# Fermented hot sauce



## ksmith9 (Mar 29, 2022)

Hello everyone,

I'm over in Spokane and a few weeks back they were doing a restaurant week to get you to try new places, one of the spots was a Latin inspired restaurant called kismet. On their menu they had a taco topped with. Fermented hot sauce. Needless to say it was amazing. I went home and google searched "Fermented hot sauce" and came to this link









						Fermented Hot Sauce - Simple and Delicious!
					

A simple delicious recipe for Fermented Hot Sauce using fresh summer chilies, with no special equipment and only 20 minutes of hands on time!




					www.feastingathome.com
				




So I went to the store and got Serranoes, red chili peppers and threw them in the salt bath with cilantro,  onion, garlic, carrots and let that baby sit. After a week I finished as the recipe says by straining the water and slowly adding it back in while blending. I also added salt,  pepper,  plum sauce, and garlic powder. The sauce is out of this world. If you're a fan of kimchi you NEED to make this! This weekend I will try to make another batch and blend it with some tomato sauce after it ferments to see what else I can make. 

Also regarding my sauce, I would recommend not putting the cilantro in the fermentation but chopping and adding it during the blending process.


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## jcam222 (Mar 29, 2022)

Sounds great. I took up fermented sauces this past summer. I still have about 6 half gallon jars of various peppers and blends fermenting from then.


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## BXMurphy (Mar 29, 2022)

ksmith9 said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> I'm over in Spokane and a few weeks back they were doing a restaurant week to get you to try new places, one of the spots was a Latin inspired restaurant called kismet. On their menu they had a taco topped with. Fermented hot sauce. Needless to say it was amazing. I went home and google searched "Fermented hot sauce" and came to this link
> 
> ...



Hey! Thanks for posting this. I've dabbled with fermenting but keep looking at it in worry. I can't wrap my head around the safety issue even though folks have been doing this for thousands of years. I have some cabbage fermenting for sauerkraut but after a couple if weeks it tasted like salty, soggy cabbage. After a few more weeks I'm afraid to even open it.  

During that ferment, I let some nice-looking kimchi ferment for a couple of weeks and it was spoiled. I should have refrigerated it after 24 hours but for whatever reason, it sat on the counter. My bad.

I bought 200 black tea bags online for like $9 bucks or something to try some kombucha. Two hundred tea bags is a lot but the price was right. I have to start a SCOBY but I'm even wondering if I'd even like the stuff.

And comes you now posting about some really tasty-sounding hot sauce. Boy that stuff really sounds good. I love that you posted that! It makes me want to jump back in the saddle and give this fermenting another try.

It's really that good, huh? Bookmarked.

Murph


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## BXMurphy (Mar 29, 2022)

jcam222 said:


> Sounds great. I took up fermented sauces this past summer. I still have about 6 half gallon jars of various peppers and blends fermenting from then.



This is another thing I'd like to try. Fermenting a bunch of cut-up vegetables sounds even easier than sauerkraut. I'd like to get a "W" under my belt. Just do it, huh? 2% salt brine, weight it down, and wait? And that's it? I won't die?

Murph


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## BigW. (Mar 30, 2022)

Here's 

 jcam222
 thread.  Looks very tasty






						Fermented hot sauce and pickles
					

Last year @xray  shared several ferments he was doing. Looked like something to add to the tool belt so I asked for some fermenting lids and air locks for Christmas. Sure enough I got them and they laid in my office for many months. That is until a month ago when my buddy dropped off the mother...




					www.smokingmeatforums.com


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## 48°North (Mar 30, 2022)

I only recently dipped my toes into fermentation with my first batch being a 4 week kimchi that turned out great. 
I’m going to have to try this now!


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## BXMurphy (Mar 31, 2022)

BigW. said:


> Here's
> 
> jcam222
> thread.  Looks very tasty
> ...


Hey, man, thanks for the link! What I like is the excitement factor. Doing something "weird" to food really needs some encouragement. Thank you for digging that out.

Murph


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## jcam222 (Mar 31, 2022)

Definitely would recommend getting a good PH meter. I had all the same worries at first about safety. Read a lot and talked with 

 xray
 to learn. The PH management and air locks to me are key to safety.


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## BXMurphy (Apr 1, 2022)

Thank you for the help. I have the air locks and weights for quarts and half-gallons. Ph meter, huh? I'll Google around some on that but if you have time and don't mind posting a heads up... will I be testing the brine every so often in order to pull a good number?

To yell you the truth, I'm worried about air pockets. I've done a sauerkraut and kimchi. Both ruined because I didn't trust it. I packed them both down tight and plenty of liquid covered the mass. I did not believe that there was water covering all the nooks and crannies _within_ the mass, though. Is air pockets within a mass of crumpled vegetables something to be scared of?

Murph


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## xray (Apr 1, 2022)

BXMurphy said:


> Thank you for the help. I have the air locks and weights for quarts and half-gallons. Ph meter, huh? I'll Google around some on that but if you have time and don't mind posting a heads up... will I be testing the brine every so often in order to pull a good number?
> 
> To yell you the truth, I'm worried about air pockets. I've done a sauerkraut and kimchi. Both ruined because I didn't trust it. I packed them both down tight and plenty of liquid covered the mass. I did not believe that there was water covering all the nooks and crannies _within_ the mass, though. Is air pockets within a mass of crumpled vegetables something to be scared of?
> 
> Murph



 Murph, you only test the PH at the end of the ferment before bottling. If you are opening the lid constantly, you are introducing oxygen which can start mold growth.

When fermenting, C02 is produced that pushes out the oxygen through the air lock which is a one way valve that doesn’t allow oxygen back in the jar. Unscrewing the lid to look, check, or smell defeats the purpose of having the airlock.

Keeping the contents below the surface of the brine and having the headspace filled with CO2 is what will prevent mold growth.

As for a PH meter, you want to ensure the ph level of the hot sauce is between 3.5-4.0 to be safe. I believe botulism doesn’t grow under 4.6. You could also use a litmus paper to test if you don’t want a meter.


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## BXMurphy (Apr 1, 2022)

xray said:


> When fermenting, C02 is produced that pushes out the oxygen through the air lock which is a one way valve that doesn’t allow oxygen back in the jar. Unscrewing the lid to look, check, or smell defeats the purpose of having the airlock.
> 
> Keeping the contents below the surface of the brine and having the headspace filled with CO2 is what will prevent mold growth.



Ahhhhhh. HAH! Got it. And the bubbles percolating up through the food mass is oxygen being pushed out as carbon dioxide displaces it.

Neat! Thanks for the help there, xray!


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## jcam222 (Apr 1, 2022)

Bubbles are likely the CO2 but as it fills the air gap at the top it pushes the O2 out. I had tons of reservations like you when I first started. I did a lot of reading and it’s EXTREMELY rare to have issues resulting in sickness. The other thing Ive done is bought Star San or equivalent tabs and sanitize my jars as well. I did kraut and kimchi as well. Kimchi is such an active ferment you can move it to refrigerator after 4 or 5 days.


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## clifish (Apr 1, 2022)

You guys are killing me...I just added this to the Amazon cart,  great another thing to keep me busy enough not to get anything else done.  Good thing I am planning a decent sized garden of habs, and other ghost peppers this summer.


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## ksmith9 (Apr 1, 2022)

I have air locks but my first attempt I did just like the recipe said with a loose lid for 7 days then threw in the fridge in an open squeeze bottle it seems to be just fine and I'm still not dead. I never did any ph check or anything. My 2nd batch I'll do with airlock to see if there is a difference.


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## jcam222 (Apr 1, 2022)

ksmith9 said:


> I have air locks but my first attempt I did just like the recipe said with a loose lid for 7 days then threw in the fridge in an open squeeze bottle it seems to be just fine and I'm still not dead. I never did any ph check or anything. My 2nd batch I'll do with airlock to see if there is a difference.


Fermenting is almost old as rocks :) It’s been done a long time minus technology. I just like the PH meter and air locks for added peace of mind.


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## BXMurphy (Apr 2, 2022)

jcam222 said:


> Fermenting is almost old as rocks :) It’s been done a long time minus technology. I just like the PH meter and air locks for added peace of mind.


Thank you for the reassurance. I hate knowing that fermenting = rotting.   

I have the Jillmo covers and air locks. They're OK but the cap on the air lock is tough to snap on and off. They also have an inverted "thimble" covering the exhaust tube that doesn't seem trustworthy.

Jillmo Fermentation Kit,... 
I'd like to find one of those S-shaped locks that air as a P-trap on a sink drain.

On the other hand, some folks just use a flat, latex cover under the Mason jar ring with a nipple with a small slit that they say allows CO2 out and then closes up tight enough to keep O2 from getting back in.

Ah, heck... I'm just going to stop working about this and just do it.

National Center for Home Food Preservation has some easy recipes. Where do you get your inspiration? 

Murph


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## jcam222 (Apr 2, 2022)

BXMurphy said:


> Thank you for the reassurance. I hate knowing that fermenting = rotting.
> 
> I have the Jillmo covers and air locks. They're OK but the cap on the air lock is tough to snap on and off. They also have an inverted "thimble" covering the exhaust tube that doesn't seem trustworthy.
> 
> ...


Those locks are just right. The cap is honestly not necessary. Just insure you always keep liquid levels in the lock above the slots on the inverted “thimble”. Open as little as pissilbe but I do open at times to scrape Kahm yeast. If you haven’t already, look it up as you will get it and likely, like me freak out :). It’s harmless and common.


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