• If you have a question about commercial production or the hot sauce business, please post in Startup Help.

fermenting First Fermented Sauce, Little Activity, slight discoloration?

C

ChiliheadDan

Hey All,
 
This year I decided to embark on my first fermentation. I had a lot of success last year using the peppers fresh (previously frozen) and made a few sauces. I wanted to get some different flavors. I read the fermentation sticky and decided to try and use some wild yeast in the air to get it going. I weighed my peppers and created a mash by using a blender. I added about 7-7.5% pickling salt by weight of the peppers. One mash I made is strictly just salt, Carolina Reapers, some water, and a splash of white vinegar.
 
The other is Habaneros, garlic, salt, water, and a splash of vinegar. I've been using those silicone pickling pipes instead of the bubbling type airlocks, and it's been about 3 or 4 weeks now. I'm not seeing much activity at all and I'm afraid that I didn't add enough water. I filled two 16oz jars with reapers, and only added about half a cup of water to each jar. The habaneros are in 20oz jars, and added just about as much water, maybe a little more. I only used enough water just to get them to blend well. They smell great, but the orange habanero jars are getting a little discolored, darkening near the top of the jar. Could this be the garlic? Both of the jars are doing it.
 
I'm afraid I may have messed them up by not adding enough water, I'm sure I have enough salt. I don't see any kind of bubbling activity, but the mash is pretty thick, so maybe the bubbles wouldn't be moving around so much. Thoughts? I plan to let it go another few weeks before mixing the mashes together with more water and vinegar to bring it to the correct ph before adding in additional ingredient if desired for the sauces.
 
I really think I'm going to make a smaller batch that's just straight Reapers, I've had a few people request it so might make a nice Christmas gift. Thanks.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Yes. Looks fine to me. I see a couple of small bubbles, but I would bet that is not done fermenting yet. You can try raising the ambient temperature to help it get going.

Hopefully one of the more experienced fermenters will comment.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Looks good so far. I'm assuming you didn't use straight tap water, you know, the chlorinated stuff.
I did a batch last year of chocolate habs with just peppers and 5% brine.
It didn't bubble at all but 3 months later it was amazing.
The next one after that I added a couple tbsp. of kimchi juice, it started bubbling 3 hours after I closed the lid.
Since then I just save a small jar of my last ferment in the fridge (I cook the rest to make sauce) so when I have enough pods and an empty jar I can use a little starter from the fridge and keep the cycle going.
A big plus, that fermented mash is a great addition to pretty much any dish.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Ughh... didn't even think about the water, used straight tap water. Should I have boiled it first to get rid of the chlorine? Am I pretty much hosed? This was my entire crop for the season.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yeah a lot depends on the quality of your tap water. In any case you not screwed at this point. If anything you may have slowed the process down a bit but nothing is ruined yet.
Besides, it looks like there's some bubbles forming in that first jar so I think you good to go. Keep in a warm (not hot) dark place and check on them once in a while and let mother nature do her thing :party: 
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Masher said:
I thought I read somewhere no vinegar with a wild ferment?
 
Sure does look bright and good colors though 
Click to expand...
 
I made a fermented sauce, added a little vinegar and then pasteurized. I left a bottle out on the counter. After about a week it started fermenting again and blew the top off the bottle. It made one hell of a mess.
 
So...i doubt if adding a dash of vinegar will hurt anything.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top