Habanero, Cherry Pepper, Raspberry Hot Sauce

[Mick S]

I have made a couple of batches of Lactobacillus plantarum fermented hot sauces, so I thought I’d share my process and latest recipe. Credit goes to Brian, Steve, and Tres, whose brains I picked for their experience. Any weirdness is just mine. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Ingredients for Day 1
– 4 TBS Turbinado Sugar
– 1 L. Plantarum pill (Swanson pro-biotic)
– 6 Cups Spring Water (possibly more)
– 4 ounces Orange Habaneros, sanitized, stemmed and quartered
– 16 ounces Cherry Bomb Peppers, sanitized stemmed and eighth’d (Note: when quartering/eighth-ing peppers, remove any particularly spongy/dry pith. Don’t worry about seeds being in or out…some will escape, no big deal.)
– 5 large cloves garlic, peeled, ends removed, and sanitized
– Sea Salt, amount TBD

Ingredients for After Fermentation
– 16-18 oz Raspberries

Pre-Fermentation Process
– Zero a Scale with a large mixing bowl.
– Mix Sugar, L. plantarum Powder, and Water in mixing bowl.
– Add prep’d Peppers and Garlic.
– Note Weight of combined ingredient, compute 3%, and add that much Sea Salt.
– Transfer to a fermentation vessel. I used a corny keg (->this one<-). Pure L. plantarum doesn’t normally create CO2/pressure, but be sure you have a way to relieve pressure if needed (e.g. if other bugs participate in the fermentation).
– If Peppers and Garlic are not completely covered by water, add measured amount of water to cover, and add 3% of extra water’s weight in salt.
– Mix thoroughly.
– Purge vessel with CO2 if possible.

Fermentation Process
– Ferment at 95F for 3 days or Room Temperature for a week, shaking daily. Check/Relieve pressure daily.

Post-Fermentation Process
– After fermentation, blenderize
– In a Large Pot, bring to boil, then simmer until reduced by about 50%
– Blenderize again, along with pre-pulsed raspberries
– Simmer at 180F or higher for at least 8 minutes
– Bottle in sanitized bottles
– Keep Refrigerated

—Mick

• This topic was modified 4 years, 12 months ago by Club Webmaster.

---Mick S (aka VikeMan)

[Mick S]

this is a test reply to the above post

---Mick S (aka VikeMan)

[Pete B]

So less than a week from prep to packaging….and I guess it’s ready when packaged.
Has there been, or do you expect, a flavor change over time; other than from O2 exposure from opening and using?

Two related questions:
Are there qualities to sea salt (other than non-iodized) that make it better for fermenting hot sauces?
Does this type of fermentation reduce aroma/flavors of additions, like using maple syrup in beer to get a maple flavor?

Reason I ask is because there is a Spice & Tea Exchange near me (a couple in PA as well) that has dozens of flavored salts, from bacon to various wood smoke (alder, hickory, etc.) to watermelon to ginger and on and on.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Pete B.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Pete B.

[Mick S]

Pete B wrote:

Has there been, or do you expect, a flavor change over time; other than from O2 exposure from opening and using?

I haven’t had any sauces around for more than about a month, but I haven’t noticed any changes.

Pete B wrote:

Are there qualities to sea salt (other than non-iodized) that make it better for fermenting hot sauces?

Not that I’m aware of. And I’d be pretty surprised if there were. I use sea salt because it’s non-iodized and available at my grocery store.

Pete B wrote:

Does this type of fermentation reduce aroma/flavors of additions, like using maple syrup in beer to get a maple flavor?

I really don’t know for sure, but if it does, I would guess the loss is less than with a clean fermentation. I say that because if you keep the fermentation sealed, and only burp it to let off any CO2 produced, you’re not losing as many volatiles into the atmosphere as you would with a constant outpouring of (lots of) CO2 via an airlock in a clean fermentation. Not only do Lactobacillus strains produce little or no CO2 (depending on strain and environment), they also don’t ferment all the fermentable sugars before they more or less hit a wall due to pH drop.

Also, the nice thing about killing off the bacteria and pasteurizing after fermentation is that you could make miscellaneous flavor/aroma additions after the fermentation, even if they contain some sugars.

---Mick S (aka VikeMan)

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