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fermenting My mash and sauce

Jonny5

Jonny5

First pic is my orange Habanero mash started on 5/21/11 so it's got a little ways to go, I prefer to age at least 6 months. I chop the peppers fine in a large food processor and then add 6% salt (iodide free of course) and process in the processor some more. Put it in the large pickle jar and add a half inch of water. I stir it 3-4 times a day for 10 or so days until the production of carbon dioxide slows enough that the solids stop rising out of the liquid so you don't get mold from the solids being exposed to the air. I have never used a starter in my mash's. should also add that I very lightly screw the lid onto the jar to let the gases escape but keeps stuff from getting inside.

(hope the pics aren't too big)(continued below)
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The second pic is my finished sauce from the last batch, sorry but no ingredients listing at the moment :shh: :whistle: but I do cook it well after I add all the other ingredients to the aged mash. As you can see I am almost out and this is the last bottle so I'm having to ration it lol. With this next large batch I plan on only taking half of the mash to make my sauce and leaving the other half still in the large jar and then just add more processed peppers to what's left of of the fermenting mash. That should help speed along the fermentation on the next batches down the road.

(one last pic below)
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in this third pic are my newly planted Caribbean Red Habanero plants! I can't wait until I have some shiny red Habs to start my first Caribbean mash! I looked all over and just couldn't find a place to purchase the peppers so decided to grow my own.

(that's all of em, thanks for looking)
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Novacastrian said:
Do you use a starter for your mash?
Click to expand...

Sorry forget to mention anything about a starter, will edit my original post. I do not use a starter. I don't really see a point in using starters if the fermentation will take place without one. It may speed up the process but I don't want it to change the taste of sauce in the end. I kinda have this mind set too that the fewer things added to the mash the better. keep is simple as they say.
 
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Interesting, i thought that to ferment you needed a starter! Someone who knows what they are talking about will chime in i'm sure. Not to say that you don't. :)
 
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one other thing to add while doing some research before starting my first batch of mash is I had never heard of using a starter. Doing a quick google search it's kinda hard to find a lot of good consistent info, lots of people trying things different ways and I think the first time I heard of using a starter was when I first stumbled onto these forums.
 
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Great looking mash there Jonny5. I love habaneros. I just started a new mash a few days ago. I have made several now and have used starter and salt for each of them. For the first one I used some whey collected from a tub of plain yogurt and for the next 2 used hooch collected from my sourdough starter. As the fermentation of peppers is accomplished by the Lactobacillus bacteria (yeast), which is also used in the making of cheese, sauerkraut, beer, wine, hard cider and a lot of other food products, the addition of the starter really just speeds up the process allowing the fermentation process to begin immediately versus having to wait for the fermentation pot to collect wild Lactobacillus. While there are different strains of the bacteria and they will impart different flavors and characteristics to what their added to, I haven’t noticed any difference in taste from the different starter’s I’ve used. In fact one of the benefits to using a starter would be that you would be consistently using the same strain to start your fermentation where as when using the wild bacteria collected in your local area there’s no telling what combination of strains you’ll get and if you move to a new area then there will be a change in what you collect.

As an example of what I mean, San Francisco Sourdough bread is so good because of the wild yeast that is collected and used in there to make the starter. If you moved from San Francisco to say Los Angeles or up to Portland, OR and made the same starter the same way you did in San Francisco it wouldn’t be the same. So you carry some of the starter with you feeding it and keeping it up to make your bread with and continue to get that great San Francisco sourdough flavor. There are different kinds of yeasts used in making beer. The different strains impart different flavors and characteristics to the wort which helps to make the different styles of beer we all love.

If you really enjoy the flavors your getting using the wild yeasts in your area I would suggest the for the first 2 or 3 days of your fermentation you leave the lid off and cover the opening with several layers of something like cheese cloth. This will allow the air to reach the mash and thus the wild yeasts your wanting to collect faster. There’s no worries about the bad bacteria infecting the mash so long as you have enough salt added to your mash. Then once you see it start to bubble remove the cloth and put the lid on though not too tight. In beer fermentation the yeast poop alcohol and fart CO2. In fermenting peppers it replaces the alcohol with Lactic Acid. After a day or two with the lid on the air space will be filled with CO2 and if your peppers creep up above the water line it’s no big deal. I generally every couple of days will tighten the lid and swirl the mash around a bit to try to get the bids back down or at least wet so they don’t dry out too much but even when I didn’t they have never spoiled due to the oxygen free environment.

Sorry if I got a little long winded or was covering rather basic “Food Science 101” stuff but I didn’t want to leave anything out that someone might not know. If you have any questions please post them here and I or someone else that knows about fermenting will be glad to answer them. You never know how many others might be wondering the same thing.

Cheers,
RM

Edit, I forgot to mention that if your really getting good results using the local wild stuff, you could make a sourdough starter and collect that wild yeast in it. That way where ever you go if you have to move you'll have the bacteria you like to start your fermentations with and get to make some really great bread too.
 
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Nice looking sauce you got going there Jonny5...IMO it hard to beat the smooth and unique flavor fermentation brings.
Here are some links to a few sites that have some good info...Pics and reliable recipes.
Some use only salt...others salt and a starter.
Most of the time I use a whey starter when fermenting peppers (due to the carbs available).
Often times I use only salt when making Kim Chi and/or sauerkraut.But then at other times if I'm trying to keep the salt level low.... I'll only use a whey starter and salt the finished product when served.

+1 to RocketMan....that's a very good and thorough reply....IMO
(and why local SF Sourdough is second to none)

Fermenting pickles and peppers
http://www.grist.org...ing-made-simple

Steps to fermenting peppers
www.nathalielawhead.com/candybox/ferment-your-own-hot-sauce-raw-tabasco

Several good recipes and instructions
http://nourishedkitc...i-sauce-recipe/

Get Cultured (Nourished Kitchen free e-book)
http://issuu.com/nou...howFlipBtn=true

Habanero Mash: Bob Hurt
http://www.scribd.co...h-and-Hot-Sauce
 
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Thanks CM. It's not that I consider San Francisco sourdough as second to none but more poeple know of SF sourdough that's all. I actually base most of my sourdough on Alaskan recipes. Some really great links there +1

Cheers,
RM
 
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