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fermenting Pepper Mash....Help!!!!

JungleRain

JungleRain

I've been looking on the internet and finding all sorts of information on how to make a pepper mash/fermentation.
I see that alot of you guys are trying pepper mash but I see that there seems to be some controversy on how its done or at least a few ways of doing it???
I have in the freezer a few kilos or more of various peppers and I was thinking of making some
Bhut Jolokia mash, 7pot/pod yellow mash and another of Trinidad Scorpion mash about a kilo or so of each,
fermenting them in separate containers.
First, can I use frozen peppers after defrosting them?
What I want to make is a mash that is pure as possible i.e.
just the pepper with perhaps using a starter of lets say Kefir and little of anything else! (preferably no vinegar and very little or no salt???)
and placing the peppers in a bubbler (6 liter bottle with an airlock)Is this possible?or what would the best way to go about it?


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Frozen pods should work fine since it will also kill of some of the bad bacteria and your inoculating it with some of the good guys. I prefer a wide mouth jar, easier to clean. Drill it and insert an airlock in a rubber grommet. I added about 9% salt to my mash and the salt is mainly used to inhibit bad bacterial growth until the good ones take over and suppress them.
 
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so do you think it would be ok to use even less salt or none as long as I use a good starter?...something like kefir, or would some thing else be better to start/quicken the fermentation process?
 
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Hey Grant I'm using a Harsch fermenting crock that has weights and a channel for an air lock. Collect pods and freeze them till you have enough and destem and wash put in a cuisinart and in the crock with 1 cup salt for each gallon of mash let sit 6 weeks, the smell of fermenting peppers is out of this world. Just took the lid off my crock after 7 weeks and first peek is liquid covering the stones done fermenting. I use salt and never a starter and have good success with the crock method, vinegar is not used in the fermenting process only when bottling. I have seen many other use the jug with air lock with great success.
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JungleRain said:
so do you think it would be ok to use even less salt or none as long as I use a good starter?...something like kefir, or would some thing else be better to start/quicken the fermentation process?
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No you need some salt IMO, I wouldn't drop below 5% or 6% by weight. Salt inhibits the bad bacterial growth until the lactobacillus can produce enough lactic acid to keep them from growing. Salt also draws moisture from the peppers and w/o it you would need to add water to get the mash submerged.
 
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on another forum it was suggested to use 2 tbs of salt and 4 tbs of sugar for each 1kilo (approx 2 lbs) of pepper, using the suger would help start the fermenting process?
 
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Hey PRF
Nice Harsch crock you've got there...I asked Mrs Claus for one last Christmas.
I thought I had a chance to see it under the tree, until she actually priced one.
Even though I've grown accustomed to using airlocks,I'd still love to get one...or two!

I use whey as a starter when fermenting veggies, and very little salt so as not to inhibit or slow down any lactic acid growth.
I have also used a similar combo of starter/salt in some pepper mashes, and they have worked out fine.

But the mashes that have the best flavor(to my liking)are the ones made only with salt.
Now granted....they have been either Habanero or Cayenne mashes.
And no other flavorings or spices added until after the mash is finished working/aging....and I'm making a sauce of some kind.
I follow a salt to prepared ingredients ratio(by weight) of 12% for Habanero and 15% for Cayenne.
This ratio came after a lot of researching and reading....a lot!
Additionally, when I considered purchasing commercially manufactured pepper mashes,I found the same (12% & 15%)salt ratio in their finished products.
While it may seem excessive, it works out fine when making a sauce with other ingredients,and I never have to add any additional salt.
Normally, the pH is 3.6 or 3.8 in those mashes.
 
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Pepper Ridge Farm said:
Hey Grant I'm using a Harsch fermenting crock that has weights and a channel for an air lock. Collect pods and freeze them till you have enough and destem and wash put in a cuisinart and in the crock with 1 cup salt for each gallon of mash let sit 6 weeks, the smell of fermenting peppers is out of this world. Just took the lid off my crock after 7 weeks and first peek is liquid covering the stones done fermenting. I use salt and never a starter and have good success with the crock method, vinegar is not used in the fermenting process only when bottling. I have seen many other use the jug with air lock with great success.
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I assume from this photo that the lid sits in that curved channel around the outside you mentioned and then you fill that with water and it acts like an airlock? What happens if there is no weights used? Would it expand and bubble out? I'm hoping to make some mash if and when my pods grow and multiply.
 
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The weight just help keep the solids underneath the liquid that forms. Don't think it would bubble over with no weights as the old system had a crock with just a dish towel as a cover to keep flys out. Yes you fill the channel with water and place the lid on top. Chili Monsta hope Mrs. Claus reconsiders a crock for Christmas as you seem to have the fermenting bug, all very informative. I guess I lied when I said I do not use a starter I try to use some mash from the last batch as a starter for the new batch. Nothing like the taste of fermented peppers and the sauces you make from it, Brain Strain hot sauce available in the marketplace under sauces/salsas.
 
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JungleRain said:
on another forum it was suggested to use 2 tbs of salt and 4 tbs of sugar for each 1kilo (approx 2 lbs) of pepper, using the suger would help start the fermenting process?
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I use about 1 tbsp of salt to 6 oz (about 170 g) of peppers and the final product is not salty at all. In fact, I could probably use twice that without it being too salty. Then again, I add water to the mash when I start it, so maybe that is why.

The sugars are the food for the bacteria and they convert them into the lactic acid. I don't use any myself.
jacob
 
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jjs7741 said:
I use about 1 tbsp of salt to 6 oz (about 170 g) of peppers and the final product is not salty at all. In fact, I could probably use twice that without it being too salty. Then again, I add water to the mash when I start it, so maybe that is why.

The sugars are the food for the bacteria and they convert them into the lactic acid. I don't use any myself.
jacob
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Thanks Jacob,

On Monday I began chopping up 6 kilos of various strains of Red Habaneroes for the fermented chilli sauce...
I thought I'd try the Habaneros first before the T. Scorpions and Bhuts just in case things didn't work.
I didn't have any gloves at the time but thought I'd get started on them anyhows,
now I've had Hunan or chilli hand various times beforebut NEVER as bad as this,:mouthonfire:
I think it was because the peppers were frozen and I just didn't feel the heat at the time but after about half way through cutting them up (this took me about 2 hrs) I though I'd better go to the supermarket and get some gloves.....wellllllll toooooo late, a few minutes after washing my hands, the heat just kept on intensifying, never have I felt such extreme heat and for so long (it felt like 3rd degree burns and lasted around 30 hrs) I ended up going to the hospital emergency twice, first time was 4 hrs after the pain began, the pain was so bad (felt like I had caught the devil himself by the tail) :onfire: first time they just submerged my hands in a mix of eucalyptus oil, detergent and milk with ice for about an hour (this was after I'd tried all I could at home, ice, milk, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, soap and various other things but to no avail at all) This did help but only whilst my hands were submerged and only while the ice hadn't melted, as soon as I took my hands from the liquid my hands literally caught fire again... so they ended up giving me a script for panadein forte (which didn't work either even after having 6 tablets and a few beers) so after being awake till 3am...off to the emergency room I went again'this time they gave me a much stronger pain killer which numbed the pain to an almost bearable level and sent me to lah lah land (felt like I was on cloud nine doped up from the pill)anyhows FINALLY 30 hours later the fire has gone out.....NEVER AGAIN (untill the next time) :hell:
 
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OUCH! I made the mistake with one batch of using a latex glove instead of the normal nitrile. Only had 1 nitrile, so used it on the right and used the latex on the left, my knife hand. Well after nearly an hour of cutting and deseeding, my hand started to tingle a bit. Wasn't so bad, so went ahead and finished. After everything was done, took the gloves off and washed my hands. :mouthonfire: That is when it really started to burn. Wasn't as bad as yours, but was still quite uncomfortable and was 2 days before the burn subsided. Note to self: if you are out of Nitrile gloves, cut them tomorrow after a trip to the store.

jacob
 
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Timmmy newbie said:
Holy crap dude :eek:

I've had some bad experiences but that's just too nasty.

Looking on the bright side at least it was only your hands

That mash better work lol
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You should have seen all the nurses at the hospital, nobody believed me at first, :lol:
they had never heard of it, then I told them to look up Hunan hand on the web,
one even asked cheekily if I had touched the old fella and that lucky I hadn't or he'd be havin a bath too :shocked:
 
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:eek:
I am getting some serious gloves when my pods are ready.

And JungleRain.. how come you have 6 kilos of peppers this early in summer? Did you start really early with older plants?
 
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Pepper Ridge Farm said:
The weight just help keep the solids underneath the liquid that forms. Don't think it would bubble over with no weights as the old system had a crock with just a dish towel as a cover to keep flys out. Yes you fill the channel with water and place the lid on top. Chili Monsta hope Mrs. Claus reconsiders a crock for Christmas as you seem to have the fermenting bug, all very informative. I guess I lied when I said I do not use a starter I try to use some mash from the last batch as a starter for the new batch. Nothing like the taste of fermented peppers and the sauces you make from it, Brain Strain hot sauce available in the marketplace under sauces/salsas.
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Well Cappy...Santa came dressed as a mail man and brought me an early Christmas gift to myself yesterday.... namely, two bottles of your Brain Strain Hot Sauce.
Upon opening the box, I just had to do a quick taste out of the bottle to check out the heat level and fermented mash flavor.Just couldn't resist.
Then last night I added a healthy dose to my favorite cole slaw recipe and and even healthier dose(1/tbs) to a bowl of red chili.
Overall I found it to be quite tasty and satisfying indeed.
The fermented mash flavor is distinct,which is very much my personal preference, and the vinegar taste is well balanced... not a dominating ingredient whatsoever.
While the heat level is significant, it was not overwhelming in the slaw or chili.
But it still carried some burn for about 10 minutes afterwards.

As I've said before, except for my own recipes,my experience with fermented mash hot sauces has been with the standard commercial brands....So any comparative taste test I made was limited.
But now,after enjoying some of your Pepper Ridge Farm Brain Strain,the bar has been raised to a different level.
I'll be looking forward to your "lime juice only" version when its available.
Thanks for suggesting I try your fermented sauce...and offering the two bottle deal of the day.
CM
 
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Well here is what I ended up with;
to 3 kilos/approx 6lbs of Mixed Habanero Mash (Caribbean Red & Red Savina).
I added 3 tbs of sugar, 3 tbs of salt and 10 capsules of "Probiotic 8"
after 6 days it has just began to ferment.


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so far so good!!!
 
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