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Lactic Acid

wheebz

wheebz

I am not a fan of vinegar based hot sauces whatsoever, and I am impatient and do not want to wait for a fermented hot sauce process

Now being that I work at a brewery, I have access to a MASSIVE amount of Lactic Acid and pH testing equipment

Could I theoretically make my sauce, and add enough lactic acid to reduce the pH to nominal levels for packaging and storage, or is this not recommended at all.
 
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Don't know anything about lactic acid, but there is citric acid which I believe has no flavor. And a couple others that I can't remember the names of.
 
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How long is too long? If you prestart your culture with some sugar, honey or molasas, and then add it to your peppers, wouldn't that really accellerate your ferment? Isn't that what you do with beer? I don't know- I don't brew or drink, but that is my thought, and what I did on my first batches and they were down to 3.9 in a week or so, it was then just refriderate them to mature, but I have used all three in the last several months just fine, and they sure do smell nice.

The last batch I did not do this on and it has apparantly as a brewing friend says, skunked, it smells according to a brewing forum, like a lambic brew, or a little like rotten eggs, so I am sending it to the compost pile and will make the next batch by again prestarting my culture.
 
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Well your brewing friend is wrong about it being "skunked"

The skunked flavor or 3-methy 2-butene 1-thyol reaction, also know as lightstruck, is caused by UV reactions with alpha acids in hops, so unless you are putting hops in your hot sauce, thats not the case

as far as fermentation goes, yes I do that with beer, but we do it with brewing yeast that eats sugar canes at a different rate and priority than any Lactobacillus strain, even lactobacillus Delbrucki cultures we use in our sour beers

the lactic acid that we use in the brewery goes into the mash to lower our PH to the optimum level for saccarification, but it is food grade lactic acid

i was saying time wise because RocketMan posted that his go for around 45 to 60 days, and I do not want to wait two months
 
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No, no hops, just 6% salt by weight, and these critters:

L. Acidophilus LA-14
L. Casei R0215
L. Rhamnosus R0011
L. Plantarum R1012
B. Lactis BL-04
B. Longum BB536

While my bhut batch was about 30oz, it stopped bubbling at about 2 weeks, and has been in the fridge since July. I am amazed at how good fermented Bhut smells (that don't sound right)...

but I am either going to go to a yogurt culture or look at Kefir. I want to find something that will offer consistancy in the ferments.
 
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That is an interesting question wheebz...I don't recall ever reading about using lactic acid as an additive/preservative for vegetables.

I regularly use whey (recently used a kefir starter)and can obtain a pH of 3.4 to 3.6 within a few weeks....sometimes sooner.
The additional fermentation time (refrigerated or room temperature) contributes greatly to the depth and complexity of the flavors regardless of the veggies used.
I have some pepper mashes that have been fermenting for a year or more...and make a much better tasting sauce than when they were in their infancy. While trite...the comparison with aging of a fine wine isn't overstated.
Sorry to say...but I've found patience and fermentimg foods go hand in glove.
 
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wheebz, I agree with CM. My mashes complete their conversion of sugars in a week to 10 days much as in primary fermentation of a brew. I let them continue for the rest of the time as an aging process. It makes it better tasting. In fact I've been thinking about getting an oak cask to try aging some mash in to see what the difference would be.

Cheers,
RM
 
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I have been fermenting habenaros for the last two years using the probiotic drinks that are using the same active lactic bacillus you wish to try ...go for it just track your ph and you will be well rewarded!
 
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I started about 2 pounds of Jalapeño sliced fermenting a week ago. Split them I to 2 1 pound container. One was just Jalapeños and to the other I added a sliced up onion and 5 cloves of garlic. Today I opened the plain Jalapeños and added some to some left over potato salad and they were perfect. Great flavor and still crisp and crunchy.
 
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wheebz said:
I am not a fan of vinegar based hot sauces whatsoever, and I am impatient and do not want to wait for a fermented hot sauce process

Now being that I work at a brewery, I have access to a MASSIVE amount of Lactic Acid and pH testing equipment

Could I theoretically make my sauce, and add enough lactic acid to reduce the pH to nominal levels for packaging and storage, or is this not recommended at all.
Click to expand...
 
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