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fermenting Gallon fermenting peppers

A catch all of my early peppers that were starting to go bad in the refrigerator. So I threw them in a gallon jug with yogurt bacteria; vinegar and salt and got them going for fall puree.
Cherry on top with black Serrano below and then mixed misc low heat peppers below.

Did not sell much so besides what I ate there a lot of peppers in the frige for 32 weeks and I had to do something with them so this was my idea.

A gallon of peppers is going to be a lot of Xmas salsa and maybe I will throw in some agave sugar of ginger in some for the heck of it.
Gallon of pepper fermenting.JPG
 
looks good !

If I may make a few observations... The vinegar isn't necessary for fermentation, and without any headspace you will likely have considerable leakage.

Do you have an airlock on the top that is cropped out? If not you may want to either "burp" the lid a few times a day or loosen it just a tad.

Not trying to sound like a know it all, just a firm believer in learning from mistakes and I have made a LOT! :) I have been fermenting foods since I was a kid.

In some respects it's VERY easy and in others it's kinda tricky.

I am sure yours will be awesome, you may just want to sit that jar in a bowl to catch any leakage :)

Kat
 
I wouldn't definitely double the space comment. I've never fermented peppers but I've fermented bread, beer, kombucha, and other things, and you always get a pretty signifigant C02 output that creates internal pressure and raises liquid levels. An airlock would be best, but at the very least some space would be great. Also, have you considered grinding them up into a "mash" like a lot of people do here? The more surface area the more complete the fermentation will be.
 
Balac, that's the same pickle jar that I use so, based on my experience with them I agree that you'll need to give it some head room for it to expand. If you haven't already placed a bowl or something under it you'll need to do so asap. I do not us an air lock with mine. I put the lid on just finger tight, by that I mean not loose but I dont crank down on it either. It will be tight enough to keep the nasties out and also expand enough when necessare to allow CO2 or expanded juices out.

Now, I like the Agave and ginger, sounds tasty but I think I'd (JMHO) add some Carrots, to give it a nice consistancy, Onion and maybe a little roasted garlic also. Should have a sauce with a nice complexity with that assortment of peppers. I'll be interested in how the burn moves around.

Cheers,
RM
 
OK thanks guys for the comments and hints---I got scared and put a plate under it to catch the leakage just in case.

I did a couple of quarts of Serrano with just a paper towel under them and they were fine. I have air locks for my wine and beer making but I have not needed them for the lacto-bacteria----they are real slow---like the difference between skiing down a mountain and snowshoeing down. The over flow just evaporates away.

I know some people use carrots for a filler and I was going to do that with my high test peppers----they will be way too hot to use without significant cutting of the heat. I had a few killer Rococo already and man they cook without fire.

Thanks for the comments
Peace
 
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