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fermenting Fermenting Question

F

fusion

Hi all,

I consider myself quite a newbie. My sauces usually involve blending hot peppers with other veggies (both grown in my small veggie garden) and putting into a Mason jar.

I enjoy these sauces alot but I'd like to try something different. I'd like to ferment the peppers for a while then strain the juices into bottles (recycled from commercial sauces that I also like).

Where do I begin ? I make my own wine (from concentrate) so I have glass carboys and airlocks but what else should I know ? I figured I'd can still add whatever blended mash (peppers, veggies, vinegar) I want, top it off with salt and let it ferment for a while. Do I cook the lot before hand ?

thanks in advance

Guy
 
Hi fusion.

Ferment? Isn't fermentation synonymous with spoilage? I think the majority of us here create our sauces by means of preserving them with the proper acidity (vinegar/citric acid), then canning them.

Now, I'm sure you could make a damned hot corn whiskey if you made a sour mash from corn and habs, then distilled it, but alas, the feds outlawed home stills years ago.

Is your goal to make an alcohol-based sauce? You'd have to add some amount of yeast to said mash, such as in home brewing. The yeast will eat off of the sugars in the mash, converting to alcohol (tis a beautiful thing, this yeast/sugar/alcohol relationship :) ). Only once fermentation is complete (when the alcohol levels are great enough to kill off the bacteria) will that stuff be safe to consume.

I'm just guessing, but Sam-n-Ella may stop by for a visit if you eat fermented veggie mash.:)
 
Hank said:
I'm just guessing, but Sam-n-Ella may stop by for a visit if you eat fermented veggie mash.:)
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Guessed wrong. It's botulism that gets ya from botched fermentaion. :) The good news is that there is nothing that can harm a human that can live in a 3% or higher alcohol solution. But thats not the fermentation he wants. What he is looking for is more open air pickling. At one point I may have known the tech term... proto-lactic, malo-lactic, something like that....it's too early for me to google or wikipedia to get a silly word.
 
Hank said:
damned hot corn whiskey if you made a sour mash from corn and habs, then distilled it, but alas, the feds outlawed home stills years ago.
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Quite frankly, I tend to ingore BS laws and just do it... :)

I've been thinking about doing my own hot moonshine for quite some time and I just may do it this year...
 
imaguitargod said:
Quite frankly, I tend to ingore BS laws and just do it... :)

I've been thinking about doing my own hot moonshine for quite some time and I just may do it this year...
Click to expand...

Make sure to bottle in the big redneck whisky jugs and enjoy with a home-grown havana cigar
 
darthcarl said:
Guessed wrong. It's botulism that gets ya from botched fermentaion. :)
Click to expand...
Corrected. Sam-n-Ella is my generic term for anything that causes yout to schit thru a paper straw without getting the sides wet.
darthcarl said:
What he is looking for is more open air pickling. At one point I may have known the tech term... proto-lactic, malo-lactic, something like that....it's too early for me to google or wikipedia to get a silly word.
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Ya mean like sauerkraut?
 
I make some of the world's worst homemade wine. Would be fun to distill it to see if I could make a bad brandy.:)
 
Hank said:
I make some of the world's worst homemade wine. Would be fun to distill it to see if I could make a bad brandy.:)
Click to expand...

almost sounds like you tried to make prison wine... and that's some nasty, nasty sh*t :)
 
Sickmont said:
almost sounds like you tried to make prison wine... and that's some nasty, nasty sh*t :)
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For anyone that missed one of my previous posts.....here's a great recipe for prison wine. Steve, Don't Eat It! Vol 8.
 
sixstring75 said:
For anyone that missed one of my previous posts.....here's a great recipe for prison wine. Steve, Don't Eat It! Vol 8.
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I tried to make that stuff in high school when one of my older brother's friend got out of the slammer and he told me how to do it. It sat in my closet fermenting for about 2 or 3 weeks and when i opened the bag, my face almost melted. Then i took a sip. Same effect as taking a whiff of the stuff. So, i got the bright idea to add MORE SUGAR to help out the taste. Brilliant, just brilliant. Talk about getting drunk and sick to my stomach all at once.
 
Ooops, I meant Aging not fermenting

Hi everyone,

Wow thanks for all your responses. Now I feel quite stupid now :)
What I meant to say was "age" not ferment.

I've tried things like roasting the peppers in the oven and such but I'd like to try to age them before bottling. Tabasco let's them age for 3 years. I'm thinking more like 10-30 days :)

Should I repost with a different title ?? Sorry for the confusion.

POTAWIE, I haven't looked at your posted links yet but I'll take a look later (I'm still at work ...taking a bit of a break)

thanks again.
 
fusion said:
Now I feel quite stupid now :)
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Stupid? Never feel stupid here.

You want stupid? imaguitargod is gonna eat a whole naga later this month. I'd qualify that as something really close to stupid. :)
 
Hank said:
Stupid? Never feel stupid here.

You want stupid? imaguitargod is gonna eat a whole naga later this month. I'd qualify that as something really close to stupid. ;)
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Thanks Hank.
A whole naga ... ouch :onfire:

One of potawie's links (the 1st one) does explain a bit how to age the mixture. It sounds quite basic. Add the peppers, mix with salt and vinegar and stir everyday for "x" number of days.

It sounds a bit too easy to me. Anybody with comments on that ? Should I blanch the peppers first ? How much salt and vinegar ? etc, etc, ...

thanks
 
Hank said:
You want stupid? imaguitargod is gonna eat a whole naga later this month. I'd qualify that as something really close to stupid. ;)
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Stupid...or brave...

Ok, I'll admit, it's stupid. Especially since I'm also eating the seeds..... :onfire:
 
Oh, i'm not saying stupid as in walk in front of a bus stupid. This reaches a whole different evolutionary level of stupid. This a thought-out stupid. A premeditated stupid, if you will. Now, don't confuse stupid with something that doesn't deserve respect. Cuz, fella, if you pull this off (and I bet you will), you'll get every bit of respect you've got coming. And respect may arrive as a big container of Tucks Medicated Pads. Lord knows you'll need it, assuming you keep it down.:onfire:
 
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