Frozen Harvest - What to do with them all??

Sergeant Pepper · Dec 27, 2019

Hello

I had a decent harvest this past growing season. I froze whatever I couldnt eat. Now Im looking for things to do with all these peppers. So far it seems like options are
* make hot sauce
* make jelly
* use them like fresh peppers (slice and eat or put into a pot of chili etc)

What else do people do with their harvest?

Thanks

DontPanic · Dec 28, 2019

You can get a dehydrator, and make pepper powder.

Sergeant Pepper · Dec 28, 2019

DontPanic said:
You can get a dehydrator, and make pepper powder.

I have a dehydrator so thats an option. Ive seen people also make salt. Thats probably a good idea as I love hot salt.

salsalady · Dec 28, 2019

They will be mushy so not good for salad, excellent for anything cooked. Also check out pepper puree.

Have fun!
SL

Ruid · Dec 30, 2019

I just dice mine and add them to food so I have that all year. Get a Foodsaver if you don't have one.

salsalady · Dec 30, 2019

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/32602-making-some-puree-todaywill-post-pics-of-the-processits-easy/

FYI~~~

BAPeppers · Dec 30, 2019

I like to dice them up, stick them in a blender, and separate them into ice trays. Once frozen you dump them into a zippy freezer bag and you can add a cube to whatever you want all winter.

jedisushi06 · Dec 30, 2019

They work fine for fermenting. Try the vacuum seal method with 2% salt by pepper weight, keep in a warm place. Frozen foods have less natural enzymes but can still ferment in a warm place.

Sergeant Pepper · Dec 30, 2019

jedisushi06 said:
They work fine for fermenting. Try the vacuum seal method with 2% salt by pepper weight, keep in a warm place. Frozen foods have less natural enzymes but can still ferment in a warm place.

I’m trying to ferment some now. So far no real activity. Worst case if I don’t see some bubbling soon I’ll add some sauerkraut juice.

Sergeant Pepper · Dec 30, 2019

Wait. I tried looking up this vacuum fermentation thing. Cant find anything about it. Mind sharing a link?

Update: Nevermind. I think I found it. Its vacuum seal fermentation. It seems like you just do salt instead of brine then vacuum seal it. But is this safe ie no botulism?

jedisushi06 · Dec 31, 2019

it's safe. It's a method in the Noma Guide to fermentation book, which i ordered today. Just made two new ferments today and bumped up the salt to 2.5%. Have them sitting on a towel on top of one of my grow lights to keep warm.

jedisushi06 · Dec 31, 2019

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pimental · Jan 3, 2020

Sergeant Pepper said:
I’m trying to ferment some now. So far no real activity. Worst case if I don’t see some bubbling soon I’ll add some sauerkraut juice.

You probably know this, but if you froze the peppers, no yeast, LAB, etc.will have survived to ferment the peppers - at least, its very unlikely. Adding sauerkraut juice is a good idea - or technically any other source of lactic acid bacteria.

Sergeant Pepper · Jan 3, 2020

Pimental said:
You probably know this, but if you froze the peppers, no yeast, LAB, etc.will have survived to ferment the peppers - at least, its very unlikely. Adding sauerkraut juice is a good idea - or technically any other source of lactic acid bacteria.

Actually thats not totally true. I just fermented frozen peppers in a 5% brine no problem. The activity was a little slow to start so I had to keep it warmer than normal to get it jump started then brought it to room temp. Now its fermenting ferociously.

Pimental · Jan 3, 2020

Sergeant Pepper said:
Actually thats not totally true. I just fermented frozen peppers in a 5% brine no problem. The activity was a little slow to start so I had to keep it warmer than normal to get it jump started then brought it to room temp. Now its fermenting ferociously.

That's pretty cool - and I suppose I was being a bit assuming. Technically yeast and bacteria don't die at freezing, although they certainly won't grow, and may be dormant when they come back up to temperature. To actually kill bacteria and yeasts, you have to make tiny ice crystals in their cytoplasm, which requires below-freezing temps due to all the solutes. And spores probably wouldn't be damaged by freezing at all.

Sergeant Pepper · Jan 3, 2020

Pimental said:
That's pretty cool - and I suppose I was being a bit assuming. Technically yeast and bacteria don't die at freezing, although they certainly won't grow, and may be dormant when they come back up to temperature. To actually kill bacteria and yeasts, you have to make tiny ice crystals in their cytoplasm, which requires below-freezing temps due to all the solutes. And spores probably wouldn't be damaged by freezing at all.

Often times you store yeast at freezing. That’s how labs, beer makers, and bakers do it. It does have a tendency to start slower because you do lose some for sure.