Fermented hot sauce

[IainM]

I don't chuck it out when that happens. Just scoop it off before using it to make sauce. If it were black or coloured then I'd chuck it.

 

[Hoddy]

I consulted a few people on some fermentation forums and FB groups and the feedback was it would be ok as it wasn't hairy and didn't smell of gone off sh1t.

I whizzed it up in to a proper bright orange sauce on the weekend and a group of us devoured half as a great dip for chips while drinking my beers.

With only a few chillies and peppers, onion, garlic, ginger and mango i didnt want anything that would burn your ring off. And this was spot on. Gives me a baseline to work towards with some further ferments and heat vs flavor balance.

 

[jceg316]

I finally got round to making some fermented hot sauce! My high street greengrocer sells chillies incredibly cheap so I can buy in bulk. I'm also wondering if I can pick up apples in bulk from her and make cider, but that's for another thread...

Anyway, I followed this recipe which says it will be ready in 14 days. It's been 14 days and I had a few drops of the brine to see if it's ready. Those few drops were powerfully hot but also had such a range of flavours. However there was definitely a saltiness to it still and no tang. This was from the top of the jar, I have all the chillies help below the water level.

When they are ready should there still be a salty taste? And should there also be a tang to them like with sauerkraut?

 

[geigercntr]

When they are ready should there still be a salty taste? And should there also be a tang to them like with sauerkraut?

In my fairly limited experience, there'll likely continue to be some degree of saltiness which remains over time. As you age the sauce, a sourness will develop (as lactobacillus spit out lactic acid) as will a more complex flavour profile (as microbial assemblages shift and metabolites get produced/remetabolised). Once it hits a spot you want to 'stop' fermentation at (or at least slow it down), store it in the fridge and/or add some vinegar (or possibly look into pasteurisation?)

 

[Ajhutch]

Tucking into some homemade kimchi tonight while my wife cooks a stir fry. I didn’t write down the recipe but it’s pretty similar process to the sauces being made in this thread. I know it has savoy and Chinese cabbage in it because we had a lot of cabbage from a veg box. A couple of red chillis, some sugar and let it go for a week, then it’s been in the fridge for a couple of weeks. It’s hot!

 

[Dutto]

I must have missed this Thread last year but great reading and on a subject that is very close to my heart (and waistline)!

I have a "plant it and leave it" approach to growing anything, so I'm wondering when, where and what type of chilli seeds (if any) could be planted in a "grow bag" and then left to their own devices, here in the UK?

 

[Dutto]

"What the hell is that?" asked SWMBO! and "Don't worry, you won't like it." was my reply.

Herewith, my Kimchi. I enjoyed it no end when I was in Singapore and the last time I made it, but stopped making it because SWMBO didn't like it.

"The Fire Bucket will look nice on top of the milk churn." said SWMBO. "That's what I thought and it's also the sunniest part of the garden." I replied. "I'll start it off on the kitchen window-ledge to start."

Herewith, my chilli production system. I've planted seven Demon Red chillies for later this year.

"What's are you doing in there?" asked SWMBO then "What the hell is that?" "It's going to be fermented sauce." I replied with crossed fingers. "It's a bit like Tabasco but sweeter." (Hopeful to what?)

Herewith my first attempt at fermented sauce! Here's hoping!

Incidentally, it's sat alongside a French Butter Bell. I love real salted butter and it's either rock hard if kept in the fridge or, kept in a butter dish on the worktop, it melts in the summer.

The Butter Bell has a water seal in the bottom that prevents oxidation and keeps the butter softish all year round!

 

[dan125]

Just started off my 2nd batch of sauce, this time using just habanero for the chillie contribution.
Jar is a bit too full but hoping to fill 3 x 240ml bottles with sauce at the end.

 

[dan125]

Just finished blending and bottling the batch above and ended up with nearly a litre of sauce.
I'm just wiping round the bowl with some cheese and onion crisps and it is b'stard hot but there is a nice fruitiness from the habanero

 

[dan125]

As I've got some more sauce bottles on the way, and I left the house for the 1st time in a week today to go to the supermarket - I thought I'd try a green batch.
Went for a milder sauce this time using a smaller amount of rocket and jalapeno chillies, with some green pepper, courgette, green beans, shallot, spinach, peas, garlic, ginger and coriander to pad it out.

 

[Mrhandsome]

Wow what a thread! My mother in law (from Trinidad) makes me batches of scotch bonnet hot sauce - scotch bonnet, garlic, corriander, and vinegar straight into a blender. I've never thought of fermenting it though and I have a freezer full of chillies from my grandparents garden. I guess that's my job for next week.

Quick question on a similar vein though, anyone making Kimchi in the UK, what do you use for cabbage?

Cheers TC

Chinese napa cabbage, also called Chinese leaf here in most supermarkets, and is what I use for kimchi. I know Morrisons sell it. Pak Choi would be interesting in the mix - anyone notice it has a mild wasabi flavour?

 

[johncrobinson]

Weeeeel Duto all i can say is the farther north you go the harder it is to grow chilli

 

[Mrhandsome]

Made a batch today with all the random chillies from my freezer and some bits and bobs - scotch bonnet, birds eye, finger chillies, onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes. I'll buy some mango when I next go shopping and add them in place of some of the brine.

 

[dan125]

After 16 days fermenting my vibrant green jar had turned a grubby khaki sort of colour.
It tastes much better than it looks thankfully and I nearly filled 4 x 240ml bottles.
It was meant to be a bit milder than the last batch but I'm not sure about that
Think the next batch will have to be a fruity mango version

 

[PhilBrew]

Hi All

Great thread, thanks for the inspiration ... I set my first ever batch of hot sauce away fermenting last night ... in with some scotch bonnets and bird's eye chillies went some garlic, ginger, red onion, red peppers, a mango, sugar and some mustard, cumin and coriander seeds all topped up with brine, last night ... hopefully it'll get going soon

Cheers, PhilB

 

[Mrhandsome]

Finally got around to blending my hot sauce up today. I added a bit of white vinegar to thin it to a nice pouring consistency and it's added a hint of fruitiness

It smells very similar to my kimchi which I guess is from the fermentation. It's got a good amount of heat aswell, result!

 

[Mangold]

I am ready to bottle. Can I just check, do I blend and then add back some of the salt brine solution to make it at the right consistency?

 

[Mrhandsome]

I don't know about others but I just blend it all.

 

[dan125]

I am ready to bottle. Can I just check, do I blend and then add back some of the salt brine solution to make it at the right consistency?

That's what I do.

 

[PhilBrew]

My hot sauce ferment had stopped fermenting after around 9-10 days, and the brine was tasting a very nice blend of fruity, tart and hot ... so I blended it up yesterday 12 days after setting it going ...

... got a couple of jars and most of a tomato ketchup squeezy bottle full of sauce made, which is tasting more hot, than fruity or tart

Saved the leftover brine in an empty jar also, cause it was tasting so good ... any ideas what (if anything) that can be used for? It feels like it may make a good (salt &) vinegar alternative

Cheers, PhilB