Fermented Pepper Sauce Help

[Fletch78]

I've made two attempts this year, based on google searches for the process. Basically, treat it like sauerkraut with brine solution (non-iod salt) and both times have been epic failures. One I did in a bowl with a saucer and big rock to hold it down, so the brine was covering the peppers. The other I did in a french press, covered in a towel.

Both times... I got critters.

I used the same method in tandem with sauerkraut and the result was fine.

The peppers are cayenne. They were finely sliced.

Any words of advice? I have one more batch I can do this year, and I need to do it soon. Thanks!

 

[Barc]

I just did about a gallon and a half of mixed peppers this year. I did a "strong" batch first using a lot of salt, probably twice as much salt as necessary, then rinsed that and added more peppers and less salt to the next batch. I did several additions during the summer and fall but never went overboard again with the salt since I had plenty of lacto already on the peppers.

As for the peppers, I sliced some of them up into about 1" pieces and others I just sliced a single slit down the middle lengthwise after cutting the top off. Either way, the peppers fermented. I even had some big banana peppers and even some bell peppers that I just sliced a down the middle or sliced up a couple of times. I found that if you want to keep them solid, you're better off not cutting them up too much.

By critters, do you mean mold? Every time I've fermented vegetables (corn, green beans, cabbage, and peppers), I've always gotten mold on top. I simply scoop it out and go on about my way. Is the mold getting in with the peppers? If so, you may not be adding enough salt.

One last thing, are you freezing them first? If so, that could be the problem.

 

[Fletch78]

Critters: Maggots

No freezing, fresh from garden.

I can only imagine flies laid eggs beforehand. No way they could get in to the french press. I just didn't know they could grow and live in brine. Twice.

 

[Barc]

Depending on how strong the brine is, they can live in there. They must have gotten in beforehand, or else you've got a leak somewhere. I'd say they are fruit fly maggots or gnat maggots which are small insects and they can get into some pretty tight spots, even under a "nearly" tightened 2-liter cap; ask me how I know. I'm not saying they can get into a French press, though...

You may want to parboil them meaning boil them for a very short time before putting them into the jar. That being said, they won't have nearly the amount of lacto on them as fresh ones would. Typically, a cover is loose enough to allow some airflow into the jar (along with O2 and lactobacillus) and allow CO2 out, so parboiling wouldn't be an issue. But, you can give yourself a head start if you pour in some of your fresh sauerkraut juice.

Also, check the peppers for any bumps or knots. That might be an insect's eggs. I've gotten several hundred peppers this summer / fall of various types, including cayenne, and naturally dried well over 100 of them and haven't had an issue with maggots so I'm sort of at a loss.

Have you tried just leaving a few on the counter in a bowl with a lid on it? If there's something in there, you'll know pretty quickly if the temp is right once it starts to rot a little.

 

[Fletch78]

Normally, they are fresh and relatively blemish-free.

The ones I'm about to ferment are nearing the rot phase... getting soft on the counter.

Unfortunately, my kraut was pasteurized in the cans. SWMBO insisted.

Perhaps it wasn't flies, but gnats. The maggots weren't very big, they could very well have been gnat or fruit fly or some other little bastards that infected it.

So, what do I do now, for batch #3?

Personally, I would have let the critter batches finish, then decant the juice (what I really want) and hot can them. But SWMBO won't let me eat things with maggots on them.

 

[Fletch78]

As long as we are talking peppers, how do you dry them in the southeast with all the humidity? We tried that and ended up just doing it in the oven, which doesn't have the same effect, they still end up cooked. They are still being consumed, don't get me wrong, but outside of a dehydrator or living in a desert, what is the best way to do that? This is our first year with a successful garden (well... peppers anyway, everything else sucked) so we are learning this as we go along, using google and the foxfire books.

 

[Barc]

If you're leaving them out, you might be getting fruit flies or gnats on the counter. I typically put mine in the fridge on the top rack until I have enough to ferment. I don't freeze them as you'll wind up with pepper mush if you try to ferment them.

I might suggest going a little more traditional route for your next try if you feel lucky. Simply weigh down the peppers in a jar and then just tie a doubled towel TIGHTLY around the jar your fermenting them in. That is the way I saw it done for years in large crocks and did myself a year or so ago when making kraut. Or, another way that I'm almost positive nothing will get in is to put a clean t-shirt or rag on top of a canning jar and put a rubber band around that at the neck (where it dips in) holding the t-shirt down. Then put a canning ring on and tighten it a bit but not so much that you bind it up and leave a hole or cut the shirt. If something gets in, it will have to go through the shirt itself so double up the shirt on top of the canning ring and put another rubber band around it at the neck. While this is not fool proof, it should be pretty bug proof. I do something similar when I make chutney but I use doubled plastic wrap but, of course, chutney only stays out for a few days, not weeks.

As for drying, you probably won't believe this but I air dry them by simply slitting them down the middle length-wise (they are still whole but have a slit down them) and then leaving them on the counter spread out to get plenty of air. I then turn them every day or so. It takes a few weeks for them to be dry but it works well. If I am in a hurry, I have a dehydrate setting on my toaster oven that cycles the temp up to about 120 and uses the convection fan. You're right, though, the flavor isn't the same.

I actually tested it out using Thai peppers to see if they would rot or mold or something but the acidity is high enough and the skin is thin enough where the water will evaporate out without anything bad happening. I've done this method with Thai peppers, Jalapeno, Cayenne, Sorrano, and even some large banana peppers. They do get leathery for a while but just keep turning them and they will eventually dry on out.

Good luck.

 

[Fletch78]

For brine strength, the online consensus seems to be 1 teaspoon salt per 1 cup of water.

Does that sound right to you?

 

[Barc]

I start it a little more, probably 2 per cup and then rinse them out well but I also add more and more peppers as I go but add about 1 per cup after the initial ferment (maybe less) since I have plenty of lactobacillus in the solution. If you're not planning on doing any more, I'd put a little more than 1 tsp per cup, maybe 1 1/4 tops. I'd rinse them out a little before mashing them up to get the excess salt out. If that's not going to happen, just do the 1 per cup and keep an eye out for any mold and especially your little flying / swimming friends. That's the way people have been doing it for hundreds of years.

Just to let you know, fruit flies leave little egg sacks stuck to the sides of whatever they lay them on. The look kinda like white / yellowish footballs about the size of this I. If you see these, you've had a fruit fly bless you with its presence and if you get that out egg sack out, you shouldn't get maggots unless one has fallen in but you may well get acetobacter in your liquid which will eat available sugar and alcohol and turn it into acetic acid / vinegar.

 

[chkneater]

I've made two attempts this year, based on google searches for the process. Basically, treat it like sauerkraut with brine solution (non-iod salt) and both times have been epic failures. One I did in a bowl with a saucer and big rock to hold it down, so the brine was covering the peppers. The other I did in a french press, covered in a towel.

Both times... I got critters.

I used the same method in tandem with sauerkraut and the result was fine.

The peppers are cayenne. They were finely sliced.

Any words of advice? I have one more batch I can do this year, and I need to do it soon. Thanks!

Hi, I've made several batches of pretty decent pepper sauce using Habaneros and Bannanna Peppers, separetly and hybridized. The method I've used that has been succesful is to submerged the dried and chopped peppers and cover them just to the top of the peppers with vinegar (acetic acid). This allows a comfy environment for the acetobacter to digest the peppers. They eat the sugars and convert to CO2 and vinegar. I add small doses of water periodically, but never much, that causes mold. I've never had to add salt until after distillation just for taste. If you're makin a pepper sauce, a brine is unnecessary, just cover with vingegar, it sanitizes as well a allowing the actetobacter to thrive and digest the peppers, leaving nothin but a tasty and hot pepper sauce. The acetobacters look like little white curvy specks that grow larger over time and split thru asexual reproduction. The best way to innoculate your peppers is to sanitze your vessels and equipment and either use the mother bacteria from previous batches OR what I've much success with when no mother was available was simple leave the pepper/vinegar slurry out doors for a day or two and (I know this sounds gross) but flies and gnats carry the bacter so they can innoculate it. My last batch I din't even need to leave it outside a few hours. Remember, white specks are good, those are the bacter. Mold is never good, and that's very easy to notice. Hope that helps, if so spread the knowledge. I've had several great batches this way.

 

[BryanThompson]

What I do is chop the peppers coarsely then add them and brine into a gallon fermenter with an airlock with some whey from a thing of yogurt. I have never had mold or any type of critters. Having it air tight seems to be the best option to me with the least chance of ruining a batch.

 

[chkneater]

Also maggots eat infected meat, not plants... Where this whole "maggot" idea came form I don't know, I'm thinking it has something to do with rotting cabbage, aka sauerkraut?? I still don't understand that part... saurkraut is cabbage and what??... VINEGAR!!. Forget the sauerkraut BS and just use white apple cider vinegar (the clear kind, less intrusive flavor.)

 

[chkneater]

What I do is chop the peppers coarsely then add them and brine into a gallon fermenter with an airlock with some whey from a thing of yogurt. I have never had mold or any type of critters. Having it air tight seems to be the best option to me with the least chance of ruining a batch.

Why Brine??? That just kills the beneficial bacteria as well as adding insane amounts of salt that have to be dealt with. You never had mold because NOTHING grows in heavy saline. To get the right fermentation, DISREGARD THE SALT until the end!!! It's just for taste, has nothing to do with fermentation!!!!!! Hot sauce=Peppers/shredded + Vinegar + innoculation by flies ( and yes, most vinegar is produced this way so get over it) Alchohol turns to vinegar because of fruitflies carrying the bacter on their legs. It's getting distilled anyway. Since we don't want alchohol, the acetobacter do the job of the yeasts; consume sugar, and reproduce asexually.

 

[nagmay]

I've been fermenting hot sauce for years with great success and a few, similar failures. Treating the peppers like a kraut is good in theory, but they never seem to give off enough juice to fully submerge the solids. And when I add more brine, the solids often float. The solids contacting the air means the chance for bugs and unwanted mold.

Then, I had an idea: Why treat it like kraut, when we could be treating it like beer (or wine)?

So this year, I gathered up all my peppers (ghost, habanero, fatali) and ran them through the shredder on the food processor. Using a funnel, they were put in a carboy (really 1 gallon jug). I added a bit of salt, and some whey - both optional. Then the jug was topped with an airlock.

Once fermentation starts, all of the oxygen exits through the airlock. This leaves an anaerobic environment - no bugs, no bad surface mold, but perfect for fermentation! Cheers!

 

[BryanThompson]

Well I have lactic acid and a pellicle from the lactobacillus so it seems like it's working. Plus I never said I wanted acetic acid. My process works and produces the kind of sauce I want. I only use a 2% brine which helps prevent other bacteria from taking off before the lacto gets a chance to acidify the liquid.