Hi,
I am in the later stages of my ferment. I have been procrastinating because I am unsure exactly how to proceed. I was hoping to lay out my progress so far and maybe get a couple ideas from the community here about how to proceed. I don't mind doing the research but experience goes a long way and I see lots of experience here.
I received a huge bounty of jalepenos and some serranos in the fall and read up on making lacto fermented peppers for making a hot sauce. I have home brewing supplies so I used a clean plastic 5 gallon fermenter with an airlock (grain alcohol in it) to ferment the peppers.
To prepare the peppers, I soaked them in a sink of water with some lemon juice added to help clean them a bit. A quick rinse and then I made a slice down the side to open them up and put them in brine. I used starsan to keep things pretty clean. I used a heavy plate to hold them a few inches below the brine and ended up with a 5 gallon fermenter just over half full when pushed down. The contents are about 70% jalepenos, 20% red and green serranos, and 10% small red/green bell peppers. I may have added a quartered onion and carrot too, I cannot recall for sure.
It has been 5 months in the cellar and I never saw the airlock bubble much but it does appear that there is some pressure inside because it will bubble if I press the lid down a bit. I have not opened it to know if I have any fuzzies but there shouldn't be any way for anything to float because the plate fits nicely in the bucket.
My first creeping doubt involved the use of the lemon juice. Is it possible to kill the good microbes with a mild acid soak?
Anyhow, I plan to open them up and take a ph reading as soon as I can find my ph meter. I assume I just scoop out some brine with a clean spoon and test it straight away with my pen? If it is 4.6 or less, they are good but I'm not confident on my next step. There are lots of peppers here...What is the best way to use them if they are indeed pickled?
I have considered making a hot sauce from them and maybe share some with friends. I was thinking of using a food processor to puree them and then strain through a food mill. I guess my big questions are, do I use the brine in the sauce or do I use vinegar? After reading advice on here, I am inclined to pressure can the resulting sauce as a safeguard from botulism. If my batch looks, smells, tastes good, is it better to use them uncooked but refrigerated in brine?
I see lots of advice on fermenting pepper mash but not much specifically about fermenting whole jalepenos. Is there enough sugar in my pepper mix to get decent results? Will fermented jalepenos and serranos be any good for sauce? Any ideas or recipes are appreciated. Thanks for any help.
I am in the later stages of my ferment. I have been procrastinating because I am unsure exactly how to proceed. I was hoping to lay out my progress so far and maybe get a couple ideas from the community here about how to proceed. I don't mind doing the research but experience goes a long way and I see lots of experience here.
I received a huge bounty of jalepenos and some serranos in the fall and read up on making lacto fermented peppers for making a hot sauce. I have home brewing supplies so I used a clean plastic 5 gallon fermenter with an airlock (grain alcohol in it) to ferment the peppers.
To prepare the peppers, I soaked them in a sink of water with some lemon juice added to help clean them a bit. A quick rinse and then I made a slice down the side to open them up and put them in brine. I used starsan to keep things pretty clean. I used a heavy plate to hold them a few inches below the brine and ended up with a 5 gallon fermenter just over half full when pushed down. The contents are about 70% jalepenos, 20% red and green serranos, and 10% small red/green bell peppers. I may have added a quartered onion and carrot too, I cannot recall for sure.
It has been 5 months in the cellar and I never saw the airlock bubble much but it does appear that there is some pressure inside because it will bubble if I press the lid down a bit. I have not opened it to know if I have any fuzzies but there shouldn't be any way for anything to float because the plate fits nicely in the bucket.
My first creeping doubt involved the use of the lemon juice. Is it possible to kill the good microbes with a mild acid soak?
Anyhow, I plan to open them up and take a ph reading as soon as I can find my ph meter. I assume I just scoop out some brine with a clean spoon and test it straight away with my pen? If it is 4.6 or less, they are good but I'm not confident on my next step. There are lots of peppers here...What is the best way to use them if they are indeed pickled?
I have considered making a hot sauce from them and maybe share some with friends. I was thinking of using a food processor to puree them and then strain through a food mill. I guess my big questions are, do I use the brine in the sauce or do I use vinegar? After reading advice on here, I am inclined to pressure can the resulting sauce as a safeguard from botulism. If my batch looks, smells, tastes good, is it better to use them uncooked but refrigerated in brine?
I see lots of advice on fermenting pepper mash but not much specifically about fermenting whole jalepenos. Is there enough sugar in my pepper mix to get decent results? Will fermented jalepenos and serranos be any good for sauce? Any ideas or recipes are appreciated. Thanks for any help.
