Fermented Peppers

[Dante]

A long time chilehead, it’s recently come to my attention that there’s an area where my knowledge is sorely lacking…

Does anyone out there know how to make fermented pepper mash- the type one uses as a base for hot sauces?

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Dante

[John S.]

A long time chilehead, it’s recently come to my attention that there’s an area where my knowledge is sorely lacking…

Does anyone out there know how to make fermented pepper mash- the type one uses as a base for hot sauces?

Thank you.

Sincerely, Dante

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Are you interested in this for commercial production or personal use?

Making mash involves "almost pureeing" the fresh chiles then adding water and salt. Water and salt changes the flavor of the chiles. It increases the shelf life but at a cost. With aseptic packaging it's possible to "almost puree" the chiles then to can them with aseptic methods. This is how the chocolate milk comes now, in those plastic containers, with that thing you rip off on the top, instead of the cardboard containers you could tear to open. The shelf life is way longer than the cardboard method, to the point that it's all done aseptically now.

Anyway it's so easy to make or buy the mash packaged the modern way, and then make your favorite sauce from the "fresh, not fermented" mash.

Better flavor. Since you have to decrease the pH drastically (lime juice or vinegar) to make a sauce in most cases, this stuff will stay in the fridge for a year at least.

John S.

[Dante]

Are you interested in this for commercial production or personal use?

personal.

Making mash involves "almost pureeing" the fresh chiles then adding water and salt. Water and salt changes the flavor of the chiles. It increases the shelf life but at a cost.

Anyway it's so easy to make or buy the mash packaged the modern way, and then make your favorite sauce from the "fresh, not fermented" mash.

Yeah- I've done fresh chile sauces, but was kind of curious about using mash- just a little test-batch to see for myself what it was like DIY. A co-worker gifted me with an insane amount of chiles, so I've got a lot on my hands and wanted to find new ways to play with them, hence the question.

I knew the water-and-salt bit, but didn't know anything about proportions thereof and actual method. Care to share?

Sincerely,

Dante

[eugenep]

I was thinking about fermenting the peppers first to see if it will add more flavor - maybe over a week or so 

 

I ferment Thai bird chillies, mix with vinegar and keep them in the fridge and eat raw (with a main course) and sometimes use it for cooking - like base spices 

[heidih]

34 minutes ago, eugenep said:

I was thinking about fermenting the peppers first to see if it will add more flavor - maybe over a week or so 

 

I ferment Thai bird chillies, mix with vinegar and keep them in the fridge and eat raw (with a main course) and sometimes use it for cooking - like base spices 

How do you ferment? 

[eugenep]

6 minutes ago, heidih said:

How do you ferment? 

I actually got that fermentation book by the famous Renne Redzepi 

 

And it was crazy salty and inedible. He calls for 3% salt to water ratio. 

 

But there was a Cooks Illustrated recipe for fermenting hot chilis to make hot sauce and I use that ratio (of water to much less salt) and it tastes great 

 

I don't think the recipes in the famous Noma book is what the cooks there use themselves (or else their food would taste like crap)

 

Not picking up that book again