Fermentation

[Claudel Xerxes]

Homemade hot sauce/ pepper sauce

Anyone ever ferment peppers and make their own hot sauce? I’ve been wanting to try it, but have no idea where to begin. Just curious if any of you have any experience.

www.badgerandblade.com

I made a post in a hot sauce thread last week about fermented peppers and fermented hot honey. The honey hasn't let off gas, but the flavors have infused quite a bit.

The hot sauce wasn't doing much for the first couple of days, but for the past two days I've been having to burp at least a few times a day.

 

[TexLaw]

I totally forgot to post up the latest batch of kimchi.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

My dad and a bunch of his Latvian buddies would have sauerkraut parties in the fall where they would all get together, roast a pig, make a bunch of other food, and just process a ton of cabbage. He used to come home from the party weekend with multiple five gallon buckets worth of fermenting cabbage. We would keep it in the garage and he would check it every so often until it was to his liking. I paid some attention to what he was doing, but wish I really would have gotten the process down while I had the opportunity.

This is my first batch of sauerkraut. I'll have it fermenting in my kitchen, so I'll check it in a week, and from what I understand, it should be ready in a couple weeks or so.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Just jarred up some brussel sprout kimchi. Since I'm fairly wet behind the ears when it comes to fermentation, I want to try a hundred different recipes all at once.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Right now, I have a shiitake mushroom ferment going, and I just made up my first napa cabbage kimchi.

 

[Spy Car]

I like to ferment all sort of things: pickles, kimchi, sauerkraut, various milk and sour cream ferments, and vinegars.

I currently have 3 vinegar batches that are almost finished. All 3 are from Armenian fruit-based wines: Pomegranate Wine Vinegar, Blackberry Wine Vinegar, and Armenian Cherry Wine Vinegar.

Bill

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

I've been eager to try some radishes, and the store had some nice looking ones with nice looking greens, so I took the plunge. Four bunches went through the mandolin and got mixed with a couple of thumbs of ginger, a thinly sliced shallot, the better part of the greens (roughly chopped) and about 2% salt. No additional liquid required.

View attachment 895741

It ain't a bad looking jar of groceries, and it sure tasted good as it was going in. Here's hoping that a week or so makes it even better.

How did the radishes turn out, Doak? I've done a few batches of pickled radishes in the past few months, and they've all turned out great. I'm in the mood to start a few new fermentations, and radishes sound like they might be promising.

 

[TexLaw]

How did the radishes turn out, Doak? I've done a few batches of pickled radishes in the past few months, and they've all turned out great. I'm in the mood to start a few new fermentations, and radishes sound like they might be promising.

Those were very good. I actually have another batch going right now, although I didn't add garlic and other goodies. These were out of the garden, and I was just curious how they would make out simply.

Chances are good that I will have more going soon. The radishes in the garden are getting BIG!

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Those were very good. I actually have another batch going right now, although I didn't add garlic and other goodies. These were out of the garden, and I was just curious how they would make out simply.

Chances are good that I will have more going soon. The radishes in the garden are getting BIG!

Thanks. Do you remember how long you let them go until they were ready? Depending on what the radishes are looking like at my local stores, I'll probably get a batch going in the next week or so.

 

[TexLaw]

Thanks. Do you remember how long you let them go until they were ready? Depending on what the radishes are looking like at my local stores, I'll probably get a batch going in the next week or so.

I really don't, and I can't find any notes. Bad me! It wasn't long, though--maybe a 2-3 weeks before I tried them, and they were plenty good. I wouldn't be surprised if they were good before that.

 

[TexLaw]

Thanks. Do you remember how long you let them go until they were ready? Depending on what the radishes are looking like at my local stores, I'll probably get a batch going in the next week or so.

Just for the record, I saw that the airlock on my current batch of radishes dropped today, so I put a permenant lid on them and popped them into the fridge. They came out good! I beleve I started them November 4, so we're looking at a couple weeks.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Just for the record, I saw that the airlock on my current batch of radishes dropped today, so I put a permenant lid on them and popped them into the fridge. They came out good! I beleve I started them November 4, so we're looking at a couple weeks.

I appreciate the update. I bought some radishes yesterday and plan on prepping them up tonight.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Well, I have the radishes going now. I probably should have kept it simple, but I threw in a bay leaf, some mustard powder, some turmeric powder, and a few peppercorns. At the very least, I'll give an update when it's done.

 

[TexLaw]

Well, you got me fired up to do that second batch I threatened to do.

It's a little shy of 1 kg of radishes (after slicing) and a little ginger in a 2% brine. No extra water was required.

Let's see where we are in a couple weeks or so.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

I have some onions going as well, but I might have over filled the jar.

Depending on the quality of bulbs I have right now, I might also get some garlic going tomorrow.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

When I tasted a sample a week ago, the radishes were too briny for me. I tried them yesterday, and they were getting sweet and spicy and funky and seem to be doing some good things. The fermentation seems to be slowing down, so I imagine I'll be capping and refrigerating them within roughly the next week.

The onions have been letting off quite a bit of pungent onion odor for the past 4-5 days. They were beginning to float above the water line, so I opened the jar today and was surprised by how pleasant they smelled. I try a piece after I tamped everything down, and it's pretty darn good. It's like pickled onion, but not as much acidity and brightness, and more umami, with a funkiness to it.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

I thought I was going to jar up the radishes tonight, but I capped it, shook it around, gave it a tamp, and will give them another few days.