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fermenting Fermented sauce using char roasted chillies

I've been playing around with an idea to make a fermented char roasted Chocolate Habanero sauce. I'm a big fan of charring prior to use in cooking. I find it softens some of the sharper profiles, and brings out a natural sweetness. My favourite Salsa is based on charred sweet peppers, chillies, onions and eggplant (see photo below).
 
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I use two methods for charring - either placing the chillies directly on or just over hot charcoal or using a trivet on the stove top with a gas flame. You do need to be careful when charring chillies with thin side walls, but you can be pretty brutal with sweet peppers and can take the skin to the completely black stage.
 
My garden season for chillies is at an end, so I did a final harvest of my Choc Habs, and I decided to try a fermented sauce rather than freezing them.
 
Recipe is:
750g Choc Habs (Some ripe, some green, some semi ripe)
125g Purple Salad Onion
25g Garlic
25g Salt
25g Starter (I used the juice from another actively fermenting sauce)
 
Some of the prepped habs:
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I cut most of the stem off (leaving the top green bit on for extra flavour) and lightly charred them on the stove top.
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I did the same with some purple onions, but taking them to the really black stage, and then removing all of the charred skins before adding to the whiz.
 
For the garlic, I wanted a slow roasting, so I just wrapped them in their skins, in some Aluminium Foil and into an oven at 175 deg C for 45 minutes then squeezed their insides out into the whiz.
 
All ingrediants (except the starter) were blended. Since the ingrediants are hot, you get a fair bit of steam coming off, and I can assure you I had a few nasal cleansing moments.
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Scraped all of that out into a jar with an air-lock, and placed it into the fridge to cool to room temperature.
Note: The color in the following photos is not reflective of the rich deep brown colour in the jar, but a result of crappy photography and an iphone flash.
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After cooling, I took it out of the fridge and added the starter, and stirred, replacing the lid with airlock of course.
 
It's been a couple of days and I have a nice active fermentation going on:
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You can see the small flecks of charred skin in the mash. I'm hoping this will add a nice smokey note to the finished sauce.
I did a taste test before it went into the jar and it was great.
 
So : Have I made a major mistake and wasted a whole heap of Choc Habs or does anyone else char their peppers prior to fermenting?
 
Cheers
Luke
 
 
 
 
Very nice, I haven't tried it although some here like to smoke theirs first. I think if you got a ferment going then it can't be too bad. From the looks of things I bet it's gonna come out amazing :party:
 
I love it.
Choc Habs do very well with char or hot smoking . It is my favourite homemade sauce at home.
You can really play with the final product as far as sweetness and acidity is concerned. From sweet and tangy to straight forward burn your mouth off.
 
I also grill my chilies (mostly Habanero) before making sauce, but I grill them outdoors over Mesquite wood/charcoal to intensify the smoky flavor.  I also add red bell peppers and garlic to the grill - the bell peppers to help extend the sauce and also make it a bit sweeter.  I have no experience with fermenting, however, and will have to learn about that.  I've just been adding vinegars and salt to preserve my sauces, and I like to vary the vinegars for different flavors.
 
Update 23rd May
 
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Fermentation took off and it outgrew its previous home (caught it just as the mash was coming up the airlock).
 
Now transferred to larger glass jar. This pic is about 3 days after the transfer. Note the large gas pockets forming!
 
This mash is very thick : I might add some brine to thin it down.
 
Cheers
Luke
 
Looks delicious!! Could you describe the way it smelled?
 
I'm completely inexperienced so take this with a grain of salt, but my problems on my latest ferment I believe were caused by too much headspace. 
 
Good luck! keep the pics coming!
 
I'm not great at describing smells - but it combines the traditional Habanero aroma, with the rounded, sweet smokey smell of charred capsicums. The onion and garlic are in the background, the garlic in particular, is much softer than my other mashes where I have used fresh garlic.
 
I'm not experienced in making fermented sauce either, so I can't comment on the headspace. I think so long as you have an active ferment going on, it will purge the headspace of oxygen pretty quickly. But I have been brewing beer for some years, and follow the standard precautions regarding sanitization. If my memory serves me correctly, CO2 will sink and should form a protective layer on top of the mash, providing you have a good air-lock. I'm running short of jars - what I have on hand is either too big or too small.
 
I've got 1 kilo of superhots (reapers. scorpians & ghosts) to make another sauce in the next few days. Not sure if I will char them as well, I'd like to, but a little scarred of consequences...
 
Cheers
Luke
 
Luke that looks nice mate. Will be doing my ferment on my next days off with mixed chillies (chinense, baccatum, anuum and frutescense lol).

I have lost two mash ferments due to too much headspace so now I cover the mash directly with cling wrap and push out any air bubbles. Then another layer over the jar. Cling wrap allows CO2 out but oxygen can't enter. You can still smell the mash though ;)
 
I'm with you Luke, love the taste (and smell) of charred roasted capsicums and chillis. I'm really interested to see how this turns out, I wonder how fermentation will alter the flavour that the charred skin gives, cos I love that stuff as is
 
Jase4224 said:
Luke that looks nice mate. Will be doing my ferment on my next days off with mixed chillies (chinense, baccatum, anuum and frutescense lol).

I have lost two mash ferments due to too much headspace so now I cover the mash directly with cling wrap and push out any air bubbles. Then another layer over the jar. Cling wrap allows CO2 out but oxygen can't enter. You can still smell the mash though ;)
 
Hi Jase,
 
It's not shown in the photos, but in this mash I am using an airlock, grommit and tight fitting lid. Also, I had a good active starter to use (another mash that was fermenting strongly).
 
I know a lot of people dont bother with an airlock and just use loose cloth/muslin etc, but for $4 AUD at a home brew shop and a cheap step drill on ebay to drill a precision hole in the lid, its a small investment.
 
Do you use an air-lock, or just covering the mash with cloth?
 
Can't help myself! One fermenting sauce wasn't enought ....
 
First came the bulb of roasted garlic:
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Then came the charring of purple onions
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800 grams of superhots (Ghost, Scorpians, Reapers) - I didn't char these, I wanted every bit of their brutal heat
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Some char roasted sweet capsicums...
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All ingrediants blended into a paste
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1688 grams of mind blowing superhot mash
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and a close up
 
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Recipe:
 
800g superhots - fresh (mixture of reapers, scorpians, ghosts)
275 g charred onions (weight after blackened skins removed)
363 g sweet red charred capcisum/bell peppers ((weight after blackened skins, seeds, stems removed)
250g bottled water
1 bulb (about 10 cloves roasted garlic)
25g active mash (from previous ferment)
50g maldon sea salt
 
I did put a tiny bit on the end of a spoon to taste, and holy crap....it packs a punch. Note to self : put more wet wipes in the freezer.
 
Let's see how this one goes..
 
Cheers
Luke
 
Luke that superhot ferment looks unreal I bet it will taste incredible!

I don't cover with cloth, I actually ferment in a large ceramic bowl and put cling wrap directly onto the mash and wrap again over the top of the whole bowl.

Nothing against jars that's just how I've always done it (since losing my first two brews) and it works great for me.

Best of luck with your sauces :)
 
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