fermenting habanero mash question

[Rabbit91476]

picked up 2.5 lb of habanero from local store. problem is I wanted 4lb to fill a half gallon jar.   am I ok to make mash  and add more next week when they restock?
 
Also  I read on here some where I can add a probiotic tablet to jump start mash.  did I read that right? if so what strain?

 

[Rabbit91476]

Into the closet it goes. See you in 6 months

 

[jhc]

Cool. Do you have some kind of an airlock on the lid? Did you end up using a starter?

 

[Rabbit91476]

yes fermentation lid. no starter   just 5% salt.  in the summer ill play with different mango and fruit combos

 

[MikeUSMC]

Good buddy Mike is a huge fan of those probiotics, he should be here soon to give you a tip

lol, thanks dude

Hey, Rabbit. Sorry I'm just getting a chance to reply to this thread now, been busy lately. Anyway, like Genetikx said, I'm an avid probiotics fermentor, haha. I think you'll be just fine the way you went, with the 5% salt (like others have said), but if you're interested in going the probiotics route this is how I do all of mine:

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/63869-mikeusmcs-ferments-pic-heavy/?p=1496719

I usually use the Culturelle single serve 1g powdered packets, but I think any probiotic with "lactobacillus" will work. I'm not sure if the type of "strain" matters, but I've never bothered to check and I've never had an issue. Like salsalady said, if you're using an airlock, cabbage isn't necessary. I use both, just in case. The airlock is designed to do the job, but the cabbage acts as a "second line of defense" to keep the mash under the brine if the airlock fails (which it shouldn't, as long as you keep an eye on the water level )

Anyway, best of luck, and keep us updated! Don't hesitate to ask questions! There's a lot of people around here, more than willing to help you out

 

[Rabbit91476]

thanks for the post MIke.Semper Fi. didn't use any brine on this thought just peppers salt and  mabey a table spoon or two  to get the peppers spinning in the food processor.

 

[MikeUSMC]

Semper Fi! You should be fine, man. The salt should pull plenty of water out of the peppers to "create" the brine

 

[Rabbit91476]

Seems how the ferment was the only two days old and all these post Ive read in n adding cultures. I added two capsules of my probiotic. Ultimate floral 50 billion. Thing I should add a dash of the local farmers market raw honey when I get home from work

 

[MikeUSMC]

Sounds like a plan, dude. 2 days is ok, but after that, leave it alone!

 

[jhc]

Seems how the ferment was the only two days old and all these post Ive read in n adding cultures. I added two capsules of my probiotic. Ultimate floral 50 billion. Thing I should add a dash of the local farmers market raw honey when I get home from work

I googled your probiotic. IIRC Mike adds about 3-4 billion cfu* lactobacillus to his ferments. I added 6 billion cfu to mine that is going fine. You added 40 billion cfu plus another 60 billion cfu bifidobacterium which as far as I can tell, make lactic acid too. So I think you have enough! 
 
 
*cfu = colony forming units, basically means live bacteria

 

[Rabbit91476]

cool thanks.   got a few ghost peppers in the freezer   will try the agaae/ lactobacillis when I figure out what to do when them next

 

[Rabbit91476]

Bubble s. In 4 days

 

[MikeUSMC]

Nice! Now you can gently ratchet the jar back and forth every few days to loosen up the bubbles in the mash, so they'll float to the top and push out the O2, like one of those Chinese drum toys:

Also, make sure that Velcro or glue that's holding it up to the wall is nice and strong. Otherwise, you're gonna have a big mess on your hands when that jar hits the floor!

 

[Walchit]

He definitely used quality Velcro, don't question him lol.