fermenting MikeUSMC's Ferments (pic heavy)

[MikeUSMC]

What's up, gang! Hope you don't mind, but I was kinda hoping to set up shop here, with the fermenting crew! Just officially joined THP today, but I've been lurking for quite some time, and you guys gave me enough confidence to start making/bottling my own stuff. Huge thanks in advance to all of you guys! You guys rock.

Anyway, here's a few concoctions I've been working on for the last year or so. All hobby stuff; mostly gifts for friends and family. A lot of these have been bottled up and given away already, but I thought I'd share what I've been working on so far. Here goes.....

My signature sauce ("Original Recipe"):
Douglahs, Chocolate Scotch Bonnets, pineapple, raisins, sweet onion, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, agave nectar, molasses, sea salt, Moscato wine (brine), powdered LB packets (starter)


Another few-
Red: Smoked red bells, smoked Red MoAs, smoked 7 Pot Lavas, sweet potato, roasted onion, roasted garlic, honey, sea salt, Moscato brine
Green: Blackened tomatillos, blackened Poblanos, jalapeños, and Scotch Bonnets (all green), sweet onion, roasted garlic, pineapple, cilantro, agave nectar, sea salt



Hobby labels for those ^:






My latest one (just processed about a week ago, not bottled yet):
Scotch Bonnets, golden raisins, baby carrots, red onion, fresh garlic, yellow bell pepper, yellow mustard, ginger, turbinado sugar, sea salt, ground turmeric, Pinot Grigio brine

Looked crazy, hahaha


I've got a few more ideas up my sleeve, and a freezer full of pods from last season! Thanks for looking, everybody!

 

[MikeUSMC]

I think the Smelting Pot label on your red sauce scares a couple of my buddies   

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/67411-iron-mikes-original-recipe-artisanal-hot-sauce-review/?p=1528673

 

[MikeUSMC]

I can't believe I let this thread sink all the way back to Page 5!
Though, I'll admit, it was pretty traumatic losing my last 2 batches to mold. The shrink bills really started adding up after that one

Anyway, cranking out another batch of my green sauce today. I haven't made this in a while!

Players (forgot the cilantro in the pic). Canned pineapple; yeah, yeah, yeah.... don't judge! I only needed like 1/2 a cup

Under the broiler. Shoulda grilled 'em, but it's like 90*, so fuck that noise, haha

Blitz it all up in the food processor. Then into a mixing bowl, and add my "starter"

Brine

Airlock topped off

BOOM.

Up, up, and away

See you in 2 months!

 

[emanphoto]

2 batches dang.  My condolences.  
Tomatillos, poblanos, and habeneros aren't readily available in TH so when I go back to the US I plan on bringing seeds and dried versions of the poblanos and chipotles.  That and bubblers and grommets for them.  I've seen habs going for over 1000THB per kilo here, aka $30 so no I didn't buy them.
Man if I let 90°+ weather stop me from grilling I'd never get to grill!  

 

[MikeUSMC]

Man if I let 90°+ weather stop me from grilling I'd never get to grill!  

My house would practically have to be burning down around me for me to leave the central air conditioning in the summertime
I hate, hate, HATE the heat with a passion, hahaha. Actually, it's probably the humidity that I hate more. I'd say somewhere around 45*F is probably my favorite temperature

 

[emanphoto]

68° used to be mine.
You'd definitely hate SEA then.  Lao, Cambodia, Myanmar, TH are all dam hot.  Those beautiful tropical islands you see in pix?  Dam hot.  
When I first moved here I would go out everyday and take photos (I'm a photog) and since you have to be crazy to drive here I walked everywhere.  Sweated like a mofo but started getting used to it and appreciating slight breezes.  It's like when living in Chicago in winter, which I did for 25+ yrs, you KNOW what you'll be walking into so you just have to embrace it.  Now, 68 feels cold and I need a jacket, just like in Chicago when people wear shorts when it's 68.  Depends on what you're used to and if you allow yourself to acclimate.
 
Most people in this part of the world take 2 cold showers a day.  Ambient water temps are high so it's no problem.  If you're running the AC at 70 and taking 100°+ showers, you're doing it wrong.  Also here the oasis's of TH are 7-11's and malls as their AC is always cranked.  Malls are an absolute last resort for me but 7 is always open and they're on almost every block.  
 
Now you know how to survive the weather here should you be magically transported somehow lol.
 

 

[PtMD989]

My house would practically have to be burning down around me for me to leave the central air conditioning in the summertime [emoji1]
I hate, hate, HATE the heat with a passion, hahaha. Actually, it's probably the humidity that I hate more. I'd say somewhere around 45*F is probably my favorite temperature

Embrace the Suck, Buttercup [emoji16] Just kidding. [emoji16] It shouldn’t be 90* and 95% humidity in September. Wait till you get older, the heat don’t get to you as bad. Or maybe it’s my diabetes? I do prefer the cooler temperatures, you can dress for it. When it’s hot and humid, you can strip down to your drawers but you’re still going to sweat. [emoji6]


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[Walchit]

Yeah 60-67 are good temps. Can open the windows at night and get the attic fan going too!
I set my a.c. around 70-72.

 

[emanphoto]

For fermenting, things are a bit warm here as the ambient is 90+ yr round pretty much and we only AC the rooms we are in.  My newest batch took off overnight and overflowed into the tray a bit.  Wife is on a major baking project so mash is off to the side and getting no AC.  No problems with that batch.  
 
My mango batch that I am also fermenting now is another story.  The one bottle w/mango in it got topped with what looked like mold to me, so I got busy fast.  (The other bottle will get mango at the end of the fermentation for comparison)
 
Your recent loss is why I am mentioning this.  
 
After taking a few pix, I got in there and started spooning off the top and tossing that.  Once that was done, I made a dilute bleach solution and stuck in a folded paper towel and squeezed as much water out as I could.  I then wiped all the inside of the container to just above the mash, rinsing many times.
Once that was done I put the offending bottle in the fridge.  
 
This has sometimes helped stop mold or yeast from reforming again.  I do take it out from time to time and leave it out all day just to let it ferment a little faster for a while.  So far so good and nothing nasty has come back.  
Sept. 24 I drop the hammer on it to see what we got.  I'll probably do a bit of a simmer on it as well as adding vinegar as a precaution.
 

 
 
 

 

[MikeUSMC]

https://youtu.be/6AzDWZE4GQE

 

[emanphoto]

99% of the time at home I'm just wearing shorts w/no shirt even w/AC. For TH it's a little improper so my wife will call 10-15 mins before she brings the MIL or other relatives over so I can dress a bit more properly.   We have a live-in maid who is really good, so if we want to keep her around then I'd better not run around in my underwear!  She might run away!
 
Personally I'd prefer running around like they did in the old days here.  Unfortunately, because of westernization, people wear freakin long pants and shirts in a climate made for wearing as little as possible (in my opinion).  When in Rome.. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

 

 

[MikeUSMC]

Here's a good example of why proper headspace is so important:

Too much headspace, and you're setting yourself up for a good possibility of growing mold (oxygen won't be forced out of the jar quickly enough). Too little headspace, and this thing probably would've had mash pumping out through the airlock

This one's off to a great start. I've really got to keep a close eye on it though. Been ratcheting the jar back and forth, twice a day, to free up the CO2 bubbles and allow the mash to settle to the bottom again. If it gets any more "aggressive" than this, I'll probably put it in the fridge for a couple of days. The airlock has been "chugging" like crazy!

KEEP ON CHOOGLIN'!!!

https://youtu.be/Uzs6DRJtyLY

 

[emanphoto]

I know what you mean.  I read here somewhere here that a 2" headspace to start is what one needs, and I thought, great!  A rule of thumb to follow.  
 
Found that, since I start with an fairly well ground mash, 2" isn't enough, and I measured it too.  These had 2.5" at least and overflowed on the first night.  All the CO2 bubbles displaces the mash, and forces it up and the water goes to the bottom.  These are rather large bottles at 2 liters each.  Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of bubblers as they are hard to find here so I use these bottles without the gasket so they don't explode.  This one is a very active batch started on Sept. 4 and still bubbling.  
 

 

[PtMD989]

I know what you mean.  I read here somewhere here that a 2" headspace to start is what one needs, and I thought, great!  A rule of thumb to follow.  
 
Found that, since I start with an fairly well ground mash, 2" isn't enough, and I measured it too.  These had 2.5" at least and overflowed on the first night.  All the CO2 bubbles displaces the mash, and forces it up and the water goes to the bottom.  These are rather large bottles at 2 liters each.  Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of bubblers as they are hard to find here so I use these bottles without the gasket so they don't explode.  This one is a very active batch started on Sept. 4 and still bubbling.  
 

In my experience, the thicker the mash, the CO2 will be more likely to stay trapped in the mash, causing the mash to rise more. Thinner mashes let the CO2 escape easier.


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[emanphoto]

I can confirm that 
 
That said, is there any advantage to blending the mash as finely as I do?  It's really a case of "I've always done it this way" and the original recipe that got me started fermenting over a year ago.  Quoting the recipe that I procedurally base my sauces on,
 
"Roughly chop the chiles and compost the stems. Blitz the chiles in a food processor or blender with the salt and water until you get a rough paste or slurry, depending on how much moisture there is in the peppers themselves. I keep the seeds in the chiles, but if you want a milder sauce, remove them."  
https://honest-food.net/fermented-hot-sauce-recipe/
 
My guesses as to advantages are that the ingredients being finely blended release their flavors more readily, that they soften to a greater degree during their 30 days of fermenting, and more heat is released from the seeds.  Since I typically use Thai chilies and prik chee fa which have a low water content as they are thin walled, I don't really have the need to pour off the brine as one would with jalapeños.
I'd be interested in other people's opinions.  
 

In my experience, the thicker the mash, the CO2 will be more likely to stay trapped in the mash, causing the mash to rise more. Thinner mashes let the CO2 escape easier.


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[emanphoto]

This is more readable to me.

Or this one instead?


I switched around the style and color of the fonts (and shadows) of the text on the sides. I think the yellow was getting lost in the sand in the first one. I liked the first font, but changing it to blue still looked blurry. I really want to keep the colors the same as the colors of the flag of Barbados (like the fingerprint), but there's a dark blue line right where the ocean meets the sky that's right in my way, haha. It's really hard to work around that. I also changed the ingredients to one per line, vs. a running list.

 

 

[PtMD989]

I have better results when I blender up all my ingredients in the beginning. I have lost some of my ferments (mold) that weren’t puréed, but that could have been from trying to make sauce before I found the THP.


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[jodytek]

This is more readable to me.
 

What labels templates or service do you use? I think your labels are awesome, and could really use a point in the right direction to step up my label game.


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[jodytek]

I started a ferment over the weekend, peppers are ground, but not too finely. I took your advise on the culturelle for starter. Just recently ordered some air lock lids and had some ripe peppers. It's been sitting for about 48 hours but I am not really seeing any action. Could it be too cool in my place? We keep the temp around 73 - 73 degrees. 584 grams of peppers. 10% (58 grams) salt, and culturelle. No muss nor fuss, I will tweak if needed at finish.

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[emanphoto]

10% salt is pretty high as most folks use 4-5%.  I suppose this can inhibit fermentation but at the same time, fermentation can take some time to take off.  70's temps are ideal I've read.

I started a ferment over the weekend, peppers are ground, but not too finely. I took your advise on the culturelle for starter. Just recently ordered some air lock lids and had some ripe peppers. It's been sitting for about 48 hours but I am not really seeing any action. Could it be too cool in my place? We keep the temp around 73 - 73 degrees. 584 grams of peppers. 10% (58 grams) salt, and culturelle. No muss nor fuss, I will tweak if needed at finish.




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[MikeUSMC]

It's been sitting for about 48 hours but I am not really seeing any action. Could it be too cool in my place? We keep the temp around 73 - 73 degrees.

73* should be absolutely fine, Jody, and 48 hours isn't too long, in the grand scheme of things. I've had ferments just sit there, literally for WEEKS, before they decided to "take off." Just be patient
That being said.....

I took your advise on the culturelle for starter. 584 grams of peppers. 10% (58 grams) salt, and culturelle.

10% salt is pretty high as most folks use 4-5%.  I suppose this can inhibit fermentation but at the same time, fermentation can take some time to take off.

Glad you used the Culturelle starter, but you might be fighting an uphill battle with a 10% salt content. That's really high. Emanphoto's right; most people only use a 4-6% salt content, and personally, I think 6% is still pretty high, especially if you're using a probiotic starter.

--------------------------------------------
http://www.intentionallydomestic.com/salt-and-lacto-fermentation/
Here's an excerpt from ^ that link:

"However, you can have too much of a good thing. If you add too much salt, it will also cripple or kill off the lactic acid bacteria. Plainly put, if you make it too salty, nothing will live, even the good guys. If you dont get it so salty that it kills all of the microbes off, certain yeasts can live, also leading to spoilage."

Another one:
https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/natural-fermentation/how-much-salt-brine/

"In any recipe for fermented vegetables, it is acceptable to reduce or increase the amount of salt to fit your taste. However, there are limits on both ends. Too little salt may allow mold and other unwanted bacteria into the batch; it may not keep the vegetables crisp. Too much salt can slow the fermentation process down to the point of halting it altogether."

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I tend to use a significantly lesser salt content than most people I've seen here. Reason being, it's nearly impossible to "take salt out" after it's already in. I'd rather add it at the end of the ferment, incrementally, during the cook.

Some people may be skeptical, but I only use one teaspoon (at MOST) per half gallon, in my ferments. I think it works out to something like less than 1%, or close to that. I add extra probiotics initially though, to make up for the lower salt content. As we all know, salt isn't only for flavor; it also a deterrent for the "bad" bacteria in the fermenting vessel.

I've probably got about 40 ferments "under my belt" now, and I've only lost 2 (my last 2, actually). Still not sure what went wrong, but I'm not blaming it on a low salt content. It was the same recipe I make, over and over again