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fermenting Roasted red bell pepper ferment

Hey all,
 
It's been quite a while since I've posted, but I figured I'd share my most recent ferment.  Probably the best tasting sauce I've made so far - just a bit too runny because I overdid the brine.
 
I wanted to do a simple, versatile sauce with only pepper flavors which would be approachable to people without a high spice tolerance.  Seeing as I only had large quantities of hots/superhots, this meant that I had to grab about 8 red bell peppers from the supermarket.  I've shown the other peppers:
  • Black Pearls (these taste very much like red bells when they're roasted but have a heat around that of a habanero)
  • Bhut x Fatali F2 (Probably.  I got some of these from Speicegeist last year, but I didn't mark them when I planted and they look very different.  This would not be unusual for an F2.)
  • Cayenne
  • Yellow 7 Pot
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I roasted all these and removed most of the seeds.  Then pureed 'em in a blender and cooked them on the stove for a bit to try to get things as sterile as possible.  Added some sugar, brine, and whey from some yogurt and let it sit for two months.
 
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Following fermentation, I decided to cook 'em again on the stove and bottle 'em up with a little bit of white wine vinegar (just to be certain they would remain stable).  I took a bit of it and did a much more dramatic vinegar/mash ratio to mimic classic Tabasco.
 
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As I said above, this is the best tasting sauce I've ever made.  It's not superhot, it's not complex, but it's damn good.  It tastes like hot peppers, and that's what I wanted.
 
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I've thought about roasting peppers before fermenting them and was not sure how they would ferment.  But it went well?  Was it pretty active using the whey?  I've never used whey so I would prob use juice from another ferment.
 
chsy83 said:
Looks good, gonna have to try cooking with Black pearl sometime . . .

I've only had one at the purple/green stage.
 
I highly recommend it.  The flavor is a lot more pronounced at the later stages.
 
 
patrad said:
I've thought about roasting peppers before fermenting them and was not sure how they would ferment.  But it went well?  Was it pretty active using the whey?  I've never used whey so I would prob use juice from another ferment.
 
It changes the flavor profile when you roast the peppers.  The sauce definitely tastes less "fresh" but it develops a mellow, roasted flavor, which I love.  The whey was very active after it got started.  Took a week or so to really get going, though.
 
Tigeris said:
 
I highly recommend it.  The flavor is a lot more pronounced at the later stages.
 
 
 
It changes the flavor profile when you roast the peppers.  The sauce definitely tastes less "fresh" but it develops a mellow, roasted flavor, which I love.  The whey was very active after it got started.  Took a week or so to really get going, though.
 
Yes I love roasted habs so I may do this next.  And roasted garlic.  Maybe a mix of some roasted, some fresh.
 
The sauce looks great!
When you roasted and then cooked the mash, I'm sure you killed all of the good yeast on the peppers?? I'm assuming, you would have to use a starter for this ferment. Did you let the mash totally cool before adding the whey??
(new guy questions)
 
slingshot13 said:
The sauce looks great!
When you roasted and then cooked the mash, I'm sure you killed all of the good yeast on the peppers?? I'm assuming, you would have to use a starter for this ferment. Did you let the mash totally cool before adding the whey??
(new guy questions)
 
Good questions!  I'll answer to the best of my ability, but I also recommend checking out this topic for more info on fermenting peppers!
 
1) Pepper ferments usually rely on lactobacillus bacteria for fermentation instead of yeasts.  The (basic) difference is that sugar+yeast=alcohol+CO2 and sugar+lactobacillus=lactic acid+CO2.  Both have preservative effects, but the lacto bacteria are generally thought to produce a better taste.  Yeast is often considered a negative element (but not ruinous) to have in ferments.
 
2) Because we're using lacto bacteria, the whey is my starter.  Lacto bacteria are found in yogurt whey.
 
3) Yes, I wait for the mash to cool from hot to warm before adding my whey.
 
I hope that answers your questions!  I hope if I have made a mistake somebody will point it out to me!
 
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