Fermented hot sauce from start to finish
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- čas přidán 13. 06. 2024
- The long awaited green ghost hot sauce is finally done. This one fermented for 9.5 months, the longest I've ever fermented a hot sauce and actually appears to still be fermenting in the bottles.
0:00 Intro
0:18 The peppers
3:34 chopping ingredients
9:00 fermentation weights
9:40 fermentation lids
15:21 sanitizing
17:33 kahm yeast
19:30 blending
21:31 bottling
24:05 avoid exploding bottles
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#hotsauce #fermentedhotsauce #makinghotsauce - Jak na to + styl
This is an amazing walkthrough, the best I’ve seen so far!! Thanks for the help!
Thanks! Chillichump has some good ones too.
Gapeys Grub may be CZcams's best comprehensive guide to fermenting hot sauce. I share your links with anybody that asks me questions on the subject.
Ah thanks Shawn, I appreciate it!
This was such a thorough and helpful tutorial! About to embark on my first ever fermented hot sauce making, and I feel much more confident now thanks to you! 🥳
That's great. It's hard to go wrong as long as you get the brine right and are able to keep everything under it.
9 months ... I am a week and a half in to my first quart! lots of good info! as always!
I now have some over 2 years old sitting on my counter that I haven't bottled yet. :D
Though not my favorite beer I buy Grolsch for the ready stopper!
With a 5 gallon bucket-full of hot peppers, I'm here for ideas. I like the apple and splash of honey as food for a long fermentation. Gloves are de rigueur ! - he says with burning hands.
Thank you for your time and the piecing together of snippets taken over time.
Glad you got some ideas from it. Grolsch do have some nice bottles! I've never had it.
Thank you so much for an amazing lesson on successful fermentation! I knew about fermentation but you had so many little insights that I have often wondered about.. You answered so many questions. Thank you for being so detailed and methodical and clear in your communication.. Fantastic. I have some very special peppers I wanted to process.. after that video I feel much more confident. SUPERB VIDEO
Glad you found it helpful. Let me know if you have any questions along the way. It's really not as difficult as people think it is. Getting the salt ratio right and keeping air out of the container are the most important things.
I'd like to know what makes your peppers so special? Serious question
I already know all of this. But I wanted to say. Great video. Very informative for newbies. Covered everything well. Thanks.
Thanks. I'm glad it is helpful. I'm working on another one. It's been a while since I've posted a sauce.
Thank you so much for this informative video! You made it look so easy! And I know it was a lot of work! I appreciate you!! Thank you again. Love your videos!! 🙃❣️
Thanks Carolyn :)
9.5 months, wow! Maximum dedication, maximum benefits 💕
Or just lazyness. lol
Waiting is the hard part.
Great info! Thanks!!
Glad it was helpful!
Just found your video as I'm researching how to make my own hot sauce from garden-grown peppers! And, as a homebrewer I really appreciate your attention to sanitation! Starsan is my go-to for sanitizing everything in my brewing hobby. If you don't already know this, using distilled water for your Starsan will make it last nearly forever. I've read that Starsan loses its effectiveness sooner if it is cloudy when you mix it. Distilled water will mix up the Starsan crystal clear.
Thanks for the distilled water tip. I may do that. I have heard that the shelf life of Starsan once mixed is very short. I know it has something to do with ph. Might do a little test using distilled vs my well water that I normally use and see how the ph differs before and after a month or so.
Very cool, appreciate the sped-up frames!
np, don't want to bore people by not speeding it up. :D
The sauce looks amazing
Thank you!
Great video very informative. Thank you!
You're welcome.
Wow, very interesting video, beautiful work, I bet the sauce is amazing!
Thanks. It is pretty good!
Wow Paula, such a culinarily alchemist you are! Wonderful video as always 🌶🌝
Thanks! :)
Awesome job!
Thanks!
Brava, Thank You.
You're welcome!
Serious great video!
Thanks Diane. Glad I finally got to post it. :)
Great job
Thank you!
Very nice thank you!
You're welcome!
Thanks so much for this 👌🙏
You're very welcome!
I saw it while ago and my fermente in about to be done🎉
Awesome! I hope it's delicious.
Excellent video Paula. I'm sure your sauces taste amazing considering how much time and attention you put into them.
Thanks Eric. I think they get better every year. :D
@@gapey Would love to try some of your sauces if possible. And I hope you make another pepper calendar.
Hey Paula
lots of great advice for a rookie thx for tutorial
Thanks Rob. Glad you found it helpful.
This is exactly what I wanted to do today. Glad I stumbled upon this one. Thanks!
Glad I could help!
Great information and channel☀🍊👍 thank you
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!
Definitely knows her stuff 👌🏼
Thanks! :)
I think the seeds from the huge tomatillo would be worth saving.
yeah probably should have saved some of those but I don't think I did.
New sub. I love farming🥰🥰🙏🏻🙏🏻🇸🇳
Glad to have you! Hope you find useful information on my channel.
Awesome video but man I was hoping for a taste test! Thanks for the in depth overview : )
Oops. I've heard a few say that and will try to do that next time!
That was a awesome 👌 video
Trying my first time to make a fermentation....fingers crossed
Thank you for all that information .
Glad you found it helpful. I'm planning on posting a fermented hot sauce FAQ here maybe this month. Let me know if you have any questions!
@@gapey thank you
Wow my hot sauce came out really good....thank you again.
@@jamescosta8270 glad to hear it turned out well!
I made Carolina Reaper and scraped the insides off. Not as hot when you use worlds hottest pepper.
Fermented for 7 months with a turmeric. Growing more for a new batch.
Hot but not loose you mind hot and so much flavor
ph it with vinegar.
Nice sounds like a good combo. I need to try turmeric in a sauce.
Thank you for the information. I’m a hobbyist and I’m in my second year of making sauce. I came across the problem of the sauce still fermenting after bottling this year. I don’t ferment for months, more like weeks and normally store everything in the fridge. This year I ran out of room and left them on the counter. That’s how I learned I needed to pasteurize (cook) longer. Hard lesson to learn lol
yeah even if you ferment for months there's a chance it isn't "done". My green sauces for some reason always take much longer than my others.
You should get a PH meter and check that your PH is low enough! At 3.2 or below the fermentation will stop and the product will be shelf stable as well. Actually it is stable below 4.2 as far as harmful pathogens go, but fermentation will still be going on until it falls below 3.2. The books say 3.4, but I go to at least 3.2 to be sure I don't have problems with the bottles. If that is to acidic for you then you will have to pasteurize or keep the lids on loose.
@@mikesmicroshop4385 how do you adjust the PH so pasteurization isn't needed? do you recommend a particular ph meter?
9.5 months, wow that is some patience.
It's not too hard when you still have a bunch of hot sauce from the previous year to eat. :D
It is not uncommon for some manufacturers like say Tabasco, to keep them for 3 to 5 years before processing them into sauce. So 9.5 months is good, the general fermentation will be complete in 2 to 3 weeks, but the peppers will continue to age and improve in flavor the longer you can let them sit.
Best regards from Russia
StarSan is instant, and dont fear the foam! unless its cloudy
You bet!
just recommend this to a friend, gonna use your technique for some scotch bonnet hot sauce thank you!🔶
That's great. Hope it turns out well. Scotch bonnets make great sauces.
Paula, your hot sauces look so good, and your labels look very professional. I can't seem to master label making for my hot sauce bottles. How do you make yours, or who do you use to make yours?
The blank labels I got on Amazon and it came with a template I use with Microsoft Word. The design to put on it though I created in photoshop using some photos of my peppers that I took in a light tent to get the white background.
Great video as always! Did you make the white fermentation lids?
nah I got the white ones on Amazon too. I have like 3 different brands. lol
Wow great video! 9.5 months...that's a lot of patience! Do you print your own labels for the bottles?
I think it's more laziness than patience. :D. I have a ton of sauce from previous year so no rush to bottle them. Yep I print my own labels.
I really like your recipe, I'm not going to do tomatoes or tomatillos, But I am procrastinating the fermentation off to tomorrow :D
Every batch I do is different. It's good to experiment with different ingredients.
Looks so good! Is there any reason why you don't hot fill and flip? This would surely ensure any fermention ends by killing the lacto bacteria and would solve your worries about the fermentation continuing after bottling. Also, how do you ensure the bottles are sanitary if the sauce is cool? Sorry about all the questions - I'm new to this and have noticed some people hot fill and some do not :)
There are lots of ways to do it. There's no one right way. I've done the hot fill before too. I use Star San to sanitize the bottles and the blender when I don't pasteurize. Pasteurizing does kill the beneficial bacteria in the hot sauce but many say you would have to eat a lot of it to be of any benefit. If I know there is still some fermentation activity when I do the bottling I would definitely pasteurize it before bottling.
Great video, thanks for posting! I just jarred up a red fresno/ghost pepper ferment with carrot garlic and onion. Did 3.5% brine, now we wait. Liked and subbed!
Thanks for subbing. good luck with your sauce!
Nice👍
Thanks ✌
Hi :-) Great video but I'm brand new to this so forgive me ignorance :-) When you let the jar ferment, where do you do it? In a dark cabinet? Right on a counter? Does it matter? Is temperature an issue? Thanks in advance and I can't wait to try it!! :-)
I would keep it out of direct sunlight but I do mine right on the counter in a somewhat dark corner. A cupboard would be good too. The temperature doesn't matter too much but it will ferment faster the warmer it is. Room temp should be just fine.
Question on star San. How can it be no rinse and there are such crazy warnings on the label? Also, it won't effect taste at all?
Adding Lime Juice increases the acidity,which impairs the formation of Kahm Yeast.
Would adding that acidity keep it from fermenting?
actually that explains why my green tomato/tomatillo sauces never seem to get kahm but they always take a lot longer to ferment than my others. Probably the acidity is higher in those.
@@gapey I'm not sure...I found this through trial and error.The juice of one lime in a 2-pint jar of ferment seems to have done the trick.
I liked your video by the way,very clear and informative.
@@nickbarber9502 Sounds like it might be beneficial to check the PH at the beginning and adjust as needed. I typically only test the end PH.
I wonder if perhaps after blending. More sugars were released from the apples. Therefore invigorating the yeast and continuing the ferment.
Yeah that's possible. though it always seems to happen with my green sauces. I always thought it was the green tomatoes and/or tomatillos that do that because they add some acidity which probably slows down the fermentation.
Nice video, I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction on how to label my own bottles? I'm new making hot sauces but have been perfecting recipes and jarring them to give to friends.
For a basic label you can get the labels from Amazon which are in my Amazon store linked in the video description. There is a Word template you can use to design and print them out. Adding graphics is a little more complicated. I use Photoshop and take my own photos with a light tent to get the white backgrounds.
@@gapey Thank you :)
Does the star san affect the taste of the final product at all? I'm bottling for christmas presents and I usually use dawn ultra dish detergent and water to sanitize my jars and equipment.
I don't think it has much of a taste but I've never tasted it on its own. From what I've read it has a slightly tart taste but don't think it would affect the flavor of the product.
I’m thinking that your veggies have some complex sugars that prolong the fermentation process. I have two 2 qt jars of kimchi that ar actively fermenting on the sixth day. I know it’s early but I’m eager to try it, the last batch is nearly eaten and was delicious.
👋 I'm a newbie to fermenting and am curious to know what would happen if I opened the jar in between the process?
Most likely nothing as long as everything is under the brine but I wouldn't leave it open for too long. If stuff starts floating above the weight I have opened it before to remove the floaters or to adjust the weight.
Hello! I’m doing my first fermentation for hot sauce! I have a question tho. When I started it only took like 2 days for fermentation to start and it’s only been 6 days and the air lock float isn’t floating anymore? Is that normal?
yeah should be fine. It will slow down after a week or two and may be slow enough that the air lock float doesn't move.
Do you find that the Kahm yeast shows up again on top of your sauce once it’s there? I have a heck of a time getting rid of it once it starts.
yeah usually once you get it, it will just keep coming back.
how was the flavor? Sounds like a really interesting sauce!
It turned out really good. But I'm thinking of trying more garlic after seeing how much garlic some people add to their sauces. There's a fermented hot sauce facebook group that has been really helpful.
@@gapey thanks!!
14:30 You say that you don't want to boil the fermented chilis because after that you a smaller amount of sauce... ... but it is water which evaporate and you can add some again... you can also boil it inside a glass or bottles or with a pot which has a lid on...
But even if you do nothing about it: your sauce will get thicker, more concentrated with more flavour.
Yes, I suppose that's true. I was thinking of boiling it inside the woozy bottles next time using my sous vide.
"Pasteurizing kills the beneficial bacteria." True, but if you wait 9 months, the beneficial bacteria are pretty well inactive anyway. If you want the benefits of live bacterial cultures, ferment until it's to your taste, and refrigerate. This will slow down the fermentation a great deal, and should keep for long enough to use up the sauce, depending on how quickly you go through it. If you're worried about exploding bottles in the fridge, leave the screw lid of your bottle slightly loose or unscrew it and relieve pressure every few days. :)
Good point and I agree with you. :)
Excellent video. Thank you. I am just curious as to why you don't just sanitize them using boiling water?
You could definitely do it that way. Some people do. I find it easier just to use Star San. Although it is kind of difficult to boil your blender..
oh I guess you could also put boiling water in the blender. Just seems like more work to do it that way but definitely doable!
@@gapey Thanks again. My peppers are taking forever. Thanks again for your video I will definitely have to try this. I have the fermenting jars. Now I just have to find some time between gardening, pickleball, sewing, etc. Keep up the good work.
@@barbaradumler6503 Yeah this time of year is a busy time. So much to get done. A lot of my peppers are a little slow this year too.
Thanks for a well-made video. The only thing I may suggest is to actually taste the sauce at the end and give us your thoughts. Personally, I wanted to know how much less spicy the sauce was made with the under-matured peppers.
Yeah I got a lot of comments about that. I will be sure to do that next time. I think it definitely wasn't quite as hot using the green peppers but it still had decent heat.
Those bottles only hold a certain volume. You make less mess of you use a second measure cup with said volume to fill them.
Hey that's a really good idea. Not sure why I didn't think of that.
Many thanks for this video! We made a bout ten mason jars of sauce that have been fermenting fro about four months now. About half the jars have the traditional air lock lids (like the ones you're using) and the others had the ridiculous rubber things with a hole in the top... I couldn't understand how those were going to work, and they appear not to have: all of jars with the rubber lids have mold. So, just to clarify, when you say "it's garbage and you should get rid of it", you're talking about throwing away the entire contents of the jar, right, and not just the mold? Thanks again.
Sad to hear. Are you sure it's mold? If it's a white film on top, that is kahm yeast/pellicle which is perfectly safe but if it's fuzzy and not white then definitely mold. If it's mold then unfortunately all of the contents of the jar isn't safe to consume.
@@gapey Many thanks for your reply; yes, I was afraid that the entire jar would have to go, but wanted to make sure. It's definitely not kahm. I had read elsewhere that because it is salt water, anything below the water line would still be ok... but that didn't sound right... the level of salinity doesn't seem high enough to prevent bad bacteria (given that it's allowing fermentation to take place). So, out with the contents of these jars, and out with the rubber tops. Will only use the real airlocks from now on. On a positive note, the jars with the airlocks have turned out very nice... Given that we live in Japan, we used persimmon and yuzu amongst other things. Excellent! Thanks again.
@@MrOutrage22 I used persimmon in my most recent batch. I try to use only stuff I grow in the garden but decided to try something different with this batch and used some organic persimmon from the store. It most likely won't get blended until next year.
Dow i can use salt with jodium or not ? Good video thanks !
not sure what jodium is. Are you talking about Iodine? I would use non iodized salt like kosher salt, sea salt or canning salt.
@@gapey Jodium = iodine
@@zvonko2578 Oh ok. Hadn't heard it called that before. For a second I thought you meant sodium.
I've never seen someone add honey before fermenting, is it added as a sort of "fuel" for the lactobacillus or does the flavor of the honey carry over to the finished sauce? It's really interesting!
Yeah I think it does help fuel it. I'm sure it adds some sweetness to the sauce as well but it's not very prominent especially since most of the sugars end up getting fermented out.
Gapeys Grub super cool! Last question, were you happy with the flavor from the green tomatoes? I have a bunch right now and I’m getting ready to do some ferments this week, I’m thinking about them 😀
You can ferment some things entirely in honey. Garlic is a good example.
But how did it taste? Great video thank you.
I thought it turned out really well. It was a little spicier than I thought it would be.
Thanks so much for responding to an older video! I was so curious since they were green ghosts for the most part and then with the apples I thought it might cool things off a little as well as the dilution. I was also wondering if the flavor was complex because of the long fermentation. And how did it smell? You know how good fermented foods smell that it is no wonder people ate them when first discovered. I fermented some peppers form the first time recently but only for a week! I didn’t realize that longer was possible and likely better. The flavor was ho hum. Anyway thanks for your video. Got a lot to learn. Will watch more.
Just curious, will adding vinegar accomplish the same effect as pasteurizing? Like, ceasing the fermenting?
It will lower the ph but that doesn't guarantee it will stop the fermentation.
@@gapey , Thank you! Great video!
Generally below a PH of 3.2 will stop fermentation of all Lactobacillus as well as harmful pathogens. The PH is the key no matter what you add you need to check the PH of the end product!!!!!!!
@@mikesmicroshop4385Not everyone has a reliable (hence expensive) pH meter when first trying out fermentation!!!!!!
Wonderful video as always, but we wanna see u try it! How does it taste?!
It's pretty tasty! It's very hot but not super hot.
What's the issue with pasteurising if you're bottling for that long? Genuinely interested?
Not really an issue just usually not necessary so it just creates more work than necessary and my time is limited. Many will claim it kills all the beneficial bacteria if you pasteurize it which is true but you would have to eat a lot of sauce to get much benefit from it.
Love the videos, but could you taste the hot sauces at some point to give the viewer what those fruit and vegetable and length of time combinations taste like. Thanks
good tip. I did do that in my other hot sauce video. :)
kind of reacted to the paula’s pain etiquette on the thumbnail :)
Hi I’m new to your channel I happen to stumble on it and I find it very informative. The one thing that I was also looking for was for you to taste the sauce and tell your viewers what it tastes like and what you could have added or not added to it. If I was going to try and make your sauce I would want to know what it tastes like so I would know what to expect when mine is done fermenting. And could you also tell me what is the difference between a vinegar hot sauce and a fermented. Can you ferment with vinegar or just brine? Thanks
You don't want to ferment with the vinegar because that would lower the ph and it may not ferment. A lot of people add vinegar to their fermented sauces after it's done fermenting for either thinning the sauce if it's too thick, or to lower the ph to make it shelf stable if it's not low enough or just for taste. I'm not very good at describing how things taste. It tasted like hot peppers. :p Most of my sauces haven't been big on other flavors as the majority of the ingredients are the peppers.
@@gapey thank you so much for responding. I’m not gonna worry about the vinegar or any other recipes unless I see them from you. So whatever you make I will make and I will only follow you because I love the way you give a hands on approach and you made this recipes easy to follow. I will give this hot sauce fermentation a try when I go to the store. Is there anything that I should add to it or take away from it. Thanks
@@howardbellamy6301 Honestly, every batch I make is different. The imporant thing is getting the brine measurements right and everything else is just tossing stuff together. garlic, onions and honey go into most every sauce I make and I like adding a different fruit each time, whever I have that's fresh from the garden. Occasionally I'll add store bought stuff like pineapple for something different. My favorite sauce I've made so far is a smoked tomatillo sauce with green peppers. I just bottled it last night. smoking some of the ingredients takes it up a noth. My kimchi hot sauce I've made is another fav, I have that up on youtube.
@@gapey I will look at all your CZcams hot sauce recipes before I head to the store to see what I will need to buy. You say that your hot sauce taste like peppers but you also add fruits and other vegetables to your sauce….doesn’t the other ingredients like pineapples take on the flavor of the hot sauce?
@@howardbellamy6301 I ferment my sauce for so long that you can't really get any distinct flavors of the fruits I add. Maybe if the ratio of fruit to peppers is increased it would taste more fruity. The smokyness of the tomatillos really came through on the sauce I just blended up last night though.
Don't you have to wash the star San out of the bottles with water before you fill them with hot sauce.? I didn't see you wash them out.
No, you are not supposed to rinse the Star San off. "Don't fear the foam" is a common phrase I see in many forums referring to not rinsing the Star San.
did you use tap water? should you let the tap water sit out or boil the tap water before using it?
I use well water from the tap but if you have chlorinated water it's recommended to let it sit or boil.
It is best to use distilled or at least unchlorinated water. Water such as well water or spring water may have minerals in it that will effect the fermentation adversely. You will not know however until you try it and see if it gives you ferment an off flavor.
How long is the shelf life on this pasteurized, and how long is the shelf life non pasteurized?
Hmm good question. I've heard pasteurizing may extend the shelf life but not sure by how much. I've had no issues eating unpasturized sauce after a couple years.
If you ferment the peppers long enough to get the PH to 3.2 or less you will have a shelf stable product! As long as you DO NOT add any additional things like spices, Herbs, fruit, etc. these will add contaminants to the mix that has not been fermented ad will effect the shelf life of the product! This is not to say that you cant add additional thing, just that you will have to look and smell it before you use it each time. If it below 3.2 and you bottles are sterile it will keep for Years, as with all things look at it and smell it if it smells bad or had changed in appearance or had mold, it is not a good idea to consume it. If you keep it in the refrigerator it will keep longer.
Please help I have a couple of issues with my hot sauce.
1 It separates
2 I don’t know what I’m doing wrong the bottles just pop up when you open them and it’s embarrassing when my customers bring the sauce back because of the pop and I don’t know how to explain it.
separation is normal. The only way to really resolve that is by adding a small amount of xanthan gum when you blend it up. You only need about 1/4 tsp per quart of sauce. If you use too much it will become gummy. As for popping up, the only way to guarantee that not happening is to pasteurize the sauce to kill the ferment. The popping is the result of the fermentation. If you don't want to pasteurize then you can keep it in the fridge and that will slow down the fermentation so you shouldn't have much popping.
after first mix, measure the ph with an electronic device, add brine and mix again, until ph goes down under 3.4... if brine is not enough start with vinegar, little by little. with an acidity under 3.4 ph the lactobacillus is disactivated, fermentation ends c02 emission ceases... and no pop up
What variety of Tomatillo was that!? Holy smokes that thing was enormous!
Not sure. I got them from a seed swap and they didn't specify the variety. I do have some called rio grande that are supposed to be large. Going to try them next year.
This is the first year I’ve ever grown tomatillos. I bought the smallest size packet of seeds from Morgan County Seeds, a Missouri company that specializes in larger bulk seed orders, but usually have some small packets for home gardeners. I had 100% germination rate and each plant has given me probably over 100 tomatillos. The fruits weren’t huge, ranging in size from about an inch to 2 inches in diameter, but they were hugely prolific and very hearty and resistant to inconsistent watering as well as any sort of bugs or disease.
How did they turn out??
They're awesome! :)
Has the process of doing this changed since you last fermented this batch?
No not really. Other than fermenting for longer. I have one batch that is about 2 years old now that I haven't bottled. I just have so much sauce that I'm in no rush to bottle more. :D I only made one batch this season that will probably end up fermenting for a year or two.
@@gapeySuch detailed video! So how long could one ferment peppers for?
Must use tomatillos for the green tomatoes
yeah I use tomatillos sometimes or sometimes use tomatillos and green tomatoes. I made some more recently that has both in it.
How long does this last once bottled and how long after a bottle has been open?
I don't know about any set time but I've had some for a couple years that are still good. It will last even longer if you keep it in the fridge. Pasteurizing also extends the shelf life I've heard.
As long as the PH is below 4.2 it will be shelf stable, personally I go for a PH of 3.4. The only thing to keep in mind is that unless you refrigerate the sauce or other fermented products is that this is still alive unless you pasteurize it! As a result it is still fermenting, slowly it will still produce gas ( as well as maturing in flavor ) and could break the bottle if you keep it out on a counter with a tight lid. So do not keep the lid on tightly. As to the shelf life, unless you do not like what you have made you will in all likely hood consume it well before you have to be concerned about that! Just keep an eye on it when you go to use it, as long as it smells OK and is not moldy you are good to go!
Shouldnt you rinse after using sanitizers around food?
No. Star San is a no rinse sanitizer.
StarSan is a acidic sterilizing product and is food safe.
Can you use lemon or lime instead of the water thanks
completely swapping out water for lemon/lime juice might make it too acidic so not sure that would work. You could definitely add some but don't think I'd add that much or it will affect the fermentation.
@@gapey thank you for the quick responsed
If you want a lemon or lime flavor with out making it to acidic, as the sugar in the juice will add to the fermentables in you jar, try adding zest to get the flavor and not the added acid from either the juice or from the more aggressive and longer fermentation from the added sugars.
Thats a huge tomatillo
Indeed!
Do you ever taste it before your bottle it? Maybe you know how it tastes already?
I only taste it just before bottling, after I've blended it.
Do you check the pH?
Yeah I usually do. I have a digital ph meter. I don't remember if I had one back when I did this video or not.
To Pasteurize boiling is absolutely not needed! You only need to bring the temperature up to 180F to 185F for 30 minutes!! This is easiest to do if you have a Sous Vide circulator. Heat the water to the correct temperature, place the capped bottles in the water bath so that the tops are submerged by about an inch then keep the water at 180 to 185 for 30 minutes. The PH of your sauce MUST be below 4.6, to be considered for pasteurization in the US. Personally I prefer to make sure that the PH is at or below 3.2, at that PH there is no fermentation taking place. The only way to be sure of your PH is to get an PH meter and check it. PH paper is another option, but it is less than accurate and over time it looses it color accuracy even more than when it is fresh and new! That being said your meter will also need to be calibrated from time to time so be sure to follow the makers instructions to get the best most accurate readings.
Yep definitely going the sous vide route next time I pasteurize something. :) Oh and I do have a ph meter I calibrate often. I use it when I make mead.
@@gapey I originally got my first PH meter for making Mead, but my most recent one to make fermented sausage. It has a pointy tip to insert into the meat, but it works for solutions as well as long as I make sure it is completely submerged.
Do you trade sauces?
I think I've only done a sauce trade once. I may be doing a give away soon though, when I reach 10k subs!
Paulas Pain, hahaha
Fermentation uses the good bacteria for the fermentation process. Honey is an antibacterial agent. Ancient Egyptian‘s used it to put on wounds to prevent infection. The honey might work against the good bacteria by killing them. Love your video but not sure I would add the honey. Let me know what you think I don’t pretend to know it all. Just wondering.
There is actually good bacteria in honey as well. When honey has too high of water content it will begin to ferment on its own. That is how mead is made actually. honey fermented garlic is also a very popular ferment and one I've done a few times. Just the addition of garlic into the honey will cause it to ferment.
Good things to know. Thank you.
Why are you taking out the tomato seeds? Just asking
Just personal preference. You don't have to. I usually remove the pepper seeds too. They just don't really add anything to the sauce.
Hi! Are those tomatoes, or tomatillos?
It was mostly green tomatoes but I did add one big tomatillo at 4:08.
I saw them pasteurizing in the Sous Vide. Haven't tried it.
I'm gonna give it a try this year I think.
@@gapey I think they were doing cucumbers. I don't think their method would be shelf stable and I'm not sure if they made this clear to the general public. I was checking if you could peel peppers this way as I find this very time consuming :) I either get them too charred or not enough. Anyway I think you are a great teacher. Thank you!
@@barbaradumler6503 Who is "they". It would only be shelf stable if the PH is low enough. I've peeled roasted peppers before and yes it is pretty time consuming but after roasting they don't ferment very well so you would need to use some fresh ingredients along with the roasted peppers in order for the fermentation to work. I haven't used roasted peppers in my ferment before but I have used smoked peppers but it was only about 1/4 of the ingredients and the rest were fresh ingredients.
@@gapey Here's the link that I was watching. czcams.com/video/x3cKI7mcerY/video.html The site was Farmers' Almanac I think he was a guest on their site. I guess I'm not totally understanding the difference between fermenting and pasteurization. I definitely want to try your method. Thank you again.
@@barbaradumler6503 ok I watched that video. He doesn't do any fermenting in what he's doing. Fermenting is when you create a brine with water and salt (no vinegar) and let that sit on your counter for weeks to months. After fermenting is done then you can pasteurize using what he did in the video but you may need to add vinegar to increase the acidity. It depends how long you let it ferment. You really need whatever you are canning/pasteurizing to be at a PH lower than 4.2 in order to be shelf stable. Otherwise you'll need to keep it in the refrigerator. That's why he added vinegar to his brine in the video, to lower the PH.
You won’t have to do that opening of the bottles if you pasteurized your sauce to 165°
Yup that's an extra step one can take and I have done that before but didn't think it would be necessary for a ferment that had been fermenting so long.
One note on using StarSan, you need to mix up NEW mix every time you are sanitizing. The mixed solution looses it ability to sanitize over time so in as little as 7 days it looses over half of its potency.
I knew it looses potency over time but didn't know it was that fast.
@@gapey Ya it is usually cloudy in a week and not long after that it is pretty much done as a sanitizer. If you have a PH meter check the PH just after you mix some up then see what it is after a couple of weeks. My water is fairly hard and that affects it effective lifespan as well as the acid reacts with the minerals in the water. So I have gotten to the point that I just buy a .99 jug of distilled water and use that for all of my ferments, plus I need it for mixing calibration solutions for the PH meter.
@@mikesmicroshop4385 I learned recently that the ph of distilled water actually changes over time too. I've been using liquid calibration solutions.
@@gapey To get an accurate calibration of your Meter, you definitely should be using known PH calibration solutions recommended for your Meter. I use a set of powdered PH solutions that you mix into distilled water. As long as the water is distilled it will not change significantly in PH as there is nothing there but pure water as long as it is kept in a tightly closed container that does not have a great deal of head space, but I still check that it is a 7 PH anyway. It is exposure to CO2 in the air that causes the PH to change, it will reach equilibrium eventually at a PH of 5.8 to 5.2 due to exposure to atmospheric gases. A bottle of distilled water in a little as 2 hours if left open will go from 7 to equilibrium. I get small bottles of distilled water to mix my test solutions from here: www.amazon.com/dp/B08NTS52WR/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B08NTS52WR&pd_rd_w=umMal&pf_rd_p=80360d1c-2d74-4d2e-9034-f92fb5248b33&pd_rd_wg=sMZNE&pf_rd_r=KBCFC5PCKFXQFSPWS27X&pd_rd_r=1e016ad3-d7dc-4317-b916-fa7960682326&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyQTVRSVdVOUVUVEw2JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTUwNDUwNUZJT0dETzU4Rjk1JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA3MDEwNTczUzRMWDAySzJKMUM0JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==. One 12 pack last me a very long time as I am not using my PH Meter more than 5 or 6 times a year. That way I am using fresh opened each time I mix them. I am kind of paranoid about the PH being accurate so that it is in the safe zone to store with out having to heat the sauce and kill off the Probiotics. Generally if you are storing your PH meter in its storage solution, a calibration is good for around a Month. The Calibrations solutions you have remaining in the bottles are good for 3 to 6 months after they are opened if the solution is below a PH of 7, solutions over 7, 1 to 3 months, so I figure that 3 months is the point where my test solutions need to be tossed and replaced. Oh, on the Star-san, the company says it is good for 2 to 3 weeks once mixed, I usually error on the side of caution and toss it at 2 weeks. Using distilled water gets you to the 2 to 3 week window, and using filtered water out of the tap is the reason it turns cloudy, as it is reacting to the other things in the tap water besides water, and that causes it to loose potency a bit faster so for me 2 weeks tops.
Why do you use such a high brine percentage? Generally 2% to 3% is the range recommended!
3.5% isn't much higher than 3%. Some people go as high as 5%. The lower the % the more likely it is you'll get mold. 3.5% works for me and doesn't taste salty so that's what I go with. It's actually recommended to use 3.5-5% for peppers because they mold easier than other vegetables. 2% is what's recommended for onions, garlic, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, beets, potatoes, green beans and other vegetables. Since I have more than just peppers in my ferment I go with the lower end of the 3.5-5% range that is recommended for peppers. Those guidelines are from probioticjar.com. What is your source for the 2-3% range for peppers/hot sauce?
@@gapey That really depends on the vegetable you are fermenting more than the salt level you use in your brine! If you use to much salt it will degrade the nutrients in the food as well as the taste, it can interfere even with the fermentation as the Lactobacillus is not immune to the effects of the salt, it is just better able to deal with it. I recommend this book it has a GREAT deal of information on Fermenting just about everything, including the best salt ratios for the kind of vegetable you are wanting to ferment. www.amazon.com/dp/1579657184/?coliid=I2RR5GJT4HSYFE&colid=ZF6GVBIID67&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Are you not going overboard on the sanitizing?
better over than under :)
Just wondering, why non-iodized salt?
The iodine in iodized salt can restrict fermentation.
@@gapey Studies have shown that it has no significant effect on fermentation. So you can use whatever you prefer or whatever you have at home.
Can i do this with sugar water instead of salt water?
I would think not. It would likely get moldy without the salt.
@@gapey sorry I didn't explain myself well. I will add salt but the quantity of the suger will be Higher. I want to creat a more sweet hot sauce
@@orental5996 Oh yeah you definitely can add more sugar if you'd like. Shouldn't be a problem. I like to use honey but sugar works too.
@@gapey Thanks so much :)
It would be best to ferment the peppers using only salt water, then sweeten to taste. You would need to keep it refrigerated in a bottle with a loose lid or pasteurize it to prevent it from continuing to ferment the added sugar and becoming to sour or busting your bottles. Sweet pickles are made by adding sugar after they have fermented, the canning process stopes the fermentation so the jars do not explode, but you can slow the fermentation by keeping it in the fridge if you want to have a probiotic end product, just do not tighten the lid.
No ph testing?
Usually I do. Don't remember if I did on this one or not.
Your salt is laced with chalk. The cheaper sea salt brands often are.
is chalk bad for you?