Jalapenos are coming in like mad.

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damon555

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Jun 26, 2010
464
35
Middle Tennessee
Actually they've been coming in like crazy for the last 2 months. I pickled most of them. This time around I decided to ferment some.....3% brine solution in distilled water and jalapenos.....the only ingredients.

Getting them all prepped......brine solution in the pitcher.....


2 quarts done......


A little trick I learned online to set up an air lock......


I've fermented them before and used a 5% brine but it was too salty and fermentation took a long time. 3% should be just enough to keep the bad critters away allowing the peppers time to break down.
 
Thank you....Willie, what happens is the good bacteria feed on (break down) the sugars in the jalapenos and their waste products turn the peppers sour. The brine solution inhibits bad bacteria from growing until fermentation gets rolling. After a while the saltiness of the brine is gone and what's left over is like pickle juice full of bacteria that are very good for your digestive system.

About the color of the peppers....It's really been a exercise in patients. My mammoth jalapenos take forever to ripen. But I much prefer using them when they are bright red so I wait. Red and green mixed together really makes them pop when you look through the jar. So I wait......lol
 
Got it.....much like a 'half-sour' pickle from a Jewish deli...mostly just salt and water. I had a bunch of red & green cayennes come on and made a Tabasco like sauce....killer hot. I've also done the Japs with a bread & butter sweet pickling solution.....really tasty sweet heat, but they needed water bath time. Nice job.....
 
Damon, nice Jalapeno peps....   
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 ...

Dave 
 
Aug and sept are best months for peppers...I have so many I cannot use them all.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2
 
Funny you guys should ask....I tried a jar after 1 week and 2 days. That was not long enough. Still pretty salty and tasted kind of funky. Not funky bad but funky like not done yet. It's pretty obvious when you taste them if they are done or not and if they smell rotten then they are.....which I have not had happen to anything I've tried to ferment......yet.

Many of the sources I've seen online mention fermented veggies being done in a matter of days. I have not experienced this with anything that I've fermented. It could have something to do with the climate or storage location. These jalapenos have been stored on a shelf out in my climate controlled shed without regard to light exposure although it's pretty dark in there most of the time. The temp is maintained at a steady 75 degrees.

Which brings me to today.....3 weeks and 2 days out. I opened another jar and tested one after getting rid of the top layer of peppers that had some scum on them (which is not unusual by the way and isn't harmful but I find it unappealing) and boy oh boy did that thing light me up! Pretty darn hot.....which is a product of the peppers.......just the way I like them. All of the saltiness of the brine is gone and the peppers are starting to sour. They are very good so I am putting this jar in the fridge to eat. The last jar I'm going to let go longer to see how much more sour they will get.

I think that the 3% brine is perfect....just enough to keep the bad critters from growing and not enough to affect the end product or keep the fermentation process from taking too long. Do not use iodized salt. Use kosher, sea or pickling salt. You can measure the salt by volume but I did it by weight which is a much more accurate way to ensure that you get the correct ratio. 1000 grams (1 kg) of water to every 30 grams of salt. Every type of salt has a different volume based on how course it is ground so weighing is the only way to go in my book.....and forgive me for saying this but as an American I find the metric system to be perfect.....just move the decimal place a viola.....perfect ratios.

And remember to use distilled or purified water. Tap water contains chlorine which does not provide a good environment for the beneficial bacteria.

Just be patient and make sure you keep the air locks full of water and let time, salt and bacteria work their magic.
 
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If you still have jalapenos left you might try this recipe.  I love sweet jalapeno relish but I'm diabetic so i ginned up this recipe.

Sweet Jalapeno Relish (Sugar Free)

2 Lbs jalapeno pepper, finely chopped *
2 Large cucumber, finely chopped **
1 Large Onion (about A Cup And A Half Chopped.), finely chopped
1/4 Cup salt
2 1/2 Cups Splenda
3 Cup cider vinegar
1/2 Cups pickling spice
1 Tbls Yellow Mustard Seed
1 Tbls Celery Seed

DIRECTIONS:

Combine  chopped jalapenos, onion, and all of the salt in a large glass or ceramic bowl; cover with cold water and let stand for 2 hours. Drain thoroughly, pressing on the vegetable to remove excess liquid.

Combine the sugar and vinegar in a large pot; tie the pickling spices in cheesecloth and add to the liquid.  Add mustard and celery seed bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove spice bag. Pack into hot jars and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

* Wash and remove the stem end.  If you like it spicy leave all  the seeds and membrane.  If you like it mild remove the seeds and membrane by splitting length wise and scraping out the seeds and membrane with a teaspoon.
If you like it semi spicy leave half the seeds.

** Cut the stem and blossom off the cucumber, wash and chop skin and all.

A food processor works well for all chopping.
 
Are those water bottle tops that fit onto the jars? or are they made for mason jars?


Doug, morning.... If you are looking for a method to "air lock" a jar, I used a drill bit in plastic lids.... the air locks have a "tapered" stem... drilling the right size hole works well..... and the pickles are really good.... and the horseradish leaves provide a very good crispness to the pickles...

 
Last edited:
If you still have jalapenos left you might try this recipe.  I love sweet jalapeno relish but I'm diabetic so i ginned up this recipe.



Sweet Jalapeno Relish (Sugar Free)



2 Lbs jalapeno pepper, finely chopped *
2 Large cucumber, finely chopped **
1 Large Onion (about A Cup And A Half Chopped.), finely chopped
1/4 Cup salt
2 1/2 Cups Splenda
3 Cup cider vinegar
1/2 Cups pickling spice
1 Tbls Yellow Mustard Seed
1 Tbls Celery Seed



DIRECTIONS:


Combine  chopped jalapenos, onion, and all of the salt in a large glass or ceramic bowl; cover with cold water and let stand for 2 hours. Drain thoroughly, pressing on the vegetable to remove excess liquid.


Combine the sugar and vinegar in a large pot; tie the pickling spices in cheesecloth and add to the liquid.  Add mustard and celery seed bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.


Add the vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove spice bag. Pack into hot jars and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.


* Wash and remove the stem end.  If you like it spicy leave all  the seeds and membrane.  If you like it mild remove the seeds and membrane by splitting length wise and scraping out the seeds and membrane with a teaspoon.
If you like it semi spicy leave half the seeds.


** Cut the stem and blossom off the cucumber, wash and chop skin and all.


A food processor works well for all chopping.

This is awesome, as I'm diabetic as well, but instead of Splenda I use a product called Swerve, which is based in eyrthrotol, a sugar alcohol that is sweat, but doesn't raise blood sugar.


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