Hey folks,
First post, long time lurker!. I've been doing a nauseating amount of reading online for info on lacto-fermenting peppers and hot sauce making. Its been difficult to gather all of the little bits and pieces of information that seem so scattered around the internet but I've kept my notes fairly organized. So far I'm on my 12th fermentation batch (all sliced peppers, no mashes) and have pretty much learned that not everything is written in stone when you're working with a 2-10% window of brine creation. I know 10% is on the high end and is used for mashes, but it's worth mentioning. From reading through many different how-to guides and recipes, I've defined four different methods of brine creation (I don't know if anyone has used these terms before but if they have, I didn't mean to copy):
Exclusive Brine: Water weight used to calculate desired salt %, then added to veggies
Example: Achieve a 3.5% brine by dissolving 6 grams salt to every cup of water necessary to top off container. Then pour over peppers. Pepper weight/volume not taken into account.
Volume Inclusive Brine: Combined water + veggie volume used to calculate desired salt %
Example: Jar is packed with sliced peppers and topped to desired height with unsalted water. Peppers and water together take up 3 cups of volume in a quart jar. Water is strained, 18 grams of salt is dissolved to make a 3.5% inclusive brine, then re-added to the jar.
Weight Inclusive Brine: Combined water + veggie weight used to calculate desired salt %
Example: Vegetables are weighed before being put into the jar. The jar is packed with sliced peppers and topped to desired height with unsalted water. Water is strained, weighed, and then the total weight of the peppers + the water weight is calculated. This total weight is then multiplied by 0.035 and the new number is then the amount of salt dissolved to make a 3.5% inclusive brine. Salt is added to the water and then the water is re-added to the jar.
Self (Dry) Brine: Veggie weight used to achieve desired salt %. Salt draws liquid from veggies to create its own brine
Example: Veggies are weighed, then processed/diced. The total weight of the peppers is multiplied by 0.10 (10% dry brine) to calculate the salt you have to add. The pepper mash is added to the jar in layers while salt is added and coaxed into the mash with a pressing motion using a non reactive spoon.
The two inclusive brines probably sound way too complicated but I kept reading recipes saying that pepper weight/volume needed to be taken into account when calculating the brine. The examples are the only way I could think of to easily/accurately do this. So far I've tried every sort of brine and each one ferments as well as the other. The only difference is the amount of salt content that sits inside each jar.
Maybe an inclusive brine would be better for vegetables with a higher water content? Or maybe just stick to an exclusive brine because it still works and is less to think about. I think I'm going to do that.
I hope that's not all too confusing. I was confused when I first started out because I thought the % had to be dead on for it to work. Then I learned that it's a pretty forgiving figure. At least for sliced pepper ferments. I'm not a fan of mashes.
Thoughts?
First post, long time lurker!. I've been doing a nauseating amount of reading online for info on lacto-fermenting peppers and hot sauce making. Its been difficult to gather all of the little bits and pieces of information that seem so scattered around the internet but I've kept my notes fairly organized. So far I'm on my 12th fermentation batch (all sliced peppers, no mashes) and have pretty much learned that not everything is written in stone when you're working with a 2-10% window of brine creation. I know 10% is on the high end and is used for mashes, but it's worth mentioning. From reading through many different how-to guides and recipes, I've defined four different methods of brine creation (I don't know if anyone has used these terms before but if they have, I didn't mean to copy):
Exclusive Brine: Water weight used to calculate desired salt %, then added to veggies
Example: Achieve a 3.5% brine by dissolving 6 grams salt to every cup of water necessary to top off container. Then pour over peppers. Pepper weight/volume not taken into account.
Volume Inclusive Brine: Combined water + veggie volume used to calculate desired salt %
Example: Jar is packed with sliced peppers and topped to desired height with unsalted water. Peppers and water together take up 3 cups of volume in a quart jar. Water is strained, 18 grams of salt is dissolved to make a 3.5% inclusive brine, then re-added to the jar.
Weight Inclusive Brine: Combined water + veggie weight used to calculate desired salt %
Example: Vegetables are weighed before being put into the jar. The jar is packed with sliced peppers and topped to desired height with unsalted water. Water is strained, weighed, and then the total weight of the peppers + the water weight is calculated. This total weight is then multiplied by 0.035 and the new number is then the amount of salt dissolved to make a 3.5% inclusive brine. Salt is added to the water and then the water is re-added to the jar.
Self (Dry) Brine: Veggie weight used to achieve desired salt %. Salt draws liquid from veggies to create its own brine
Example: Veggies are weighed, then processed/diced. The total weight of the peppers is multiplied by 0.10 (10% dry brine) to calculate the salt you have to add. The pepper mash is added to the jar in layers while salt is added and coaxed into the mash with a pressing motion using a non reactive spoon.
The two inclusive brines probably sound way too complicated but I kept reading recipes saying that pepper weight/volume needed to be taken into account when calculating the brine. The examples are the only way I could think of to easily/accurately do this. So far I've tried every sort of brine and each one ferments as well as the other. The only difference is the amount of salt content that sits inside each jar.
Maybe an inclusive brine would be better for vegetables with a higher water content? Or maybe just stick to an exclusive brine because it still works and is less to think about. I think I'm going to do that.
I hope that's not all too confusing. I was confused when I first started out because I thought the % had to be dead on for it to work. Then I learned that it's a pretty forgiving figure. At least for sliced pepper ferments. I'm not a fan of mashes.
Thoughts?
