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fermenting My First Pepper Mash

patrick

patrick

After reading everyone's posts on making a pepper mash I had to give it a shot myself. It was a fun experience and if I get something edible at the end well that's a bonus. I was a little slim on fresh peppers this time of year so I had to go begging. Thankfully Silver Surfer came through for me so a huge thank you to him. On to the pics!

Here's the generous contribution from SS, a little over a pound of the hot stuff.

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There are Bhut Jolokia, Red Savina, Antillies Caribbean, 7 Pod Brain Strain, Trinidad Scorpion, Trinidad Congo, Douglah, 7 Pod Brown (I think),Dorset Naga and Fatalii peppers.

I'm one of those guys who trashes everything in the kitchen when I take on this kind of task so to make things less messier I went out and bought the right tools to do the job. A half gallon jug and one of those airlock doohickeys with a food grade cork. I could have gotten by with a quart bottle but isn't bigger usually better? These three items cost me $6 and I found them at a home brew supply store.

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Some of my pepper powders in the background.

Time to get some work done. I removed stems and seeds, trying to keep as much of the placental membranes as possible.

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The cleaned and ready to go peppers:

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More to come...
 
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Hi Patrick. If I can give you my experience. To start fermentation, add a cut up napa cabbage leave, and as mentioned, leave out the vinegar, as it slows down fermentation. The mash will get acid by itself.
My first time, I also made a puree, as I thought it would speed things up. However, when using a puree, the stuff tends to float to the surface, with all risks for mold developing. As someone mentioned, you better simply slice up the chiles, and then use a napa cabbage leave with holes punched to keep the mash submersed.
The temperature played a big role for me. My 1st try was in January, when I had about 65 degrees inside the house. I never got a visible fermentation going, but after a couple of months, the smell of the mash turned sour. I let it stand for a total of 6 months, and it did make an excellent sauce.
My 2nd try was June, 85 degrees inside, and the fermentation really got kick-started. In just 2 weeks, the bubbling had already come to an end. I kept the mash going for another 2 months before I made my sauce, and ... was awesome.
I am surprised to see that you removed the insides of the chiles, and the seeds. What is the reason? I use every bit, as I don't want to waste any of the heat.
 
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Thanks for the tips gvittman. I did remove the seeds on this one but tried to keep as much of the placenta and inside tissue. Seeds don't really provide more heat and don't grind all the way in my food processor. I don't like the white bits left behind.

I tested and tasted the sauce yesterday. I used the pH test strips and it appears to be under 4 by the color change. I'm going to spend a few bucks and get a decent pH meter soon. I want to be sure.

The taste wasn't bad but wasn't good either. The heat is there, in spades. The amount to cover a fingertip got the eyes watering. Hit's right up front, very little delay.

What I don't like about it is the harshness of it. Hard to describe. It's like it totally cleans your palate. The interior of your mouth, including your tongue, is bare and raw. Then the heat hits and damn!

Any suggestions on how I can even it out? I'd like it to be smoother and not as harsh. I suppose I should try it on food and go from there. I have to say I'm not real happy with my first attempt at a mash. Just motivates me to try try again.
 
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its because all the flavors are concentrated. the sour might also be your vinegar and other ingredients used.

the only thing going in my mashes are salt & peppers...you get to build onto the pepper flavors later.
 
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So Patrick, where'd you end up with this experiment?

You almost talked me out of trying a mash, but I went ahead and now have one fermenting. I'm totaling expecting failure. You know, aim low and hopefully be surprised. :lol:
 
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If y'all don't mind a new guy poking his head in and dropping two cents...

Just read through the whole thread and saw a lot of different suggestions for adding bacteria to the mash, specifically yogurt. I was wondering if anyone has tried using actual dry yogurt starter. I only ask because I'm a former professional beer brewer who has recently been getting into fermentation of other kinds (yogurt, vinegar, now peppers) and from a microbiological standpoint, it would seem to be the most reliable way to success.

I'm still researching, but I'm planning on purchasing some product similar to this to keep dairy out of the mash:

http://www.customprobiotics.com/custom-probiotics-yogurt-starter-1.htm

If it works for both yogurt and peppers, that would seem to be a win-win.
 
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River I'm glad you decided to try this, don't ever let me talk you out of anything.

hans that looks like something that should work quite well to get the action going. Kind of on the pricey end though.

My mash is still working and I'm thinking today will be the day to finish the process. I'm going to taste it, put it back on some heat and try to figure out what, if anything, I need to do to make it palatable.
 
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Well I decided to finally do something with this stuff. Been sitting around since last November and just figured it was time to see how it turned out.

Firs thing I poured all of it out of the bottle and into a strainer.

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Then got a pestle and started forcing the mess through the strainer. Here's the left over paste so far.

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Here's the liquid after going through the strainer.

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I think I'm going to put it all back together, set it on some low heat and let it simmer for a bit then back through the food processor.

The taste is still real harsh, hits you right smack square between the eyes and burns like crazy.
 
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I added a bit of sweetness to it, trade secret, and put it on the stove to simmer for a bit. Let it cool off then into the blender where I hit turbo and got it nice and smooth. I'm having trouble describing the flavor but the sweet additive did make the initial hit much smoother. It is currently sitting in my fridge in a vacuum sealed bowl until I get some woozies.

I used a ph test strip and it appears to be in the 3.4 neighborhood so I'm safe there.

I hate to say this but it looks like ketchup.

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I know I know but a teaspoon is about all I can take.
 
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If you add some shredded carrots and maybe a sweet onion to the mix and cook it off till the carrots just become mush I think it will be alot less harsh and there'll be no loss of heat. Carrots when I've added them in the past have been great to help with the harshness of a sauce and help to give it a smoother and thicker consistence. The onion flavor would be a good companion flavor to the peppers and help with the harshness as well. JMHO, looks good and I love that color.

Cheers,
RM
 
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