Fermented hot sauce

[geigercntr]

Yeah, I agree with @Hoddy
Get it at room temp and give it a few weeks.

I'd definitely go for some Scotch Bonnets, I've found they work really well for hot sauces.
Good luck!

 

[Dutto]

....... I have my eye on their Scotch Bonnet for next time, if all turns out well!!

I assume when the recipe says leave for 5-7 days, that's nonsense and I should leave it a lot longer to ferment? The cellar where it's sitting is probably only about 8 degrees at the moment.

I like your original recipe (it should be tasty indeed) and I also agree with Hoddy about the timing and the temperature.

With regard to the Scotch Bonnet it gives a lovely flavour but it can make even a chilli sauce "too hot"!

By "too hot" I mean that the finished article may only require a couple of small drops to flavour something like a chicken leg or a beef burger!

The first time I saw Tabasco Sauce was when a Texan lathered it onto a chicken leg at a BBQ. Never having even seen Tabasco Sauce before, I sprinkled my own chicken leg liberally with the sauce and almost immediately regretted it! WOW! My mouth burned for about an hour and I could hardly taste anything else for the rest of the afternoon!

Now, 44 years later, I have to smile at how much my taste buds have either degenerated or come to accept spicy foods and sauces!

However, to get back to the "too hot" sauce, I want to be able to use my sauces and also offer them to visitors; and that means that they need to be made so that they can be liberally used, without burning anyone's mouth out.

It's probably sacrilege to suggest that someone should try a commercial sauce on this Thread; but there's a reason that Tabasco sell so much of their product and I can recommend it as a "Lower Benchmark" against which other (and more spicy) Hot Sauces can be judged.

 

[Tony C]

The first time I saw Tabasco Sauce was when a Texan lathered it onto a chicken leg at a BBQ. Never having even seen Tabasco Sauce before, I sprinkled my own chicken leg liberally with the sauce and almost immediately regretted it! WOW! My mouth burned for about an hour and I could hardly taste anything else for the rest of the afternoon!

Cheers nearly spat my tea across my phone

Now, 44 years later, I have to smile at how much my taste buds have either degenerated or come to accept spicy foods and sauces!

Ain't that the truth, because there is basically just me that eats my sauces, they get hotter and hotter. So when someone else dies eventually try them it's far to hot for them.

It's probably sacrilege to suggest that someone should try a commercial sauce on this Thread; but there's a reason that Tabasco sell so much of their product and I can recommend it as a "Lower Benchmark" against which other (and more spicy) Hot Sauces can be judged.

A benchmark to explain how hot something is, where a lot of people may have tried the commercial against is still a good idea though.

 

[-Bezza-]

Is this the right place for a "stuck fermentation" question?

I moved the jars into the house at least 2 weeks ago as the cellar was far too cold. Doesn't look like anything is happening though - everything still looks like the day it went into the jar and no bubbles or cloudiness. Should I chuck a bit of dissolved sugar in there to get things going?

 

[-Bezza-]

If you want commercial hot sauce, I would heartily recommend these guys: Hot Sauces

The Pablo Diablo is fairly mind (my wife loves it) and goes with a lot of food. Hot and Smokey is great as a mildly spicy BBQ sauce. The Korean One has a lovely plum sauce flavour, again with not too much spice. I've had the Ghost Town which is pretty hot and on the lookout for the Scorpion Slammer in the shops. Shame I missed the Gut Rot!

 

[Dutto]

Is this the right place for a "stuck fermentation" question?

I moved the jars into the house at least 2 weeks ago as the cellar was far too cold. Doesn't look like anything is happening though - everything still looks like the day it went into the jar and no bubbles or cloudiness. Should I chuck a bit of dissolved sugar in there to get things going?

Unfortunately, a Hot Sauce and a Kimchi can both "stick" and neither goes off like a brew; but it does need the correct temperature to start fermenting.

Usually, 20*C to 25*C is a good temperature to start most things off. When things are underway (after about a week) then moving it into the fridge will slow everything down.

With my Kimchi, I leave it at kitchen temperature for up to a week and then pop it into the fridge when it's ready to eat. It stays there until it's used - usually about another week.

I've still some hot sauce in the fridge since last year so it will last once it's okay!

Enjoy.

 

[geigercntr]

Is this the right place for a "stuck fermentation" question?

I moved the jars into the house at least 2 weeks ago as the cellar was far too cold. Doesn't look like anything is happening though - everything still looks like the day it went into the jar and no bubbles or cloudiness. Should I chuck a bit of dissolved sugar in there to get things going?

I've had that happen too. Not sure of the reasons behind it. I mused that the fruit/veg might've been irradiated/covered in bug kill spray (I tend to use supermarket stuff), but that seemed pretty far fetched to me. Plus you're relying on Lactobacillus which is pretty much everywhere, even on your hands as you're moving ingredients about.

I agree with @Dutto in that it's likely a temperature thing. It could also be a case of limited food availability. Chilli peppers don't have a huge amount of sugar in, so if they form the bulk of your ferment, food will run out and you'll not see a lot of activity. Sugar might help, so too might a more sugar-rich ingredient like carrot or a fruit (depending on what matches your ingredients).

That said, when this did happen to me, I blended anyway and still ended up with a really tasty sauce.

 

[will4009]

Not strictly on topic, but I have made a really nice hot sauce. Not fermented though. Recipe isn't my own, but its one of the nicest hot sauces I have ever tried.

10-15 Scotch Bonnet peppers, finely chopped.
6 large tomatoes, roasted and de-skinned.
8 cloves garlic, roasted in skins then squeezed out.
1 tbsp tomato puree.
250ml Tomato juice.
1 medium-sized onion.
2-3 grated carrots.
1 tsp garlic powder.
1 ½ tsp ground black peppercorns.
1 tsp ground white pepper .
12 ground allspice berries.
400ml white wine vinegar (start at about 250/300 and see if it needs any more).
300ml water.
1 tbsp sea salt, adjust as necessary.
1 tbsp English mustard.
1 tbsp demerara sugar (more to taste).
A few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves taken off the stalk.
1 tsp dried red chili flakes to round off the burn slightly – this kinda helps the heat sensation spread to different parts of the mouth rather than just assaulting your tongue.

Sling everything in a covered pan on a low simmer for an hour until the onions are done, then blend. Cooled and thickened with xanthan gum. Hot, fruity, caribbean tasting. I am growing my own chillies, so I am hoping I will be fermenting some later in the year.

 

[geigercntr]

@will4009 Looks great!

 

[nixhaz]

How much does that recipe make @will4009 ? Looks amazing.

 

[-Bezza-]

That said, when this did happen to me, I blended anyway and still ended up with a really tasty sauce.

I've just chucked a couple of tsp of diluted sugar in and moved it from the study 18C to next to the cooker.

If it doesn't ferment, I'll just blend and see what I've ended up with. It still smells good so should be ok.

 

[will4009]

How much does that recipe make @will4009 ? Looks amazing.

Thanks, it came out really well. I think about 1.25 litres. The bottles i used are 250ml (I think!). And i ended up with 5 full ones.

 

[Tony C]

I picked up 4 packs of 175g of green chillis and a 500g pack of ginger, out the reduced bin in my local asda for £1.
Chopped them up fine.
Put them in a killer for a couple of weeks with enough white vinegar, wine vinegar and a drop of water, plus about 100g of sugar.
Left for a couple of weeks, maybe 3.. till there was a good set of bubbles working there way up.
Blitzed in the blender and a lively heat sauce.

TC

 

[will4009]

I have given this a try.

I have a birds eye, garlic, ginger, red pepper and onion that has been going for 10 days. I also have a scotch bonnet, garlic, pineapple, carrot and onion going too.

But...how do i bottle them? Drain them, wizz them up and add a bit of the brine back for the correct consistency?

I have read that some people add vinegar, not just for flavour, but to adjust the PH?

 

[Dutto]

I have given this a try.

I have a birds eye, garlic, ginger, red pepper and onion that has been going for 10 days. I also have a scotch bonnet, garlic, pineapple, carrot and onion going too.

But...how do i bottle them? Drain them, wizz them up and add a bit of the brine back for the correct consistency?

I have read that some people add vinegar, not just for flavour, but to adjust the PH?

WOW! Draining them and adding vinegar to adjust the pH is just a bit too technical for me!

"Yes!" I have added vinegar to adjust the taste but I can't recall ever measuring the pH; and "No!" I've never drained a hot sauce before blitzing it with a hand-blender. (It's amazing how the hot sauce will thicken up in the fridge after blitzing!)

However, to prevent the emulsified hot sauce from separating after blitzing the chillies and brine, I add half a teaspoonful of xanthan gum to act as an emulsifier.

Remember the "KISS Principle" whenever possible!

 

[geigercntr]

I have given this a try.

I have a birds eye, garlic, ginger, red pepper and onion that has been going for 10 days. I also have a scotch bonnet, garlic, pineapple, carrot and onion going too.

But...how do i bottle them? Drain them, wizz them up and add a bit of the brine back for the correct consistency?

I have read that some people add vinegar, not just for flavour, but to adjust the PH?

They sound like great sauces!

I use a hand blender to whizz it up. If there's a lot of brine, I'll drain first and use that to get to the right consistency. I'll use vinegar to help with stability, but I'm totally unscientific about it: basically just lob a bit in until it tastes good.

If my sauce has fruit in, with a fair bit of yet-to-be-fermented sugars, I'll heat it to about 80C for ten mins or so in a pan. I've had mango flavours go a bit 'fizzy' when I've skipped this step.

As @Dutto says, a bit (you don't need a lot) of xantham gum works wonders to keep it all emulsified.

 

[will4009]

First fermented hot sauce.

3 different ones. A birds eye, red pepper, garlic, ginger, thyme and onion.

A scotch bonnet, carrot, ginger, pineapple, garlic and red chilli.

And a padron, corriander, spring onion and garlic.

Added a small amount of apple cider vinegar to one of them. Going to fire up the barbecue, and give them a taste.

 

[Kybren]

I'm going to give this this go this weekend I think. What ratio of brine to vegetables/chilli do you normally use?
Also how important isit to keep it completely covered in brine?

 

[geigercntr]

I'm going to give this this go this weekend I think. What ratio of brine to vegetables/chilli do you normally use?
Also how important isit to keep it completely covered in brine?

Go for it!

I normally submerge in a 5% brine by weight.
100 ml water weighs 100 g
5% of 100 is 5, therefore use 5 g salt.

Some people use 2 or 3%, so don't take my approach as the only way.

I'd try to keep it submerged if possible to reduce the risk of mold forming. There's loads of ways to keep veg beneath the brine layer: sanitised stones, plastic bags filled with water, special pots with lids that press down on the veg, etc. etc

 

[Dutto]

I'm back so one of the first things I looked at was this Thread - and it seems to have died a death since May 2021!

That's a real shame, especially because I have invested in some one litre glass jars to make my kimchi and sauerkraut in as well as some glass weights to ensure that everything I want to ferment stays submerged.

I managed to ferment a small amount of hot sauce recently. Ingredients were:

• Four carrots.
• Three chillies.
• Onion.
• Half a bulb of garlic.
• Sprig of mint.
• 8g of Kosher Salt.
• Sufficient water to cover everything during fermentation.
• ½ Teaspoonful of Xantham Powder

( The gum was added after fermentation and before whizzing it up.)​

​

I've also tried some Sauerkraut and Kimchi in the new jars and using the new Kosher Salt. However, they both tasted really salty and became really "slimy" so they both finished up in the bin! Ah well, onwards and upwards!