Lacto-Fermentation

[stearns]

I know I’ve talked to a few people about lacto-fermentation but I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread specific to it. I got interested in lacto-fermentation a few years ago after finding out how easy it is, and have been using it regularly to make sauces and ingredients. The most commonly known uses for this is with cabbage, such as sauerkraut or kimchi, but you can really use it with any vegetables. The process uses “Lactobacillus” bacteria that’s already present on all plants, and only takes a little bit of salt (2% by weight) to pull them out and get the process started.

The process is straight forward – cut up whatever you want to ferment, weigh and put in a jar, make a salt water mixture using 2% of the total weight and fill up the jar until the brine barely covers the solids. Put a weight on it to try to stop anything from floating to the top, then put an airlock on it to let out co2 without letting in oxygen and wait.

A few weeks ago I went down to Pueblo CO, an old farming town that has their own type of chili pepper that I wanted to check out. I went to one of the bigger farms and got a whole bunch of different peppers to ferment for different projects. Without really knowing what I was doing, I got (from sweet to hot) Sweet Lilac, White Dove, Sweet Marconi, Sweet Yum Yum, Big Jim Hot Anaheim, Pueblo, Ancho. I took three big mason jars and made a mixture for eating/cooking with on their own, a mixture that will be turned into a hot sauce, and one that was just fire roasted pueblos with a little garlic. I did a few test batches a while back with regular Anaheims to figure out the best way to ferment “roasted peppers” to follow the local trend of roasting these chilis in the big drums, which everybody usually freezes to use during the rest of the year. I ended on just blistering the skin with a kitchen torch, the end product is less mushy than using fully roasted peppers, but still has a little smoky flavor.

I chopped these up and put in their respective jars, filled with brine and let them sit. After one day I could start seeing the first bubbles form, which increased over the rest of the week. After one week I took out the weight (I use glass ones I bought off amazon but you can use a smaller mason jar, they fit in the wide mouth top) and stirred it up, at which point it looked like it was churning with all the activity. I let it sit for two more weeks, then this morning stirred them again. It is still making bubbles, but it’s slowing down, probably a few more weeks until they are done fermenting completely.

https://s2.postimg.org/x3qxhyl49/IMG_20170805_104806.jpg
https://s2.postimg.org/jj05iu5bd/IMG_20170805_172700.jpg
https://s2.postimg.org/4cu3rwfah/IMG_20170806_120817.jpg
https://s2.postimg.org/f3hqdksx5/IMG_20170806_133024_1.jpg
https://s2.postimg.org/brjfka161/IMG_20170806_151030.jpg

I’m making this thread to go through this particular batch as well as start a conversation with anybody else who might be into experimenting with lacto-fermentation, and talk about any batches in the future. Anybody else play around with this?

[stearns]

To add on that, yesterday I picked up some hatch chilis and roasted them with a torch the same way I did with the pueblos to ferment alongside in a 4th jar, to see the difference when they’re done as they often compared to each other. As you can see after 3 weeks the colors have dulled (both started out a similar color of green). I'll keep updating with this one as well

https://s2.postimg.org/5ufk3gk15/IMG_20170826_204133.jpg
https://s2.postimg.org/pvapexizt/IMG_20170827_092937.jpg

[markem]

Sweet! and spicy... :tu

[Porch Dweller]

Those look great!

[stearns]

Picking up a used bourbon barrel from Great Divide Brewing tomorrow (used for bourbon then used for barrel aged beer), plan is to cut up one of the staves and put in the hot sauce mason jar when it's done fermenting to age for a few months. I used oak chips in my last fermented hot sauce and it added a nice subtle complexity to the final product, but using wood in chip form was a terrible idea logistically (had to pick out all the smaller pieces with tweezers before blending into a sauce). Hoping this will be easier and add more flavor, since they're used instead of raw oak chips. Got a few other ideas to use some of the other staves, but this is a definite

[Chainsaw13]

I have a pepper sauce in the works right now, combination of some beautifully orange Perron peppers and a couple orange habs. I believe it has garlic in it as well, plus some oak blocks. Been fermenting for ~5 months? I really need to take better notes. I plan to process and bottle sometime over the winter.

I want to get another batch going soon. A chef friend that ferments just about anything, talked about a hot sauce he did where it included a local brewery IPA in the mix. If I can get to the farmers market this weekend, I plan to buy a bunch and give that a try myself.

[stearns]

The IPA added after the fermentation I assume? very interesting. I have some heady topper hot sauce I got as a gift from somebody who went to the brewery, more of an onion flavor than hot but still really good, I bet that's how they did it. Maybe if I'm feeling creative once these stop bubbling so much I'll ferment some stuff to make a sauce using beers to finish (love some of the local sours, I bet if I did a mix of stuff that goes well with a cherry or raspberry I could combine with a beer and make something really interesting)

[massphatness]

Was hoping for something different in this thread
:sad

[Tio Gato]

Was hoping for something different in this thread
:sad

:r

[stearns]

Was hoping for something different in this thread
:sad

Sorry to disappoint by only having pictures of food :sl

[stearns]

Took out the four jars to give a stir and inspect, the three pueblo project jars have mellowed in terms of fermentation activity, very few bubbles but they smell great. Gonna leave them to hang for another month or so and inspect again. One of the jars, the one that will become a hot sauce, has been forming a very small amount of Kahm Yeast (http://www.fermentools.com/blog/what-is-kahm-yeast/) on the top. This usually occurs in ~20% of my ferments, and while it's a little ugly it's nothing I worry about. This is especially true with something that will become a hot sauce, because I will eventually add vinegar which should create a PH environment to neutralize any yeast formations

https://s26.postimg.org/wqk3b5ntl/IMG_20170827_092645.jpg

As for the hatch chilis, they are still fermenting rigorously, the jar smelled and sounded like sticking your nose over a freshly opened seltzer. Gonna revisit in a few weeksw and see if it's calmed down at all

[Chainsaw13]

I popped open my latest pepper ferment to add to it. I was under estimated to think a couple lbs of peppers would fill a 2gal bucket. I had a big of green mold which I removed. Added the latest batch of peppers/salt. Now the buckets almost half filled.

[stearns]

How long since you started the ferment? do you notice any ill effects of adding to a batch that's already going? Do you just add more brine equivalent to the amount of salt for the additional portion? I've thought about the idea of doing this to add a variety of textures to the final product, but I don't know if it would actually make a difference

[Chainsaw13]

How long since you started the ferment? do you notice any ill effects of adding to a batch that's already going? Do you just add more brine equivalent to the amount of salt for the additional portion? I've thought about the idea of doing this to add a variety of textures to the final product, but I don't know if it would actually make a difference

The original was started last week Saturday. I hadn't seen any airlock action, but then there was so much head space to make up for in the bucket. I don't use a brine, I just do % of salt (usually 3.5%) to weight of the peppers. There's enough liquid in the peppers to create it's own brine. This go around though, does have 12oz of a NE-IPA added. Got the idea from a chef friend.

[stearns]

Interesting, I've done a liquid brine every time but one, I did some cherries "dry fermented" after seeing it on mind of a chef (or one of those shows), but it didn't have too much juice and I haven't revisited those in a while to see how they're doing.

Very curious to hear how things are going with the beer in there while it's fermenting, I was thinking about ways to incorporate beer but I thought it might mess with the process if you do it while they're still churning, let me know how it goes please :tu

[Chainsaw13]

Will do. I"m keeping it in the kitchen now too, see if the slightly warmer temps help kick off the ferment. Basement's running low to mid 60's now.

[nutcracker]

Just chopped up a bunch of peppers I got at a famrnwrs market (inspired by this thread)
Sitting quietly in a jug - will post pictures in a few days....

[Chainsaw13]

Just chopped up a bunch of peppers I got at a famrnwrs market (inspired by this thread)
Sitting quietly in a jug - will post pictures in a few days....

Did you add any salt?

[stearns]

I was at a spice shop in Fort Collins on Saturday and saw they had "fermented chili flakes," I gave them a little taste and it was pretty good, but thought maybe I could make it myself. Yesterday morning I took a handfull of some sweet and spicy fermented thai chilis I made last year that have just been sitting around and cut them in strips/laid out on a parchment paper, along with about a dozen cloves of fermented garlic cut extra thin because why not. I put these in the oven starting at 200* but eventually working my way down to my oven's minimum, 170*, checking every 30 minutes. After 2 hours the peppers were dried and close to crumbling, but the garlic would still bend. I took the peppers out and into the spice grinder, where they broke down quite nicely. I put the garlic in for another hour and while it got a lot darker, it never really got the the point that it would break instead of bend. I figured any longer and they might start to burn so I gave up and took them out, even though they were still maliable I put them in the spice grinder and it actually turned into a nice powder, darker than your typical garlic powder but much better result than I was expecting.

All of that good stuff aside I ended with... about a teaspoon of each. I haven't tasted them yet but the smell is very concentrated and pungent, much funkier than the one I tasted in the store. Don't know if it's worth all the effort to make such a small amount, I guess that depends on how much I need to really impart that spicy sour flavor I was going for, I'll update when I do some more taste testing :dr

https://s26.postimg.org/a5p6h64wp/IMG_20170917_121618.jpg
(before going in the oven, didn't take any pictures of the final product)

[Chainsaw13]

Ben, not sure if I mentioned this, but if your on FB join the group "The Salt Cured Pickle". Lots of good info there for fermenting all kinds of foods.

[stearns]

hmm, haven't been on facebook in a while but it might be worth logging in to get some ideas, I'm sure there are a ton of groups out there experimenting. When I bought some glass weights on amazon it came with a "free membership" to some sort of fermentation club/message board, gotta check that out as well

[AdamJoshua]

Saw a woman doing this in the mall, some people were outraged, but cooking is cooking.

[stearns]

Gave the jars a check today, the initial three show no signs of continued fermentation, I gave them a stir anyways and put them back to sit. The more recent hatch chili one still has a little bit of activity but it's getting to the end

A couple weeks ago I broke down the barrel I bought, and took a few staves to lightly sand and cut into 5-6" pieces. I put two of these in the jar fermenting the hot sauce, gonna let those sit for a few months to really let it mingle. Side note, when I was cutting the staves it smelled like delicious beer, it made me thirsty :al

https://s26.postimg.org/o50iqecpl/IMG_20170929_112208.jpg

[stearns]

Checked on these again yesterday, been almost 5 months and all fermentation is definitely completed, but they're just hanging out in the jars waiting for something to happen. The only one I currently have a plan for is the hot sauce jar that I put the barrel staves in, it's smelling amazing almost fruity, hopefully get a chance to do some more work on that one soon. I've made sauce a few different ways, but I think I need a food mill (something like this (https://smile.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grips-Food-Mill/dp/B000I0MGKE/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1515429088&sr=1-3&keywords=food+mill)) to really get the most out of the peppers (although puree and strain has treated me well in the past).

As for the other jars, I might end up blending them into the hot sauce depending on how things are tasting, I always want to experiment with stuff when I have no real goal in mind, I love having jars of fermented peppers around but I find I don't use them as much, I use hot sauces a lot more so miscellaneous jars usually end up being turned into hot sauce then given away. I don't know if I want to one day get a solid recipe and "mass produce" a dozen bottles or so, or if I want to keep doing on-off production runs. For now I'll keep playing and taking notes :D

[Chainsaw13]

I'm contemplating putting a stave in the jar I of peppers I have going right now. It's been fermenting for 5-6 months, maybe longer. Fermentation is complete, but now it's just letting the flavors mature.

I put up two jars of brussel sprout kimchi right after Christmas. Still fermenting away happily. I ate a little bit last week with a dinner I prepared. Still very crunchy but already taking on some of the sour flavor you get with kimchi. Definitely a winner.

As a side note, if you run the solids through a food mill (I need to pick one up too), save them and dehydrate. You can grind further if you'd like. Use as further seasoning, or mix with a salt, etc. I have a jar of two year old fermented garlic scapes I need to process this way.

Oh, the brine from the scapes I"m thinking of using to brine some chicken to then batter/fry. :dr

[stearns]

Thanks for the tips, I've dried full fermented peppers to use in spices but when I strain I always end up throwing away the leftover gunk, I'll definitely save and dry this time.

As for the brine, I use it in stir fries and stuff like that but I've never re-used it for brining purposes. I think the stuff that comes out of my peppers could be a bit too spicy to use to brine a bird, but I bet if I mixed it with regular ol' salt water to dilute it would be pretty tasty :dr

[stearns]

Alright Bob, you got me thinking. Last night I was cooking some chicken breasts in the instant pot to use in a salad, after giving the outsides a quick sear I split them up in two batches to pressure cook, using a trivet so the chicken was not physically touching any liquid. The first I did using 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup chicken broth for liquid at the bottom of the pressure cooker, the second I used 1/3 cup fermented pepper brine and 2/3 cup water. While I wouldn't call the second one "spicy" (the original brine had a little kick but it wasn't from one of my hot pepper runs), it definitely had a little pepper and funk to it, in a good way. It wasn't enough to call it completely different than the control so I ended up mixing them together to eat, but I think if I upped that to 2/3 cup brine it may impart a significant amount of flavor. I'll give that a shot next time

[Chainsaw13]

Interesting idea, glad to hear it worked.

I'm looking at getting either a 1 or 2 gallon crock. Local home brew store has them in stock for good prices, better than Amazon. I want to start doing larger batches of pepper ferments. Reading through a friends recipe, sounds like he continues to add to the crock until it's filled.

[stearns]

I really want to start doing bigger batches, I just have no use for that many peppers, I have a hard time using all the stuff I've built up so far

[stearns]

Made a small batch of hot sauce last weekend, using 50% (110g) fire-roasted fermented hatch chiles and 50% fire-roasted fermented pueblo chiles, along with another ~75g of brine from the hatch chiles (didn't measure volume, just added to the processor that was already on the scale). Still no food mill, need to leave some kitchen gadgets on the registry, but I used the ol' spoon and sieve method to get pretty much all the liquid out of the pulp. The goal was to do a small batch, so when I ended with 7oz it was perfect, filled up and sealed a 5oz bottle to send out and another 2oz for me to try.

The sauce itself looks great, no noticeable separation and just enough little black specks from the charred pepper skin to give it a good aesthetic. I dried out the leftover pulp and ground it in my new mortar and pestle (kinda old but hadn't used yet), the ground pepper that came out smells heavenly, funky and spicy but heavy on the charred end since most of the charred pepper skin ended up not making it through the sieve into the sauce. Only produced about a tablespoon of dried powder, but I think a little will go a long way with this stuff. Thanks for the tip Bob!

[Chainsaw13]

That's awesome Ben! I'm still need to get a food mill too, so I can finally process the batch I've had going since last fall.

[Porch Dweller]

That sounds really tasty!

[shilala]

That's awesome Ben! I'm still need to get a food mill too, so I can finally process the batch I've had going since last fall.
Didn't you get a tomato strainer for on your kitchenaid mixer?
Or was that me? Wait. Yeah, I know I have one.
Maybe you were just whoring onto someone else's thread cause you needed one?

Anyways, those hand mills like Ben linked, those are for mashed potatoes. That's about it. Every polander on the hill has one, it's law.
But they even suck for tomatoes, and they don't deal with seeds at all. The spinner rides up on the seeds, then you gotta spin backwards, then you forward two spins and it quits working again, then you curse and wish you got a proper saucer.

An old tomato saucer is king. But the attachment for the kitchenaid mixer is pretty boss, too. Same difference, it's just more fun with the old grinder for little batches.

[shilala]

I really want to start doing bigger batches, I just have no use for that many peppers, I have a hard time using all the stuff I've built up so far
Christmas baskets, brother.
We put up tons upon tons of stuff when I had the farm. We made "Homemade Goodness" baskets for the whole family, friends, everyone at Christmas.
Jam some homemade sketti noodles and fresh homemade bread along with all the other goodness and they were always a huge hit.

[stearns]

Didn't you get a tomato strainer for on your kitchenaid mixer?
Or was that me? Wait. Yeah, I know I have one.
Maybe you were just whoring onto someone else's thread cause you needed one?

Anyways, those hand mills like Ben linked, those are for mashed potatoes. That's about it. Every polander on the hill has one, it's law.
But they even suck for tomatoes, and they don't deal with seeds at all. The spinner rides up on the seeds, then you gotta spin backwards, then you forward two spins and it quits working again, then you curse and wish you got a proper saucer.

An old tomato saucer is king. But the attachment for the kitchenaid mixer is pretty boss, too. Same difference, it's just more fun with the old grinder for little batches.

You talkin about something like this (https://smile.amazon.com/KitchenAid-FVSFGA-Vegetable-Strainer-Attachment/dp/B00004SGFJ/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1520447689&sr=8-5&keywords=food+mill+kitchenaid)? Or a manual grinder like this? (https://smile.amazon.com/Tomato-Strainer-Purees-Peeling-Deseeding/dp/B00INM49MW/ref=sr_1_7_sspa?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1520447912&sr=1-7-spons&keywords=tomato+strainer+kitchenaid&psc=1) Please point me in the right direction, I've only used a food mill for making gnocchi once a long time back so I guess I can only speak to it's use with potatoes, but I need something that doesn't get seeds stuck under it for grinding up peppers. Learn me some of your brain thinking!

[T.G]

Scott, any reason a good blender like a Vitamix or BlendTec wouldn't work?

I blend whole peppers with seeds, whole peppercorns, coriander, dried whole seed spices, even dried star anise in my virtamix when making sauces.

[Chainsaw13]

Scott, any reason a good blender like a Vitamix or BlendTec wouldn't work?

I blend whole peppers with seeds, whole peppercorns, coriander, dried whole seed spices, even dried star anise in my virtamix when making sauces.

That's what I currently do too, in my Vitamix. However, the latest sauce I'm working on has yellow/orange flesh and black seeds. I'd rather not have the seed impart anything on the overall color.

I like the idea of the manual grinder, mostly from a cost perspective.

[T.G]

A few months back, Ben sent me some sample bottles of his fermented jalapeno hot sauce and it was fantastic. It was very unique, had that flavor you can only get from lacto and was really well balanced, not over vinegary or salty like the handful of fermented chili sauces that are on the market.

So, first thing I did was dump a pound or so of serrano peppers into a fermenter after I finished a batch of pickles. That was a few weeks ago, added a pound of habaneros this morning.

Assuming I don't bump the temp up to accelerate it, I figure the fermentation has at least a few weeks left, if not longer.

So, my question for Bob and Ben and anyone else doing this, what are you guys doing to kill the lacto at the end - are you boiling, killing it with high salt concentration or just relying on a pH adjustment from an acid? Or a combo? I see good and bad in all of them when it comes to how it will change the flavor and texture.

[Chainsaw13]

I've always mixed with vinegar at the end. But then I've let my ferments go months.

I had a friend who's a master at all things fermentation suggest pastuerizing with my sous vide. This was to kill a kahm yeast infection a batch of mine had.

[T.G]

I had a friend who's a master at all things fermentation suggest pastuerizing with my sous vide. This was to kill a kahm yeast infection a batch of mine had.

That's brilliant. Near minimum sterilization temp for a long exposure time kill; won't change the texture. Why didn't I think of that...

[Chainsaw13]

That's brilliant. Near minimum sterilization temp for a long exposure time kill; won't change the texture. Why didn't I think of that...

Yep my thoughts too. I've yet to try it so I'll be interested in your results.

[Porch Dweller]

I've been fermenting some of my jalapenos in batches all summer with a bit of onion and garlic to make hot sauces. I just add a bit of vinegar to the blender when pureeing them.

[Chainsaw13]

I've been fermenting some of my jalapenos in batches all summer with a bit of onion and garlic to make hot sauces. I just add a bit of vinegar to the blender when pureeing them.

:tu

[Chainsaw13]

Finally got down to Eastern Market in Detroit to pick up some peppers for this years batch of hot sauce. Though I had missed the season, but there were plenty to be had. Bought over 7lbs of assorted peppers including Serrano, cayenne, cherry bombs. Stemmed, chopped, processed with 5% salt and 5% garlic. Filled a 2 gallon fermenting bucket about 2/3 the way. Added two barrel staves I won from Stearns (Ben) in last years auction. Plastic wrap on top of all that, and weighted down with a ziplock bag filled with water. Gonna let this go an easy 6 months.

[stearns]

Sounds great Bob! Haven't done a run in a while, I still have way too many jars of different peppers fermented and waiting to be used

[Chainsaw13]

Checked my latest batch of hot sauce last night (a mix of orange bell, peron, orange habs, carrot, garlic, shallot, salt) to see how it’s doing. After a week the PH is down to ~4.1. Nice. I may let this only go a few more weeks before processing, after reading the first chapter in the book Ben sent me. See how it tastes without over fermenting.

Here’s a tip I picked up in a FB group on fermenting. After processing through my food mill, save and dehydrate the left overs for fermented chili flakes.

Also glad to check back in this thread. Seems my other batch is nearing the 4 month mark. Getting close.

[stearns]

Here’s a tip I picked up in a FB group on fermenting. After processing through my food mill, save and dehydrate the left overs for fermented chili flakes.

Highly recommend, I dehydrate in the oven at the lowest oven setting (I think mine is 170*) for many hours, probably 3-4 depending on how wet it was to start. I would use my dehydrator but I'm worried it will funk everything up for the next time I use it for fruit. The first time I did this was with some leftover pulp from a sauce run, it came out so good I took a full jar of some thai chiles I had fermented for no particular reason and dried them out completely then ground with a mortar and pestle, a pinch of that will make whatever I put in it a little tangy, just last week I put some in a roasted veggie dip and it brought it all together nicely :tu

[Chainsaw13]

Not really lacto fermented, or maybe even fermented. Trying a recipe out of the Noma cookbook (thanks again Ben). I have a batch of garum started. It’s an old Roman recipe for fish sauce. Grind up some fish, guts and all. Mix in a bunch of salt and some water. Cover and put into a container, then wait. After a number of months, the fish breaks down and creates a fish sauce. Strain and use. It’s similar to Asian fish sauce. Used some silver bass from yesterday’s fishing trip.

[stearns]

Can't wait to see how that one turns out :tu

[Chainsaw13]

Made a batch of this today.

https://timsfoodobsession.com/2018/09/08/miscela-esplosiva/ (cool blog too)

Not so much lacto-ferment, but similar method. I used both hot/sweet Calabrian pepper powders, as I have them on hand. It’s HOT! Can’t wait till it’s ready to use.

[stearns]

Looks interesting, reminds me of hot pepper relish I used to put on subs growing up, I bet it's delicious

[Chainsaw13]

Looks interesting, reminds me of hot pepper relish I used to put on subs growing up, I bet it's delicious

That’s exactly what I was shooting for. It’ll be interesting to see how the flavors meld over the next couple of weeks. Initial taste, the artichoke was the most dominant.

[Chainsaw13]

A month into my garum doing its thing. I moved it into my garage last week, to take advantage of the higher temps in there. In the one week, it's progressed a lot further than when in the basement. There's distinct layers as the autolysis does it's stuff.

[Chainsaw13]

Well crap. Took a peek at my pepper ferments. The red ferment I’ve had going for almost a year has green mold on it. Into the bin it goes.

[Porch Dweller]

Well crap. Took a peek at my pepper ferments. The red ferment I’ve had going for almost a year has green mold on it. Into the bin it goes.

Can't you just scoop out the mold from the top? Anything below the brine level should still be good.

[Chainsaw13]

Can't you just scoop out the mold from the top? Anything below the brine level should still be good.

I’ll have to take a closer look and see if it’s just on the brine.

[T.G]

Made a batch of this today.

https://timsfoodobsession.com/2018/09/08/miscela-esplosiva/ (cool blog too)

Not so much lacto-ferment, but similar method. I used both hot/sweet Calabrian pepper powders, as I have them on hand. It’s HOT! Can’t wait till it’s ready to use.


Had a big bag of random peppers so I made two batches, a medium and a hot, based off this recipe, left out a few ingredients due to carelessness or just not having them.

Right now, 24 hours later, they are at that "new pickle stage" in the ferment, where they still taste like what they are, but with a little lacto sour going and are still kind of crunchy. I swear, being a fan of new pickles, I could eat a whole jar right now with a spoon.

[Chainsaw13]

I just used some Adam, on a grilled eggplant sandwich I made for dinner. Still spicy hot af, but rounding out the flavors after a few months nicely.

[T.G]

Cool. I never added extra pepper powder, didn't see the need with the pepper blend being roughly 1/2 red jalapenos, 1/4 habaneros, and 1/4 some other pepper that I think were either Italian Hots or really big cayenne peppers. Be interesting to see how much the heat drops, if any, without the concentrated powder.

[Chainsaw13]

Started a new batch of red pepper hot sauce. A mix of red Anaheim and red lantern peppers, about 3300g in total. Another 200g of garlic and 4% salt. Hopefully this one doesn’t go bad like the last.

[Chainsaw13]

Started a new batch of red pepper hot sauce. A mix of red Anaheim and red lantern peppers, about 3300g in total. Another 200g of garlic and 4% salt. Hopefully this one doesn’t go bad like the last.

Decided to process tonight. Much to my dismay, mold. And on my other batch that was just over a year old. :gary

Enough trying to do large batches in buckets. Too much head space. Going to stick to half gallon or smaller batches.

[stearns]

Sad to hear Bob. I haven't run any batches of anything lately, decided to pickle my last pepper pickup of the year this year rather than ferment (and haven't made it through my first of five jars yet). Been a little too busy lately to start anything new but I'm planning on joining my CSA again this year so I'll do a few batches as things come into season. I haven't made any actual hot sauce in a while, I never really got the proportions right and the viscosity was always frustratingly thick, for my next sauce my focus will be getting that right, ideally something slightly thicker than a tobasco but can still come through the shaker hole on the top of a bottle

[T.G]

Oh, so I never came back to post a followup to the pepper-eggplant-carrot etc mash that Bob posted the link for.

Stuff came out really good. Added apple cider vinegar at the point where I wanted to stop the ferment and put it in the refrigerator.

Still have 2- 3 pints or so left.

Took a bunch of it and ran it through a low speed juicer a few times to make a bottle sauce.

Took the pulp from the low speed juicer and put it in a stainless bowl and put a fan on top of it blowing down so I could dehydrate the solids. Took a few days, then I ground them in the coffee grinder I keep just for spices. This stuff was awesome. Unfortunately, as you could imagine the yield is very low.

[sigsauer]

pics?

[Chainsaw13]

Oh, so I never came back to post a followup to the pepper-eggplant-carrot etc mash that Bob posted the link for.

Stuff came out really good. Added apple cider vinegar at the point where I wanted to stop the ferment and put it in the refrigerator.

Still have 2- 3 pints or so left.

Took a bunch of it and ran it through a low speed juicer a few times to make a bottle sauce.

Took the pulp from the low speed juicer and put it in a stainless bowl and put a fan on top of it blowing down so I could dehydrate the solids. Took a few days, then I ground them in the coffee grinder I keep just for spices. This stuff was awesome. Unfortunately, as you could imagine the yield is very low.

I"m down to my last 1/8 of a 2 qt jar (I think that's how big it is). Going to need to make some again soon. I have most of the ingredients on hand already.

[stearns]

Took the pulp from the low speed juicer and put it in a stainless bowl and put a fan on top of it blowing down so I could dehydrate the solids. Took a few days, then I ground them in the coffee grinder I keep just for spices. This stuff was awesome. Unfortunately, as you could imagine the yield is very low.

I do this with the pulp from straining ground up peppers from past hot sauce runs, makes for a fantastic chili powder but the yields were always very low. I usually lay them out on parchment paper in a baking sheet and set the oven to "Keep Warm" or whatever the lowest setting is, takes a few hours but works well, after that I grind the dried pulp down to a powder in a mortar and pestle. When I was moving last year I realized I had way too many jars of fermented chilis so I took a full jar and dried them out on a couple baking sheets, took a little longer but I ended with about 2oz of powder that I now sprinkle on everything, it's not very spicy but adds a nice funkiness to whatever I put them in

[Chainsaw13]

Started a few batches of items today. A poblano/serrano/garlic hot sauce that’ll be used as a starter for a batch of fermented anchos. Some blood oranges and Meyer lemons too. Some of the blood oranges will also go into the ancho sauce.

[T.G]

A poblano/serrano/garlic hot sauce that’ll be used as a starter for a batch of fermented anchos.

I'm curious here, could you explain a bit more? Anchos are dried poblanos. You have my attention since the dried peppers will have such a significantly more intense flavor.

[Chainsaw13]

I'm curious here, could you explain a bit more? Anchos are dried poblanos. You have my attention since the dried peppers will have such a significantly more intense flavor.

I'm going to use the method this guy suggests - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da9yn5jJKYc

The poblano ferment will be used as the lacto starter for the larger batch of ancho's. Fingers crossed it turns out.

I could only find serrano's at the store. Was hoping to find at least hab's. I'll grab a few of those for the second ferment to up the heat quotient.

[Chainsaw13]

Started stage 2 yesterday. I did find some habs and some red bells to get a second ferment going in a vacuum bag. That was a day or so after the poblano/Serrano ferment. Both were processed yesterday into a big batch of rehydrated ancho’s, more fresh garlic and a few more fresh habs. I have 2 half gallon jars now, just waiting on the action to start. Both of the first ferments measured 3.3pH.

[stearns]

Tell me more about using the vacuum bag

I've been out of the hot sauce game for some time but really want to pick it back up when peppers start cropping up this summer

[Chainsaw13]

I made a mash out of the bells/habs and 3% salt. Put into a food saver bag and sealed as best I could. Was hard due to the liquid already leeching out. Then left on the counter to do its thing. Had to poke a small air hole to let the co2 escape as the bag started to inflate a lot.

[stearns]

The co2 was my main curiosity, poking the hole makes sense :tu

[Chainsaw13]

The co2 was my main curiosity, poking the hole makes sense :tu

Yea, was blowing up like a pillow.

[Chainsaw13]

Day 2 and starting to see some signs of activity. Marked the fill level on the outside of the jar. Both are above it now just a bit. Left plenty of head space should it really expand, but not a ton. Might add a couple cabbage leaves on top and cover with brine to keep any nasties away.

[Chainsaw13]

Ok, maybe jumped the gun. Looks like the solids are separating from the water, pushing them up. Each jar has a layer of liquid on the bottom. Used some cabbage leaves and onion slices to push everything back down, under the liquid.

[stearns]

Do you use any sort of weight to keep things submerged or just using the cabbage/onion? I bought some glass weights that work perfectly for fermenting in a mason jar but curious how well using other produce works

[Chainsaw13]

I have those weights, but the fall down into the mash.

[Chainsaw13]

Welp, another batch down the drain. Last time I do a mash style ferment. Can never keep it all submerged, so I inevitably get mold growing. It’s strictly brine ferments for me.

[Chainsaw13]

Ok, been busy the last few days. Got a few projects in the works.

Started another batch of hot sauce. Again using dried anchos, plus de arbols for heat. Also, carrot, onion, red bell (for fresh lacto starters) and some quasi-black garlic I had. All submerged in a 3% brine. Started it only a couple days ago and it’s bubbling good already. Didn’t rehydrat the anchos or de arbols. Figured the brine would do that. I’m planning to mix with some blueberry beer vinegar when it’s time to process.

Today I took out my new vac sealer on a test run. Made two batches of sauerkraut, one with caraway seeds. The other is almost kimchi. Added garlic powder, Korean Chile flakes and some chives from the garden.

[Porch Dweller]

Ok, been busy the last few days. Got a few projects in the works.

Started another batch of hot sauce. Again using dried anchos, plus de arbols for heat. Also, carrot, onion, red bell (for fresh lacto starters) and some quasi-black garlic I had. All submerged in a 3% brine. Started it only a couple days ago and it’s bubbling good already. Didn’t rehydrat the anchos or de arbols. Figured the brine would do that. I’m planning to mix with some blueberry beer vinegar when it’s time to process.

Today I took out my new vac sealer on a test run. Made two batches of sauerkraut, one with caraway seeds. The other is almost kimchi. Added garlic powder, Korean Chile flakes and some chives from the garden.

That all sounds so good!

[Chainsaw13]

A month into my garum doing its thing. I moved it into my garage last week, to take advantage of the higher temps in there. In the one week, it's progressed a lot further than when in the basement. There's distinct layers as the autolysis does it's stuff.

Revisiting this thread/project. I completely forgot about the garum, tucked away in my basement. It’s been nearly two years now. Should be ready. Lol. I’ll process outside, once our weather isn’t so screwy. Then I can finally send some to Ben.

[stearns]

Nice! Processing outside is probably a good idea :D

I haven't really been fermenting much, I did some hot peppers that I was going to dry out and grind up but forgot I left them in the oven to dry and turned the broiler on the next morning, so there went those. I did do a fresh batch of fermented garlic that's almost done bubbling, those are always good to throw in a sauce

[Chainsaw13]

I have 7, 1 gallon bags of peppers from the garden in my freezer. I really should start making another batch of sauce.

[Porch Dweller]

I had a couple of stragglers on my jalapeno plant last month, so I "lacto'd" them with a little onion and garlic for three weeks. Today I blended them with some fresh jalapenos, garlic, onion, kosher salt, and white and cider vinegars. It turned out pretty tasty; the tang from the fermentation didn't get overpowered by the vinegars.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51792737731_d65efe6058_z.jpg

[Chainsaw13]

Nice work James!

[Porch Dweller]

Nice work James!

Thanks!

I revisited this thread today; how'd that garum turn out?

[Chainsaw13]

Thanks!

I revisited this thread today; how'd that garum turn out?

You know, it’s been sitting in the basement still. I’ve looked at it many times and thought to myself, “I really need to process this”. The little bit that’s seeped out of the top tastes good.

[Chainsaw13]

Started a new hot sauce ferment with mostly frozen peppers and some fresh Serrano’s from the garden. 3.5% brine with a little of the whey from some yogurt. Kicked off the fermentation quickly. I really need to learn to leave more head space. :D

[stearns]

Funny enough, I also put a batch in yesterday, first time probably all year. I stopped for the most part because I'm not too good at making them into hot sauces, I don't use hot sauce enough to keep experimenting until I get it right, and I have a friend who does it really well who keeps me stocked. My only other current uses for lacto-fermentated stuff are garlic for my garlic buffalo sauce and a set hot pepper mix for my honey bbq sauce, so those ones I make about a batch a year of

My wife planted some jalapenos in the garden but they're dinky little things, although full of flavor. She left a bunch on to see if they'd get bigger and they just turned a beautiful shade of bright red, so I chopped a few up to ferment and make into a micro batch sriracha, I figure I'll add to it as more come off in the coming weeks

Started a new hot sauce ferment with mostly frozen peppers and some fresh Serrano’s from the garden. 3.5% brine with a little of the whey from some yogurt. Kicked off the fermentation quickly. I really need to learn to leave more head space. :D

Any issues starting with frozen? I was worried it might cause problems but that's what I wanted to do with the red jalapenos instead of a rolling ferment. My plan now is just to add a few cut up peppers to the same jar every week or so and top up with salt and water each time

[Chainsaw13]

Any issues starting with frozen? I was worried it might cause problems but that's what I wanted to do with the red jalapenos instead of a rolling ferment. My plan now is just to add a few cut up peppers to the same jar every week or so and top up with salt and water each time

No issues. Done it a couple of times, adding in some fresh peppers to kick it off.

After a couple of days the ferment has slowed that it’s not pushing brine out of the airlock.

[physiognomy]

Canning sauerkraut. This batch has carrot, dill seed, caraway, and I threw bay and allspice in the bottom of each jar. They’ve been bubbling since 8/7 and decided today was the day.

[stearns]

Canning sauerkraut. This batch has carrot, dill seed, caraway, and I threw bay and allspice in the bottom of each jar. They’ve been bubbling since 8/7 and decided today was the day.

Speaking of which, I owe you some kimchi. It's from the giant head of cabbage I got from you, it's been fermenting for a couple weeks and is probably ready soon

[physiognomy]

Speaking of which, I owe you some kimchi. It's from the giant head of cabbage I got from you, it's been fermenting for a couple weeks and is probably ready soon

Tasty stuff, Ben! Thanks again! Tried on a burger one night, ramen the next day, & fried rice another night. All really good! Hope your house has aired out a little :D

[physiognomy]

My first batch of chilies and garlic bubbled for nearly 2 months in approx 4% brine. Garlic still had a bit to go, but the chilies were ready. Spicy, tangy, hot! A bit of kham showed up, so I called it. Eight quart jars (initially packed tight) made about six pints of really good hot Sriracha! Another batch is down and still good few green chilies (Fresno, jalapeño, mexibell) on the bushes. One of my Habanero Caribbean Red is also loaded, so I will do something special there. Got in a few new books with plenty of ideas.

[Porch Dweller]

Looks tasty!

[Chainsaw13]

My first batch of chilies and garlic bubbled for nearly 2 months in approx 4% brine. Garlic still had a bit to go, but the chilies were ready. Spicy, tangy, hot! A bit of kham showed up, so I called it. Eight quart jars (initially packed tight) made about six pints of really good hot Sriracha! Another batch is down and still good few green chilies (Fresno, jalapeño, mexibell) on the bushes. One of my Habanero Caribbean Red is also loaded, so I will do something special there. Got in a few new books with plenty of ideas.

Nice! Can’t wait to see what you whip up.

I started another batch using fresh Serrano, and a mix of frozen peppers that I smoked for 3 hours. Used a Chillichump video for reference.

[physiognomy]

Picked the last of my Caribbean red hab’s today and started a batch of habanero carrot sauce. I added a couple yellow jalapeños for good measure!

[Chainsaw13]

Looks good. How well do you like those lids? I bought the glass weights, but they’ve been a big disappointment. I’m using brine filled ziplock baggies right now.

I did up two batches of serrano’s yesterday, one will be finished with tequila/lime. The other has some green cardamom, coriander and white pepper. Should be interesting.

[physiognomy]

I haven’t tried anything else yet, but these ball kits work well for me. I will have to try the bags if I go for fermenting a mash down the road. Your Serrano sauces sound great!

[Chainsaw13]

I haven’t tried anything else yet, but these ball kits work well for me. I will have to try the bags if I go for fermenting a mash down the road. Your Serrano sauces sound great!

I may need to look into those kits.

Just a couple days in and the Serrano’s are bubbling away nicely.

[Porch Dweller]

My folks came for a visit and brought some habaneros. I've already made some hot sauces with some, but am LF'ing others with some onion and garlic.

[Chainsaw13]

My folks came for a visit and brought some habaneros. I've already made some hot sauces with some, but am LF'ing others with some onion and garlic.

:cl

[Porch Dweller]

Doing another batch of garlic-habanero hot sauce. I've got two fresh and two dried habaneros, a cup of onion, and six cloves of garlic in the jar.

https://i.imgur.com/JuzIp09.jpg

[Chainsaw13]

Doing another batch of garlic-habanero hot sauce. I've got two fresh and two dried habaneros, a cup of onion, and six cloves of garlic in the jar.

https://i.imgur.com/JuzIp09.jpg

:banger:banger