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fermenting MikeUSMC's Ferments (pic heavy)

MikeUSMC

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!
 
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jodytek said:
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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Thanks for the kind words, Jody! I design them at home, and use Avery labels.

See if this post, from earlier in this thread, helps you at all:
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/63869-mikeusmcs-ferments-pic-heavy/?p=1459507

If not, I'll try my best to answer any other questions you may have :cheers:
 
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Mike your label game has really inspired me. I call this one “Bhut Hurt”, lol

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Can u amazon link the probiotic you use? Mines been going for a week and doesnt seem to have any action. Its got one those self ventilation lids but threw a powder free glove over it to see if it would balloon from off gas. Tempted to open it and add some more starter. Think I killed my first batch of starter because mash was still hot from heating it to kill any yeasts.
 

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D3monic said:
Can u amazon link the probiotic you use?
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Sure, dude. Here you go:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001Y8EOHW/ref=mp_s_a_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1542190171&sr=8-4&keywords=culturelle+probiotic+kids&dpPl=1&dpID=51tQLKBcxBL&ref=plSrch
If you don't feel like waiting for Amazon to deliver it, you can honestly find them at virtually ANY pharmacy or grocery store. I've never seen them out of stock

D3monic said:
Tempted to open it and add some more starter. Think I killed my first batch of starter because mash was still hot from heating it to kill any yeasts.
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Yeah, I saw that you heated everything up in your sauce thread. I think that might have been a case of "good initiative, bad judgment." I just don't see a reason to do that. There's a good chance you might've killed off any good bacteria too. Then again, it might not be a problem at all. Some ferments are just a lot slower to "take off" than others. I've had them take 3-4 weeks to "start" before, and others have taken less than 18 hours

D3monic said:
Also, It hasnt been very clear. The % of salt used in brine. Is that to water weight or ingredients weight? Assumed it was water
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I'm gonna preface this response by saying, "I really don't know, man," so don't get too excited while you're reading it, because I probably won't actually answer you :rofl:

I *think* the salt % is determined by the weight of the ingredients, BUT I could also "justify" it (in my head, anyway) by weighing the water (?). I just really don't know for sure. Dru has posted this chart quite a few times. *To me*, it looks like the top half of the chart represents the water volume. The bottom half, *to me*, is tough to decipher, because I can't tell if that's ALSO water volume, or it's the volume of ingredients (?). Not sure if it's just a Metric vs. U.S. measurements thing (?).
IMG_5823.JPG


So, in a nutshell, D3, I have no idea, bro. Hopefully, Dru or somebody else with more experience will see this and clear things up. Maybe he can start a "Brine" thread too :party: It'd be nice to have a Brine sticky thread here somewhere.

A lot of people are probably sick of me repeating myself, but all that confusion ^ is why I swear by those powdered packets of probiotics, a straight wine brine, and salt "to taste." As much as I DO enjoy learning about this stuff, my method/system takes ALL the guesswork out of it.

Very straightforward: chop everything up and dump into a bowl, add sugars (honey, agave, turbinado, whatever), stir it all up. Add 4 or 5 grams of probiotic powder, and stir it up again. Transfer to jar and dump wine in, straight from the bottle. BOOM. Done. Easy peasy, man. You should give it a shot. The more probiotics and sugars you add, the lighter you can go on the salt. I've found that if I can add 1/2 cup of any combo of sugars, I can get away with only using 1 teaspoon of salt per half gallon batch.

Lot of rambling, but I hope that helps a little
:cheers:
 
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I don't ferment that often but I use 2% brine solution for peppers and I've never had a problem. Here's a quick chart for reference.
 
Making your brine
to mix 4 cups of brine to various salinity percentages, dissolve the following amounts of salt into 4 cups of water:
2% brine – 1 TBS sea salt
3% brine – 1.5 TBS sea salt
4% brine – 2 TBS sea salt
5% brine – 2.5 TBS sea salt
 
https://www.fermentationrecipes.com/using-measuring-salt-fermentations/1014
 
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it was clarified in a fb group today for me. It is water to salt ratio so say 94% water 6% salt ect. So thankfully I did that right...
 
I did the no no and opened the ferment today. Smells heavenly. Just the right amount of smokiness and sweet. The brine covers the peppers by over an inch. There was a super tiny spec of a stem or something at the water line that had a little fuzz to it. I sanitized a spoon and scooped it off. There was a little ring of dark skuz on the fermenter lid where it was in contact with the jar. I soaked a paper towel in sanitizer and wiped the lid and rim off really good (wasn't crusty or anything. Must of been the pepper juice when bottling). Finally the brine was really close to the top of the jar so I sanitized a 1/4 measure cup and dipped about half a cup out. Was tempted to taste it but didn't. Smells really good. Then before closing up I sprinkled some more probiotic into the ferment. Closed it up and used the little vacuum pump that came with the kit. Worked really well, pulled a bunch of co2 out from the peppers too. Threw the glove back over the jar so I can see if there's any co2 build up. 
 
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I should of taken a picture of the skuz and spec of mold but I don't feel like it was compromised in anyway by them. Didn't look anywhere near as gross as a lot of the pictures I see people posting on fb that everyone says is fine. 
 
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