Fermented hot sauce

[VW911]

Seems a good year for chillies - Scotch Bonnets in particular.
I've never had such a good harvest...

 

[marshbrewer]

I would suggest to anyone looking to try these to head to your local Asian community stores/market or Chinese supermarkets. The chillies in particular will be alot cheaper!

Totally agree. When I used to live in Nottingahm I'd go to Pak foods in Snienton ~ lots of loose chillies by the Kg in the fresh veg section.

 

[geigercntr]

I would suggest to anyone looking to try these to head to your local Asian community stores/market or Chinese supermarkets. The chillies in particular will be alot cheaper!

Good shout. There are a good number of Chinese supermarkets in my city that I should visit!

 

[BeerCat]

Any ideas on thickening these sauces. Very hot but a bit watery even without any brine added. One batch I use some tomato puree but afterward wondered if the preservatives might affect the microbes. What do people think?
anywayni am quite addicted to this now. Has anyone tried mushrooms yet?

 

[geigercntr]

Any ideas on thickening these sauces. Very hot but a bit watery even without any brine added. One batch I use some tomato puree but afterward wondered if the preservatives might affect the microbes. What do people think?

xanthum gum thickens it up a treat (randon ebay link: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Xanthan-...hash=item4405f3fe50:m:mFH3DcqiytlZlF2-_dzlbWw)
[edit: also works as an emulsifier: stopping blended ingredients from dropping out of solution and 'splitting']

anywayni am quite addicted to this now. Has anyone tried mushrooms yet?

Tried with a pack of Tesco 'wild mushrooms'. The brine was amazing; the 'shrooms themselves didn't come out great (almost fishy hint to them). I'd probably try again thoguh and would be interested to see other people's success stories! :)

 

[IainM]

I find it will be the right thickness if you do a pepper mash instead of a brine. Once it's blitzed with vinegar it turns out just right.

 

[VW911]

FWIW, I find that the meatier, more fleshy chillies make for a better consistency.
A good idea is to use mainly capsicum type peppers for the main bulk of the sauce, but use super hots for the heat aspect.
I've just blended one made with mainly red peppers, but about a dozen Carolina Reapers, and a few Red Scorpions and Red Savinas. I was quite surprised how much of the brine I had to add back to make a decent textured sauce.

I've got plenty of chillies, but struggling for sweet peppers. Most of them are earmarked for Chilli Jam...

 

[Keats]

Just bottled my first batch and it is really good. Much hotter than I expected but get a nice bit of ginger coming through.

 

[YeastFace]

Fermented hot sauces are great. My tip would be to add a bit of sugar at the beginning to get the lactobacillus going strong and get the pH down. Otherwise, if the pH stays too high too long you can get some very funky flavours. A bit of aging does wonders for it too. I've tried it with various things, but my favourite is with straight chillies and a bit of garlic. Here are three I did last year. The green one also has tomatillos. Spicy kraut and kimchi are also good.

Ferment

• IainM
• Aug 29, 2019

Where are your lids/jars from?

 

[IainM]

Where are your lids/jars from?

They're the kilner ones with the Sterilock tops. I got them from amazon.

 

[YeastFace]

Had a go today. Pointed peppers, red chillies, some dried ancho, garlic and ginger.

A cookie cutter fits in perfectly to help everything stay submerged.

 

[YeastFace]

Glad to report that it's fermenting. How long do people normally ferment for? Different articles have said from a week to 6 weeks.

 

[geigercntr]

It's the old piece of string argument to be honest. The longer you leave it (in principle) the more complex a flavour you'll get. I like to leave mine at least a month before blending and bottling. Once bottled I'll leave it in a cupboard to let it carry on developing (rather than have it in the fridge where bacterial shenanigans will slow down)

 

[BeerCat]

Blueberries and peppers is my favourite so far. Scotch bonnets for heat and Tom puree to thicken. Has improved in fridge since I made it so must still be fermenting slowly.

 

[YeastFace]

Blended and bottled today. More a Pepper sauce than chilli but happy as a first go.

Now have a mango and bird's eye on the go. Was meant to be habanero but none available. May leave for a bit longer than a week.

 

[BeerCat]

I got the idea for this from youtube. 2% salt by weight, going to pick up some chillies and fruit and do a load more like this to blend for sauce. By the end of the week the bags should be fully swollen.

 

[geigercntr]

I got the idea for this from youtube. 2% salt by weight, going to pick up some chillies and fruit and do a load more like this to blend for sauce. By the end of the week the bags should be fully swollen.

Nice! Looks like something from the Noma book. Buying a vacuum sealer is something that the devil on my shoulder keeps whispering about...

 

[Hoddy]

With a stinging cold and not being able to taste anything I stopped by the super market and picked up the ingredients to have a go at my first fermented hot sauce.

peppers, red and green chillies, garlic, onions and mango in my first attempt.

 

[Hoddy]

I got the idea for this from youtube. 2% salt by weight, going to pick up some chillies and fruit and do a load more like this to blend for sauce. By the end of the week the bags should be fully swollen.
View attachment 21269

What are you aiming for with this? A kind of fermented green tomatoe sauce? Is there any chillies going in this?

 

[BeerCat]

Nice! Looks like something from the Noma book. Buying a vacuum sealer is something that the devil on my shoulder keeps whispering about...

Yes they were talking about Noma and the book.

What are you aiming for with this? A kind of fermented green tomatoe sauce? Is there any chillies going in this?

I will probably blend it depending on what it tastes like. Saw it and wanted to give it a go, they might be good on toast. I have one similar to yours on the go with frozen raspberries instead of mango.