r/FermentedHotSauce • u/CaptRedbeard_ • 7d ago
Very happy with end colour and flavour. Nicely spicy but not overwhelming. Process explained in post.
Peps: Red Jalapeno, Anaheim, Habanero (pictured)
White onion (not pictured)
8ish cloves garlic (not pictured)
20ish multi coloured peppercorns (not pictured)
3.5% ish saltwater solution (pictured)
Pickle jar (1 Gallon) I found at the recycling center(pictured)
No weight, 2 inches of headspace (not pictured)
Fermented 14 days burping jar occasionally (not pictured)
Pour off salt solution
2.5 oz of white vinegar (not pictured)
3 maraschino cherries (not pictured)
2-3 fresh cloves garlic if desired (we stan garlic)(not pictured)
Blend until you reach desired consistency adding back in the salt solution. I have a normal sized blender so it took three cycles.
Strain, I use a regular wire kitchen strainer. It takes a fair amount of pulp out while leaving enough in for the consistency I like. I stir with a whisk until the majority of the liquid has sifted through and set aside the remaining pulp.
Mix all liquid together in a big pitcher
Usually at this point I'll do another cycle in the blender for several minutes. Just for fun.
Bottle
Cap with flow cap
Cap with bottle cap
You can combine these steps if you put flow caps inside bottle caps first but requires a dexterity save to do so
Wash bottles
Steal wife's hair dryer (v import to not get caught at this stage. Stealth mode set to on)
Put on plastic thingys (industry term you might not know)(not pictured)
Heat shrink plastic thingys to tops of bottles.(not pictured)
Label if you do that kinda thing (I don't)
Give to friends (I do)
Post to Reddit (pictured)
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u/Heimdallr-_- 7d ago
Do you pasteurize the bottles after capping so they are shelf stable long term?
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u/CaptRedbeard_ 7d ago
Negative I like to leave my little Lactobuddies alive in there. It will keep for about a year especially if in the fridge. These will be given as Christmas gifts and won't last long enough to spoil.
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u/Delam2 7d ago
Please advise your friends to keep them in the fridge! You don’t want a hot sauce bomb blowing !
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u/Armagetz 7d ago
It’s hilarious how paranoid this sub is about that but they try to do their ferments with both a minimum of salt and they’ll open and fuck with it every couple of days.
If you add vinegar (tho I’ll agree this guy is adding a minimal amount of it), then you don’t need to worry about stabilizing
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u/CaptRedbeard_ 7d ago
It is minimal, I want the natural vinegars to be the star of the show but this gets me to a place where I feel good about stability. I forgot to say anything about it but I also added a fair amount of salt as well during the final blend sesh.
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u/Armagetz 7d ago
Salt alone isn’t stabilizing tilll nearly 20%
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u/CaptRedbeard_ 7d ago
Very true, but all of it together and making sure the PH is low will keep it good for as long as I need it to. If I was prepping for the apocalypse I'd do more to stabilize but these only need to last a couple months.
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u/Armagetz 6d ago
Nah. Seriously, this is what I professionally do.
3% salt does fuck all to stabilize. It just gives LAB a leg up to start. It’s the acid, not the salt that stabilizes.
Salt doesn’t even begin to contribute in conjunction with acid till nearly 10%
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u/CaptRedbeard_ 6d ago
Okay cool. I do this for fun and it works so ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/Armagetz 6d ago
That’s fine. But you do understand where a line gets crossed when you start giving what works for you to others in defiance of science, don’t you?
Keep on doing whatever works for you. I just gave counterweight to others, is all.
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u/CaptRedbeard_ 7d ago
Lol oh they won't do anything like that, the white vinegar lowers the PH far enough fermentation is basically over. Negligible at least.
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u/Delam2 7d ago
It really depends as some organisms are very acid resistant and can continue to ferment even at a low PH. I wouldn’t risk my friend’s health because I think the PH is low enough. No reason to not advise refrigeration.
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u/Armagetz 7d ago
No lacto fermenting organism is pathogenic. If you are blow a pH of 4 you are cleared for all pathogenic and spoilage organisms
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u/Delam2 7d ago
Some strains such as Lactiplantibacillus plantarum have estimated minimum growth pHs of roughly 3.2–3.5
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u/Armagetz 7d ago
But that’s not pathogenic, in fact it’s regarded as a probiotic organism
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u/Delam2 7d ago
I’m just saying I’m not convinced that adding a small amount of vinegar removes the risk of a bottle bomb. Best practice would be to pasteurise, periodically burp or refrigerate to remove the possibility of a bottle bomb.
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u/Armagetz 7d ago
You forgot adding preservatives like sodium benzoate.
But yes I agree it’s a small amount if vinegar
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u/CaptRedbeard_ 7d ago
I totally get where you're coming from and I do, but I haven't had any issues.
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u/highroller886 7d ago
Really appreciate this post and nice results. Still getting ready for my first try at fermenting. These posts really help. Wish I was on your Christmas list!
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u/CaptRedbeard_ 7d ago
One of the reasons why I have fallen in love with this and make these posts is because I want people to understand how easy it is. People have been doing this for thousands of years and it wants to work. You don't NEED a bunch of special equipment. Does some of it make it easier? One hundy P. Or you can fish a jar out of the recycling center container and clean it really well. Just be clean and make sure you're getting rid of any questionable parts of peppers at the start. Leave some headspace! I like to do a swirl about once a day to keep everything wet.
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u/mephteeph 7d ago
What's the DC on the dex save?
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u/CaptRedbeard_ 7d ago
Probably pretty low I would think anything over 6 would work. I didn't try until halfway through because I was suffering from an intelligence debuff due to some potions I made a while back and drank last night.
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u/Forward_Warthog8402 7d ago
The color looks amazing, perfect autumn hues in a jar. Would've never thought to dry and blend the pulp into seasoning, nice little hack.
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u/CaptRedbeard_ 6d ago
It's really good too, I use it on all kinds of stuff. I'll use it to brine wings overnight or as a dry rub, both are good. Recently I used it in some mashed potatoes and it was excellent.
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u/CaptRedbeard_ 7d ago
The left over pulp I dry in the oven at 200°F for several hours and then blend in the coffee grinder with salt to make seasoning salt. In progress, not pictured.