I LOVE the cups, Steve turned me on to those too. They are straight genius. Just order the right size.Jeff, ordering my fermenting stuff today, do you like those visucs disks better than the plastic cupsSteve H uses? is it possible to over ferment the peppers ie leave them in the brine too long?
yeah, just annoying that Amazon is charging shipping even though I am prime. Also 4 days to come in...I am spoiled...lol
I like th cup style Steve uses. I used to use the vaso disk with a glass weight. The cups are far easier and effective. Hope life straightens out!
I almost didn't order because of that but I did and will again. I intend to order more next month when I kick off a bunch of new ferments.
No! I did a one year ferment. McIhenny's Tabasco is a three year ferment but then they added vinegar that kills the probiotic plus cooking kills. I always keep the probiotic alive for the gut benefit and keep in the fridge years since the PH is room temp stable below 4.2, USDA says 4.6. Mostly 3.7 like ketchup, mustard, bbq sauces, commercial hot sauces, brines of pickles, olives and vinegar herb bottles and mayo is engineered to 3.6-4 ph, but it's an emulsion so isn't stable at room temp and separates so in the fridge we keep it. If you leave it out over night that is 8 hours or less you put mayo back in the fridge per USDA. Jelly, jams, sugar is acidic and artificial sweeteners are even more acidic. Search the ph of condiments. Like Chef Jimmy j said, we are throwing away more good food. If in doubt, throw it out is not our policy. Ask and we'll get you the answer in food safety forum.Jeff, ordering my fermenting stuff today, do you like those visucs disks better than the plastic cups
No doubt cooking / pasteurizing kills probiotics. Whether or not vinegar does is a topic of debate. I've been trying to get an conclusive answer on it. Here is an article that says in lower amounts it not only doesn't kill them but in some cases can speed up fermentation. Not saying it's right but there are a lot of networking comments that would agree and others that don't. I'm continue my to look for more detail. https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/does-vinegar-stop-fermentation/
jcam222
I add my extras to the food processor. I add some , taste, rinse repeat until I'm happy on new blends. I do not simmer or pasteurize my sauces.
I probably missed something reading through as many of these fermented hot sauces posts that I could find but I am getting ready to start a ghost pepper ferment tomorrow and want to understand as much as I can.
Typically I've made stove top hot sauces, and simmered the ingredients (hot peppers, onions, carrots and garlic) and then put that in the food processor. I am guessing you add any extras after fermenting your peppers? Do you do anything to any extras (simmer them) or just add them to the food processor?
I personally think dishwasher on sanitize cycle is fine. I'm a pinch I've just hand washed and had no issues. I do usually soak in a sterilizer solution though.
I am going to have to buy store bought habs to temper down the ghost peppers....really had to cut down my garden and move it in planters around my fenced in pool this year. Deer have been killing my plants last year,
Looks great and you nailed it! I don't deseed but that is personal preference.
Do you make a ghost pepper hot sauce that you leave the seeds in? If so you are a bigger man than me.
I usually use my hottest peppers in smaller amounts along with others like habs, bonnets or even jalapeno. I do leave seeds in all those.Do you make a ghost pepper hot sauce that you leave the seeds in? If so you are a bigger man than me.
I love the stove top ghost pepper hot sauce I usually make but I always remove the seeds - it is still hot but the flavor comes through better, in my opinion.
I'll look to. 5% acetic acid white distilled vinegar is 2.4ph but when blended, then the acidity increases so that is intriguing. Every whole number is ten fold acidity on the ph scale so if your batch is 4.2ph without vinegar, then a batch at 3.2ph without vinegar is ten times more acidic but then add vinegar to further drop the batch ph. . I guess what ph lactobacillus die with added acid other than what lactobacillus maxes on their own. Kinda like fermenting yeast in beer maximizes yeast spores at a certain density. Straight vinegar to clean fermenters anything of spoilage bacteria, yeasts, molds and fungus is in the same class as probiotics that fall on everything constantly as well. I'd like to find this out to.
As I think through this I can say I have had ferments got as low as 2.9 on my PH meter. White vinegar usually reads between 2.5 and 2.7. If the probiotics are alive in the natural ferment at 2.9 I really wonder if the vinegar addition changes that. I also will keep searching. I only add small amounts in some of my blends for flavor or occasionally to bump pH down a little.
