just asking ,

[trinidad and tobago]

just was wondering how come ,,,, you guys have so much mold in in your " pepper sauce " or as you call it "marsh" in trinidad we make lots of pepper sauce and well if it gets any fungus or molds we throw it away but to prevent this all we do is put it in the sunlight which avoids the mold and in the actuall pepper sauce we add some viniger the white one or even a little lime juice this adds to the flavour andf it makes it last longer even simple commonsalt does wonders and sunning out the pepper sauce helps and makes the flavour and the colour better ,,


just adding my taughts to what tyou guys / gals do here , not takeing away your styles ,

 

[NattyPepper]

I was wondering the same thing about the sun

 

[geeme]

There are different kinds of pepper sauces. Some are considered purees - just peppers and the minimal other ingredients to preserve them. Then there are those that are considered more of a condiment, and typically have other things like tomatoe, or carrots, or even fruit in them. Then there is what you seem to be talking about - a mash - which is fermented. The first two are not fermented, mash is.

I personally don't make any sauces - I prefer to dehydrate my pods then either rehydrate them or grind them into powders to use, as I like the purity of the flavor.

 

[salsalady]

greetings T&T!

Thanks for your comments.

Fermented chiles or fermented chile blends are often referred to as "mashes", which is not technically correct. Any type of smooshed up chile or chile blend is technically a "mash". Mash is not specific to fermented chiles.

Sometimes, fermenting chile blends will get white stuff on the top of the stuff in the jar. Sometimes it's OK white stuff like khem yeast, but sometimes it bad bacteria and molds growing. Those two things look very different, there are some recent pictures in the photo gallery of good and bad white stuff.

The sauce methods you describe are the most simple and basic and many people do exactly as you describe with chiles, vinegar or lime, and maybe some other stuff.

"mash" does not necesarily mean "fermented". Often the words are incorrectly interchanged.

Puree and mash are similar products in their descriptions ... a ground up mass of whatever. I've been trying to make the distinction between fermented and not fermented sauces when posting.

 

[geeme]

What salsalady says is true - "mash" doesn't technically mean fermented. However, that's how most people on this site seem to use the term. It's kind of like saying "queso cheese", although "queso" means cheese, just in a different language - so many people say it you almost might as well play along....

 

[RocketMan]

Hi T&T and Welcome to THP. Most of the ones your seeing that in are from members who are new to fermenting peppers and are trying to get the learn and refine their process. The idea, if you haven't read the Fermenting 101 or ever done a Lacto fermentation of peppers, is that you have to develop an anarobic environment for the fermentation. The Lactobacillius Bacteria that is used in the process eat the sugars that are present in the mash and then release CO[sub]2[/sub] and Lactic Acid. The CO[sub]2[/sub] forms a layer at the top of the vessel being used and prevents any oxygen entering in while the Lactic Acid lowers the Ph. Without oxygen the bad bacteria, molds etc, cannot take hold. Salt is used to help initially to keep them at bay till the Lacto Bacteria can get started. The reason for not placing them in sun light is that the Lacto Bacteria perform best in a dark place where the temperature is between 85 and 95 degrees F (29 to 35 degrees C).

This is kind of the Readers Digest version and very basic. It sounds, from your description, like your doing something more like the Picklez that you see all over Hati and uses White Vinegar. If you haven't tried this process and are interested take a look at the Fermenting 101 thread located here:

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/23146-fermenting-peppers-101/#entry476940

Cheers,
RM

 

[trinidad and tobago]

its a culture thing , why we in trinidad and tobago must sun out - put the sause in the sun for its flavour to increase and its texture ,
as compared to the fermentation , that most of you guys / gals do any how it sounds very interesting because the both methods are worth the process , removing the Co2, IS SERIOUS STUFF , thanks for the update and the infor ,

 

[geeme]

I wouldn't say "most" of us ferment. In fact, I would say most do not. It's one of those things that requires a certain amount of attention more than making a non-fermented sauce, and a lot of us don't have the time or desire to give it that extra attention.

It's kind of like the difference between buying seeds and buying plants. In Texas, where I lived for 30 years, the weather is somewhat similar to yours - hot and humid most of the year. It was easy to just plop some seeds in the ground, water them from time to time, and let nature take it's course. Now that I live in Ohio, where it's cold most of the year and it often snows, there's no way I'd get any production (except from some annuums) if I grew in the ground, so I grow in pots. Depending upon how much time I have available to devote, I either sprout my own or buy plants - I take classes on top of working full-time, and some semesters there's no way I'd have any survivors if I sprouted my own, due to my time demands. Similarly, I suspect I'd find I had just made a royal stinky mess if I tried to make mash - I'd probably entirely forget about the stuff for a while and eventually remember and find..... ewwwww.