preservation Pepper mash

[Tinkerbelle]

Talk to me about pepper mash - I have several bags of peppers taking up space in my freezer - can I make pepper mash out of frozen peppers?

 

[wiicek]

Hmm, isn't ph lvl important here? Fermented hot sauces have low ph, so they are safe from nasties... Does freezing a pulp or peppers before change things due to weaker micro biolology chemical thingy something?

 

[Bou]

Hmm, isn't ph lvl important here? Fermented hot sauces have low ph, so they are safe from nasties... Does freezing a pulp or peppers before change things due to weaker micro biolology chemical thingy something?

Fermentation will naturally drop your pH as the bacteria "eat" & transform the sugars into lactic acid and CO2. Once my fermentation is complete (with fresh or frozen peppers) I bring my ferment to a boil (a few minutes) to ensure I kill any remaining Lacto and fermentation is completely stopped, I then measure the pH and adjust accordingly (if necessary) before bottling.

 

[Tinkerbelle]

I ended up making chilli relish from a bag of last year's peppers, got room in the fridge for 1 jar, another 5 bags of peppers still in the freezer so I shall be experimenting You know what us girls are like, minimum effort for maximum pleasure