour half out and add 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup flour. Repeat everyday until the culture has a good start (about a week). After that I store the whole thing in the fridge. I don't seperate the hooch from the flour/water mixture. Just dip some out when I need it. Keeping it in the fridge will slow down the microbes so you don't have it foam up too much and have to feed it too often.

The recipe for the mash looks good. I give it a little shake every couple of days to mix it up some. Also, I close the canning jars tightly and never had a problem. Even on the really active ones that foamed up some, the worst that happened is some of the foam seeped out from under the lid. Without boiling the jars, they are not really sealed too well.

After picking about 5 pounds of peppers so far this week, and probably twice that ready to be picked, I plan on starting at least a couple more batches this coming weekend or early next week and will start a thread with pictures showing how I do it for those who are interested. I just ordered some woozies and as soon as they come in, I will boil down the 3 jars that are already finished and pack into the woozies. They smell soooo good and I can't wait to taste them.

jacob

jj:
I'm very interested and looking forward to the pics.
How long have the 3 jars fermented?

 

[jjs7741]

First was started on 8/1 other 2 on 8/18. Checked Ph last week and they were all 3.3 Started anoter jar using yellow 7's on the 22nd of this month and it is already bubbling real good.

jacob

 

[crazy8]

Well I started it last night. I started with 1/4 flour/water and then this morning, about 12 hours later, I added another 1/4 each. Then after I get home from work it will have been about 12 hours I will add 1/2cp each. 12 hours isn't to long is it? So far the mixture looks good and nothing weird going on with it.

 

[crazy8]

I think I am doing something wrong, or something is going wrong. SO here is what I have done...
1/4cp flour and 1/4cp water wait 12 hours.
1/4cp flour and 1/4cp water wait 12 hours.
1/2cp flour and 1/2cp water wait 12 hours and this is what I got...

As you might notice there is no obvious separation of liquid and solid. Now I did see (and the picture doesn't show it) a VERY small amount of liquid on top it was just a matter of a few drops of a cloudy colored water, that was it. Am I doing something wrong? There didn't seem to be as much bubbling as I had imagined either. There was some but very few.

 

[crazy8]

Well I have done something else now. I have used flour, water, sugar, and some yeast to "boost" it. I am getting all sorts of bubble action and it was rising. I am on my second attempt right now. My first attempt there was all sorts of liquid on the bottom kind of a cloudy light tan kind of color but I think when I saw it all, I probably should have drained it out then because over time the solid part stopped rising and started to sink and compress itself back down and I didn't have quite as much liquid. So via some instructions I found online I stirred it all back up and removed half of what was in the jar and added 1/2cp flour, 1/2cp water, 1/4tsp sugar, and a little more yeast. It started to rise again and I am keeping it in the fridge this time and wont take it out like I did the first attempt of this method. It has risen already and is getting that beery smell. I read that by keeping it in the fridge, you only have to feed it once a week. Once I see a great amount of liquid on the bottom of the jar again, i am going to try to poor it or extract it to use. I noticed with the first batch it was very hard to pour the liquid without the solid stuff wanting to mix with it so maybe I will have to try a turkey baster or something.

 

[crazy8]

Well I think I just had some better luck. Not only was the liquid on top this time but there was much more. Here is what I got. Is this the notorious "hooch" I have been putting all this time and effort into getting or is it something else?

If this is it and if I recall correctly, I only need about 1.5tbsp worth for a 1qt jar with the rest being filled with water correct?

 

[jjs7741]

That looks to be the start of hooch. My hooch is pretty dark, but then again it is already several months old. It started out about the same color. I would wait a bit longer before using to get the microbe counts up. Maybe a week since you added yeast to boost it.

jacob

 

[crazy8]

Well ill dump it back in to the top of the jar then...Thanks for the input. So now that it seems to be doing its thing Do I just let it sit in the fridge for the week or do I need to feed it before then?

 

[crazy8]

Well I took a peek at the jar tonight at this is how much I have in the jar now. It does look like its a little more than what it was last time...

Im thinking I might let it sit until the weekend and then if I have enough (1.5tbsp/1qt jar) I am going to ferment a 1qt jar packed with my second harvest of cayenne's and then a 1/2qt or 1qt jar with at least 5 Red Savina's.

 

[crazy8]

I know this process is not difficult but man its starting to get frustrating now. So those pictures were from last night and now I am thinking I should have collected that hooch. I still am keeping the jar in the fridge but this morning I look in the jar and there is almost nothing for hooch in the jar. Is it reabsorbing back into the dough? Did a couple hooch monster come and drink it up? What happened? How do I get my snoochie boochie hoochie back?

Thanks for the help

 

[jjs7741]

You can add a little more distilled water to the mix and mix it up good. That will produce more hooch.

jacob