Fermented hot sauce
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    in my never ending quest to ferment everything, i started 3.5 pounds of bhut jolokai and red savina habaneros fermenting today.
    they haven't actually started fermenting yet (i assume) but they will soon.
    i just grabbed all the hot peppers i had in stashed in my freezer from last year.
    this is very easy...
    put hot peppers in food processor, blurr up on high....mix with salt and put in large jar or bowl or something you can cover with cheesecloth.
    then you cover it with cheesecloth
    then forget it exists for two months
    then mix some vinegar in
    forget it for another month
    then strain off and keep all the liquids, i plan on putting into and old hop bag and squeezing the hell out of it. (then throw bag away) i suggest doing something dastardly with the insanely hot pepper "mash"....

    ta-freaking-da......its hot sauce!
    rely on the yeast in the air and on the peppers to ferment, no real need to add yeast to this, although you can if you want.
    i put in 10 grams of salt for every 300 grams of chili's. and i will add 125 ml of vinegar for every 300 grams of chili's after two months of fermenting.
    i can't commment yet on how well this works, but i have read great things about it and i will keep this updated as things happen.

    for me, it was an excellent use for all the hot peppers i didn't use from last year.
    may as well give it a try.
  • ThymThym
    Posts: 121,601
    i was thinking about this recently. i shall await your results.

    this sounds like it will be hell on earth hot. i might go for a more flavorful mix of less toxic peppers
    The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
  • scoobscoob
    Posts: 16,617
    This sounds really good, I have a boatload of habaneros I need to do something with, this might be it!
    Jesus didn't wear pants
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    being so dry and hot out there scoob, you may want to add yeast.
    i don't know though, is there much yeast in the air out there?
  • FuzzyFuzzy
    Posts: 49,656
    frydogbrews said:

    being so dry and hot out there scoob, you may want to add yeast.
    i don't know though, is there much yeast in the air out there?



    the expensive tequilas are open fermented by natural yeasts, so i'm guessing yes. i'd still add some, but they should be there.
    The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
  • FuzzyFuzzy
    Posts: 49,656
    Lakewood said:


    this sounds like it will be hell on earth hot. i might go for a more flavorful mix of less toxic peppers



    this.
    The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
  • ceanntceannt
    Posts: 53,828
    Wonder how this would be with cayenne peppers....
    Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.
  • ceanntceannt
    Posts: 53,828
    ceannt said:

    Wonder how this would be with cayenne peppers....



    I may try this ..... maybe put a couple of habeneros in too
    Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.
  • FuzzyFuzzy
    Posts: 49,656
    ceannt said:

    Wonder how this would be with cayenne peppers....



    spicy.
    The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    here is some more reading about this and where i got the idea from.
    http://frombellytobacon.com/2012/07/19/ghost-chili-and-habanero-hot-sauce/
  • ThymThym
    Posts: 121,601
    My only concern with open ferment is that it seems like I'd have a mold colony long before I had a yeast colony.
    The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
  • FuzzyFuzzy
    Posts: 49,656
    Lakewood said:

    My only concern with open ferment is that it seems like I'd have a mold colony long before I had a yeast colony.



    keep the top wet and mold will have a much harder time growing. just swirl the container once a day.
    The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    yeah, the salt helps with that and i think the ridonkulous heat of the thing helps too.
  • JayrizzleJayrizzle
    Posts: 90,056
    ceannt said:

    Wonder how this would be with cayenne peppers....


    I have quite a few cayenne peppers from the garden, I may have to give it a go.
    Some guy I know who has a blog did something like this a few months back I'll see if I can find it... aha, here it is.
    http://oilchanges.blogspot.com/2012/08/green-habenero-hot-sauce-phase-one.html
    And the conclusion:
    http://oilchanges.blogspot.com/2012/09/green-habenero-hot-sauce-phase-two.html

    And word to the wise. If you have a juicer, never put habeneros in it. They work almost like a humidifier and put many particles into the air... this makes for a cloud of pepper spray which hurts your eyes, nose, and lungs a lot.
    "I don't have TP, but I do have ammo."
    -Some guy in Ohio
  • FuzzyFuzzy
    Posts: 49,656
    Dr_Jerryrigger said:

    ceannt said:

    Wonder how this would be with cayenne peppers....


    I have quite a few cayenne peppers from the garden, I may have to give it a go.
    Some guy I know who has a blog did something like this a few months back I'll see if I can find it... aha, here it is.
    http://oilchanges.blogspot.com/2012/08/green-habenero-hot-sauce-phase-one.html
    And the conclusion:
    http://oilchanges.blogspot.com/2012/09/green-habenero-hot-sauce-phase-two.html

    And word to the wise. If you have a juicer, never put habeneros in it. They work almost like a humidifier and put many particles into the air... this makes for a cloud of pepper spray which hurts your eyes, nose, and lungs a lot.


    so, in other words, everybody do it and post the video here. >:)
    The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
  • ThymThym
    Posts: 121,601
    Home made tear gas.
    The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
  • ceanntceannt
    Posts: 53,828
    Be a great treatment for a bad head cold .....
    Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.
  • JayrizzleJayrizzle
    Posts: 90,056
    ceannt said:

    Be a great treatment for a bad head cold .....



    That's what I was thinking the second time I tried it worked great but the thing is, my eyes weren't clogged up.
    "I don't have TP, but I do have ammo."
    -Some guy in Ohio
  • ceanntceannt
    Posts: 53,828
    Dr_Jerryrigger said:

    ceannt said:

    Be a great treatment for a bad head cold .....



    That's what I was thinking the second time I tried it worked great but the thing is, my eyes weren't clogged up.


    Uh.... reckon you didn't think to keep your eyes closed?
    Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    bumping this up because i am ready to bottle now.

    i ended up adding a tablespoon of bread yeast to the whole thing because i didn't see signs of fermentation after a few days. after adding that, it lit up like crazy and followed the path i outlined in the original post.

    bottom line, this stuff is fantastic. its complex flavored, and hotter than hell. i've made many hot sauces but this is the first time fermenting one and its also the first time it had the taste and texture of a high class hot sauce.

    another thing i changed was instead of straining it and just bottling the liquids, i just hit the whole thing with a stick blender until it was silky smooth. waste not want not.

    bottled a sample jar yesterday for a buddy that's a bit of a connoisseur and he really liked it, so its a win!

    ordered two cases of jars and plan on boiling it for just a second to kill all yeast and then packing it hot in the jars. its shelf stable because of the pH so it doesn't need a boiling water bath or anything.

    i highly recommend trying this if you have some peppers around. next time i am going to ferment some carrots along with the peppers for sweetness. i like carrots with my hot sauce. you can't taste them, but they add a special something.
  • jlwjlw
    Posts: 16,454
    I too love a carrot based hot sauce. So tasty.
  • FuzzyFuzzy
    Posts: 49,656
    jlw said:

    I too love a carrot based hot sauce. So tasty.



    yep. i made some several years ago with carrot and habaneros. it was too spicy (to me) for about a year, but then it was fantastic.
    The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
  • FuzzyFuzzy
    Posts: 49,656
    i think i might just try a small batch of fermented stuff with some various peppers/chilis. not melt your face off spicy, though.
    The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    next time i am just going to sprinkle in a little lactobaccillus instead of using bread yeast, but i didn't have any around when i made this up originally
  • jlwjlw
    Posts: 16,454
    I always end up with an abundance of hot peppers. Especially chilli's and habanero's. This coming summer I may take a mixture of each and make a hot sauce.
  • FuzzyFuzzy
    Posts: 49,656
    frydogbrews said:

    next time i am just going to sprinkle in a little lactobaccillus instead of using bread yeast, but i didn't have any around when i made this up originally



    i always have some frozen buttermilk on hand. lactobaccillus bulgaricus, is that a suitable culture to use?
    The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    FromZwolle said:

    frydogbrews said:

    next time i am just going to sprinkle in a little lactobaccillus instead of using bread yeast, but i didn't have any around when i made this up originally



    i always have some frozen buttermilk on hand. lactobaccillus bulgaricus, is that a suitable culture to use?


    should work just fine.
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