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fermenting Slight black spots on fermented pepper

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Newcomer

I was hoping I could have someone with experience take a look at one of my ferments.  I've attached a photo.   I've been a lurker for a good while but this is my first post. 
 
Anyway, there's a few peppers with the black all over it and a couple of more where the black seems to originate from where the stem was removed.   I imagine it is some type of mold?  
 
Should the whole thing be pitched?   Or should I remove the affected peppers?  
 
 
Here is the photo:   
 
       https://imgur.com/a/an5GV
 
 I've got a beer sampling glass wedged in the top to keep everything down.    Why is this happening?  I'd appreciate any help.    
 
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How does it smell?
How long has it been going?
Did it get very active in the beginning?
What was your brine recipe? Got enough salt?
Did you use any starter? if so, what kind?
 
Quickest answer is to toss it but you need to know how it happened so you don't repeat the same mistake.
 
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Welcome to THP!  Are those whole peppers in the ferment?  If so there could have been some nasties inside the peppers before you put them in the brine.  The answers to Hawaiianero's questions will help, but at this point if those whole peppers had/have active nasties working then I'd pitch the whole batch.  I always cut open all peppers/ingredients I'm fermenting to keep just such things from happening.  
 
Best of luck newcomer!  :)
 
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Appreciate the quick replies guys. I just ended up pitching the whole batch. Disappointed

there was no mold inside the peppers I cut open, all seemed to originate externally and around the stem base.

It was dated September 9th, and they were whole white bullet habaneros(many
Not ripe I realize) with a small amount of red bell pepper and preminced garlic.

I want to say it was about 1 tablespoon of salt per that whole batch.I've yet to read any consistently reliable info on the amount of salt to be used, but it seems to be about 2-12% Of weight?
I'm thinking a problem might be temperature? The AC was turned off and we had uptick in heat and the pantry it was in probably sat over 72 or more degrees for a few days.My experiments fermenting thus far haven't been too successful. But I've got a ton of white bullets to spare.


I'm also going to use an airlock system like you would use brewing a jug of wine next time.


I'm definitely interested to learn from the experienced members here. The information I've found through Google seems so varied. I love hot sauce and excited to refine my much needed fermenting skills.


Thanks!
 
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Yea like others have said mold could be dangerous, not just cuz of the mold or its spores but some molds release toxins as it metabolizes. Toxins that can't be inactivated by cooking.
 
In the past when I pickled a few things, we would give it a steam bath. After cutting up the vegetables we would steam it for just a minute or 2 to kill off any nasty microbes. The problem with this method though is that you would then have to inoculate the new batch with some juice from a older batch that was successful. Maybe this could be helpful in the future
 
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So I think I've figured the problem guys.

I'm pretty sure those peppers were moldy internally from the start.

Unfortunately with the hundreds of tiny habeneros I just didn't want to go through a whole quart to check each one internally.

The plant as a whole is mostly good, but every now and then I'll get a few with internal mold. (My
Peach ghost chilies had a big problem with this this year, and a few of my kracken scorpions)


I'll keep trying though! Going to grind more mash in about 5 minutes and put it in a recently used Four Roses bourbon bottle with an airlock system, so crossing my fingers on this one.
 
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Definitely.   I ended up with about a pound of mash, and did about 8-10%  salt.   Added some water only because I forgot to dissolve the salt before I put it in the bottle and needed the water to mix it up.   Threw in few cloves of  minced garlic and a bit of sugar  and some black pepper as well.   
 
 
 
I'm really worried it will still end up being too salty, and skeptical that I will end up with a product I'm completely satisfied with.    I've got too many peppers that I know what to do with and I still hate throwing them out. 
 
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BurnTtongue said:
Yea like others have said mold could be dangerous, not just cuz of the mold or its spores but some molds release toxins as it metabolizes. Toxins that can't be inactivated by cooking.
 
In the past when I pickled a few things, we would give it a steam bath. After cutting up the vegetables we would steam it for just a minute or 2 to kill off any nasty microbes. The problem with this method though is that you would then have to inoculate the new batch with some juice from a older batch that was successful. Maybe this could be helpful in the future
Click to expand...
Cool,  this is the first I've read about doing a steam bath.   
 
I don't have any successful juice left over,  but I imagine a tablespoon or so of Kimchi juice would work?   Or would I need more?   I'm not really interested in accelerating my ferment so time isn't a huge issue,  so I'm wondering if adding starter is completely necessary?     
 
Thanks for the information!
 
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One note about a steam bath - the high temps will likely kill the lacto bacteria you're counting on to ferment the mash.  When fermenting I will wash my peppers, cut them in half (to check for interior mold) and then I'll either ferment as is or put the whole batch through a food processor prior to fermentation.  
 
Kimchi juice is an excellent starter for fermentation, as is whey or Caldwell's or a bit of a previous successful mash.  The key point being you're fermenting the best quality ingredients.  I shoot for 4% salt by weight of mash, and usually add a little more salt 'just to be safe'.  Don't worry about the final product being 'too salty' as you can adjust flavors during cookdown to balance that salt.  Here is a link to a tutorial I did a while back, perhaps it can be of some use.  
 
Bottom line:  Don't allow initial failures to hold you up.  Fermentation is one of the oldest food preservation techniques and it's very easy once you master the basics.  Keep going, and post pics/results newcomer!  :)
 
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