Hi Ho,
Short story Long.
I found myself with an excess of chopped peppers (About 9 pounds). They were originally intended for a batch of salsa ,but then we had a frost ,and a family emergency. So turned the tomatoes to soup(They were already skinned and chopped) ,and proceeded to pick everything in the garden that was frost sensitive.
I had been talking with someone on IRC who said he had been fermenting his peppers, and said it could really improve the taste. So I figured What the hell I should try it with my this batch.
After doing a bit of research I found it was a lot like making wine or beer, which I've done plenty of. Different bug mind you(Unless you're making a lambic beer) but same basic rules applied.
I sighed up to ask questions about some aged peppers I already had, and I figured I share this production too.
My peppers.
This are just chopped ,not blended. They are a mix of Hungarian Wax, Jalapenos, and Cayenne.
I wanted to give my bacteria plenty to eat so I didn't want to just use peppers. So a decided to use a nice root vegetable that is often fermented, and pickled
around here. The beet ,it has more sugar then any other veggie, and just plan tastes good when it's fermented and or pickled. Not to mention
that I had a lot of beets still growing.
Here is the beet shredded. (Just one medium sized beet)
After I mixed it in with the peppers.
At this point I added the salt, and blended a portion of the peppers.
Most of the recipes I saw online had you just "wait" for mash to catch the bacteria it needs. I personally didn't want to take that kind of chance.
Plus I already had some good sourdough starter that I had harvested from some wild local grapes. It had a fair head of hooch at the top ready to use.
I added the hooch to my mash ,and was a little surprised when it turned white on contact. Since it was Yellow, and clear before.
I mixed it well, and put it in some mason jars. Here's one just after I put it in.
Nice and red, but as the mash becomes more acid the color will(and is) change. Here it is today (Day 2)
Turned a bit purple ,this picture was taken a few hours ago. It's even more purple now. I'm thinking of taking a picture
everyday during the fermentation to see the changes side by side. Also even though it's only day 2 small bubbles can
seen. They aren't very vigorous yet though.
I'm not too surprised by that though ,since my starter is well maintained, feed ,and has a good sour taste to it.
I'll give more updates as thing progress.
Short story Long.
I found myself with an excess of chopped peppers (About 9 pounds). They were originally intended for a batch of salsa ,but then we had a frost ,and a family emergency. So turned the tomatoes to soup(They were already skinned and chopped) ,and proceeded to pick everything in the garden that was frost sensitive.
I had been talking with someone on IRC who said he had been fermenting his peppers, and said it could really improve the taste. So I figured What the hell I should try it with my this batch.
After doing a bit of research I found it was a lot like making wine or beer, which I've done plenty of. Different bug mind you(Unless you're making a lambic beer) but same basic rules applied.
I sighed up to ask questions about some aged peppers I already had, and I figured I share this production too.
My peppers.
This are just chopped ,not blended. They are a mix of Hungarian Wax, Jalapenos, and Cayenne.
I wanted to give my bacteria plenty to eat so I didn't want to just use peppers. So a decided to use a nice root vegetable that is often fermented, and pickled
around here. The beet ,it has more sugar then any other veggie, and just plan tastes good when it's fermented and or pickled. Not to mention
that I had a lot of beets still growing.
Here is the beet shredded. (Just one medium sized beet)
After I mixed it in with the peppers.
At this point I added the salt, and blended a portion of the peppers.
Most of the recipes I saw online had you just "wait" for mash to catch the bacteria it needs. I personally didn't want to take that kind of chance.
Plus I already had some good sourdough starter that I had harvested from some wild local grapes. It had a fair head of hooch at the top ready to use.
I added the hooch to my mash ,and was a little surprised when it turned white on contact. Since it was Yellow, and clear before.
I mixed it well, and put it in some mason jars. Here's one just after I put it in.
Nice and red, but as the mash becomes more acid the color will(and is) change. Here it is today (Day 2)
Turned a bit purple ,this picture was taken a few hours ago. It's even more purple now. I'm thinking of taking a picture
everyday during the fermentation to see the changes side by side. Also even though it's only day 2 small bubbles can
seen. They aren't very vigorous yet though.
I'm not too surprised by that though ,since my starter is well maintained, feed ,and has a good sour taste to it.
I'll give more updates as thing progress.
