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What to do with 7+lbs of peppers?

mikeinsc

mikeinsc

Good ol Jack F. visited my pepper plants the other night when I was out with a girl. He turned all the leaves to a dark green mush. It was now time to harvest the remaining peppers from the plants and call it a season.

From 4 Bhut Jolokia plants I harvested 5.5lbs of mostly unripe pods. The other pepper plants accounted for about 2lbs of peppers. Those plants were 2 Jalapeno,2 Cayenne and 3 Serrano. The remaining Tabasco and Cascabel plants did not contribute anything useful.

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I hope that the 6.5gal fermenting bucket arrives from Leeners by the end of the week. Maybe it will come with the answer of what the recipe will be for the mash. As it is now, it will only consist of the peppers and some live culture yogurt whey. Or, if I can find my baking/pastry textbook I'll use a sourdough starter. I do know that I will look for a smooth flavor first and then follow with the heat.
 
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I was going to suggest putting the partially ripe pods in a brown paper bag, but it looks like you are on your way to bigger and better things!

Keep posting :)
SL
 
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Very nice harvest Mike I think some in India prefer their Bhut Jolokia pods green, will make a very nice sauce but could be hard to ferment unripe pods. I'd go ahead and use those chopped pods and make a salsa verde. Very nice to meet you finally somebody from THP glad to help out anytime.
 
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Cappy,
what would make it dificult to ferment green pods? Oh, I was going to call you over the weekend to get a few more bottles of the brain strain sauce. My grandfather, brother and a few folks at Mt. Pleasant fire dept want some of their own bottles.


I do wonder and slightly worry how much sauce I'll be left with at the end of the process. My guess is that I could easily make in the neighborhood of 5 - 10 gallons of sauce. Thats before it becomes so dilluted that it looses it's flavor.
 
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I don't know why green pods don't ferment well but have tried myself and had to throw that batch away. Lack of moisture maybe or unripe pods low sugar content really I don't know, sure someone has done it just didn't work for me. All woozies are sold out ATM, batch#2 done brewing and heading back to the kitchen for bottling again soon. That is cool to know my own fire dept. has tried my hot sauce and it sets them a fire, woohoo! It won't be long I'll let you know not changing the recipe this time. :mouthonfire:

As far as how much sauce you'll make there are 96 ounces per gallon so just under 20 woozies. I like to add as little vinegar as possible mine is straight fermented peppers.
 
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I'm thinking of using vodka. But what concerns me is the ability of alcohol to dissolve the color of the pepper. I'm sure there is a way around that and maybe someone here will know.
 
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I havent been getting any great reaction out of my attempt at mashing. So yesterday, I added another dose of yogurt coupled with with bloomed yeast as well as a bit of added sugar. I've also placed the fermenter on a a seedling heat mat to get the temp of the peppers up. It's been really cold here which I believe has been inhibiting the process.

We shall soon see if this helped. At least I have no bad growths just yet.
 
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You're probably on the money with the too cold to ferment reasoning Mike. I had the same issue and solved it by wrapping the bottle in a towel and placing it on top of the fridge. Couple of days after that I had some bubbles. Hopefully the heat mat will get things going for you. Good luck.
 
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mikeinsc said:
Started the mash today.

Peppers, Sea Salt, Sugar
and Yogurt with lactobacillus acidophilus. I found the yogurt at Whole Foods.

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Click to expand...

You used acidophilus it's Homofermentative. Which means that it produces only lactic acid and no CO[sup]2[/sup] so it won't bubble. If you want to see if it's working right you will need to measure it's PH, though you can often tell just by the smell.
 
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DaQatz said:
You used acidophilus it's Homofermentative. Which means that it produces only lactic acid and no CO[sup]2[/sup] so it won't bubble. If you want to see if it's working right you will need to measure it's PH, though you can often tell just by the smell.
Click to expand...


Thanks for that bit of info. The smell is wonderful. Not sure how to describe it other than I could be swathed in it and be very happy.
 
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It seems that all is lost. I have a white mold growing on the mash. Which is odd to me considering that the Ph is right around 4 according to the test strip. Guess I will try again in a year. :doh:
 
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I still haven't tossed the batch just yet. I'm wondering if it can be saved. I've been in food service for a long time and anything that grows mold receives a new home in the trash. But in this case, I'm looking for something to ferment. Which leads me to wonder if this is a beneficial mold such as you find in cheese or not.

So,how does one tell whether it is still good or not? The Ph according to my new Hannah Ph tester is at 3.9.

Can I skim off the affected area and still be good?

Should the entire pepper concoction be covered by water or some other liquid to prevent air getting to the pepper?


Thanks for any advice.
 
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