Do you have a question or topic for a future Chillichump Bitesize episode? www.chillichump.com/chillichump-bitesize-question/ I hope you enjoyed the video!
I have no idea...some of the videos I have watched, they cook the sauce afterwards. Which kind of defeats the point of fermenting. The one recipe, which has millions of views, is the one that people most commonly use, and then message me asking why the sauce blew up when they opened the bottle later. For that one I can only guess the chef doesn't know a whole lot about fermenting.
@@dalegribble4308 It's also got a lot to do with different ferments for different things being misunderstood (eg making mustard, kimchi, kvass, kombucha, miso... ad infinitum and all require different techniques).... these so-called youtube 'influencers' know how to get views but rarely have ANY idea how to cook / ferment so they just get the facts wrong. Original content/ Information, such as we can find here on Chillichump, suffers via the 'Chinese Whispers' route and it makes noobs suffer a lot more fails than they have to (not to mention botulism).
@David35445 you can, but in my experience it is far better with fresh brine. You could maybe do half fresh, and half used brine if you just want to kick start the ferment. Also bear in mind that the brine will be quite acidic and may actually inhibit the reproduction of the lactobacillus in the new ferment
Yeah, I made a tinned peach, habanero and bell pepper sauce. Fermented it for 8 weeks at room temperature, everything seemed to have stopped, so blitzed, added a little of the brine to taste, vinegar for acidity, and a little Xanthan Gum to stabilise. All good. It was bottled in a flip cap pint beer bottle. I didn't use it for about 4 months, no mould all good. I always open new bottles in the sink just incase. Glad I did. After the initial splatter (glad I wear glasses), I got a gushing fizzing fountain, sparkling hot sauce is good off the spoon :)
This could not have come at a better time!!! I just recently started my three different ferments from my harvest. I was hearing about wait times between 4 days-4 months. Here I am two weeks later hoping to find info about this on your channel, and BOOM you release this video! Perfect! Thanks a lot man :D
With my fermented chillis, when they stop bubbling, which can take two or three weeks, I will still leave them for another week or two, or month or two before making the sauce. The flavour profile is entirely dependant on time, and if you rush it the difference (to me anyway) is a sharp shallow flavour profile rather than a deep complex flavour profile. Some of my fermented cukes have sat on the counter for over a year. They don't taste anything like a pickle that has been fermented for a short time, or one that has been pickled in vinegar, and definitely an acquired taste. But they are still pretty crunchy (I use vine leaves for their tannin for this) and I love em. Have made hundreds of ferments, of all sorts of things, including sourdough, raw fish (anchovies in Worcestershire sauce) and vegetables and only one has been inedible. I'd love to see @chillichump do a fermented Worcestershire sauce. #challenge
Great info and thanks for sparing some of your 'vaycay' time. After following your vids since 2018 I have had perfect results everytime no matter whether I use the saline-filled 'float-bag', a food-bag elastic-banded over the jar, burping, or a full-on airlock bubbler. I ferment from between 4 weeks absolute minimum, and 6 months, and I have some jalepeno-fuelled sweet-red-bell peps in a jar in my wardrobe that are now at 7 months ! and smell divine everytime I burp them (less burping req'd now though, as you mentioned). The ONLY fail I've suffered was letting one of my 4 jars of saurkraut get moldy (despite weekly sluicing some of the brine onto the top whole leaf of cabbage I was using as a float-weight). It was week 6 and had smelled lovely so I removed the moldy leaf (it wasn't white karst I know) and top third of the submerged cabbage (paranoid much?!!! Ha ha) & just topped off with pure vinegar to "make safe" and create a pseudo pickled-fermented hybrid (I also pickle stuff) which still tastes and smells lovely after about 4 months now... I remember your advice about 'if it smells horrible it won't be safe!' which is my mantra and a small help for others who see white yet safe yeast and panic. Thanks again for your vids, they have literally allowed me to properly explore this wonderful world of fermentation, especially with chili peps!♡
I have had that happen to me more than once it not only hurt your eyes but it is one hell of a mess to clean up so anyone that does not listen to your advice they just have to learn the hard way and that can be very painful. Have a good day
Your videos are a great source of inspiration. Thanks a lot! I have just blended my pineapple/mango/naga dorset mash after three weeks of lacto-fermentation at room temperature. It's the taste I have always been looking for! I followed your advice from your various "how to - - - " videos! Keep on going with the bitesize episodes! Regards from 55° North in Germany!
Timely video as having watched your videos, I gave it a try. Whilst the fermentation was taking place, I watched more videos and read numerous articles to try and find out "how long to ferment" and there were a huge range of answers. As it was my first attempt, I was tempted to wait 7 days but ultimately went for 11 days before blitzing and bottling. It turned out really well and I plan to start two more batches next week. Obviously having seen this video, I'm going to let both batches ferment for 4 weeks this time. Thank you posting this video. Really appreciate all the advice and help.
I guess that is fine if you just want a slight tang, and are going to cook it to kill off the lactobacillus. But the whole joy of lactofermentation is the lovely flavours, and of course the ability to have a shelf stable sauce at the end of it. 3 days and the process has barely begun.
Great information. I won't be attempting such a project this year as I need yet another year of alterations to my chilli growing technique - the first ripe one was only this last week and the plants aren't huge. Tomatoes - I have them in the bag.... and too many still coming out of my ears (well, the allotment!).
Your vids very useful, i keep chilies ten yeras and always cook hot souce, i try lacto fermentation, i follow you step by step, and everything ok (after ten day), the smell very good, the flavour will be, i hope:) thanks again!
Perfect timing, as I started my first fermentation (chilis, but also nectarines and tomatoes) yesterday! I'm so excited and can't really wait for it (but I will wait of course, no that I know how long)! Love your videos!
Uuh i hope your sauce isn't gonna be too sour. Nectarines have loads of sugar and sugar is what the lacto bacillus turns into acid. The more sugar in the beginning the lower the ph level is gonna be.
@@derliebej7675 Oh, don't worry. Maybe my comment wasn't as clear as it should have been. These things are all fermenting separately. :) And the nectarines are just going 4 to 7 days. (Following a recipe of Joshua Weissmann)
I ferment as long as the jar builds up pressure. I'm using weck glases with rubber seals. They got a litzle toung and when you pull them, you release some pressure. When there is no more pressure, the fermentation is done.
I have been brine fermenting for the past couple of months now and I have had almost 100% success (I failed with all green peppers). But I am totally impatient and process all my sauces after a week and a half to two weeks max. And each time, my pH is 3.4-3.7. I have no idea why they ferment so fast.
He has a few videos that show the fermentation process as well as at least one that failed. I don't the exact videos but if you look in his play list you should be able to find them without a problem.
Ok, really thank you for that information. I only ferment 10 days and freeze the finished product. Will change the time now and try to be more patient... Better safe than sorry :D thanks again!
Great Video with great timing. I was just looking at my jars of peppers and wondering when to take them out! Now I just have to figure out how to get the sauce nice and smooth like you had in this video.
All good stuff. But you should say (may) spray not will spray. For sure it won't spray much sometimes then some less informed folks can say you were wrong. I have had the best success following your recipés/techniques.
Thanks for the video, started my Pepper's fermenting one week ago today. I plan to let them go six to nine weeks at least! Plan to start another batch midweek and let it go again six to nine weeks. A few buddies and I are all trying to do our own hot sauce to come together around Thanksgiving time and do a tasting! We all follow your channel and are excited to see what we end up with. Thanks again!
@@ChilliChump what do you think about this. I have only been following you for a few months and maybe you have done this already. www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-hot-sauce/
Made a batch of sauce recently, 2 month ferment, definitely a noticeable improvement over the 2 week batches. Just seemed to have a bit more "something".
Does 3weeks enough to prevent exploding bottles on the shelf? Sometimes i just ferment it 3days - 1weeks.. I pasteurised the sauce then add sodium benzoate. maybe thats the problem my product sometimes exploded? When we tested add more sodium benzoate 2-3g / Liter of hot sauce. It becomes stable not exploded, but the regulation here is 1g.
Man this so crucial, thank you. I have watched all of your videos and thia year I made my 1st fermentation. It turned out lovely but I wasn't patient. After 11 days I went and blended and sifted the sauce :) It is fine for now but we'll see
I did some sweet peppers in a brine for about a week, but I wanted to leave the sugars mostly intact (akin to a half sour pickle.) Hot sauces I've been targeting a month.
Hey! Great video that breaks this down very simply! Here's my question... I have done some research and reading on this cooking or pasturizing of hot sauce after a ferment. I have read that pasturizing stops the fermentation process, and thus eliminates producing all of the good bacteria? Probiotics? If you don't pasturize, the sauce is healthier for you, and it will continue to take on new flavors as it gets older on the shelf? It just seems like pasturizing and putting a halt to the fermenting process would be the easiest? Are the non cooked / pasteurized hot sauces good for many years on the shelf as well with a ph of 3 - 3.5? Thanks! Great videos!
@@bouchwick I made a companion video to this one which you will find interesting Maximum ferment time ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6wdkVQJbNwQ.html Yes, if you heat pasteurise, it kills of the lactobacillus (beneficial bacteria). Not doing this will result in a healthier sauce. Similar health benefits to things like Yakult and other probiotics
was just wondering about this... inspired by your beginner ferment video, i did my first pepper batch with backyard serranos and a couple jalapenos. the ferment went great for a few days but seemed to slow down a lot after 6 days (no visible pressure on silicone fermilid). maybe i jumped the gun a little on opening them....its been pretty warm here in california, 80F+ most days so maybe the heat was a factor. it smells and tastes incredible! it could use a bit more funk for my preference but what a game changer for my appreciation of chillis. next time i think ill let it go two weeks minimum as long as it looks okay.
I always figured 4 weeks was a good time to ferment as a bare minimum. Most of the time I would let it sit longer in the fermenter if I still have some that hasn't been used all the way yet, as im the only one in the family that uses hot sauce. I also only have 1 or 2 kinds of pepers that I grow so not a whole lot of diversity in flavours and can let them sit longer.
Mine go 2 weeks, sometimes 3 and I get good results with the ph meter. My only problem is getting them blended down far enough to be liquid instead of thick sauce. I have an Omega slow speed auger juicer and used that once, it worked perfectly but the water separates very quickly from the red sauce. At least the pulp came out dry as a bone and could be frozen for soups
Good day Sir, its great of u to have shared your great experiences and knowledge with the world. I have some questions, when u said its a good fermentation, what does a bad fermentation means ; is it unsafe to consume or it needs more time to get the complete fermentation? Are there goin to be a fermentated product with is unsafe to consume ? How do i know that? Last question, i've method of pickled, preserve in oil, is fermentaion process can be kept on goin for a long period ? Wiill the fremention process stop by itself in the closed container? And if does how long is the max fermentation period we can let it goin on? Thank you and keep up the great passion. Hv a nice time every time!
This is a video of mine talking about fermentation safety: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SIPAqoxF710.html Fermentation will only continue for as long as there is food for the lactobacillus (the sugars in the chillies or vegetables) or until the pH is too low for the lactobacillus to be active. I would be careful using oil with fermentations, you may end up with some problems
Thanks for doing this and all your other vids. I'm new to making chilies hot sauces,have been wanting to for a long time. And I appreciate the holistic approach of growing and cross pollination, etc. As to the length of fermentation I don't understand the rush. My understanding of fermentation is that you will get more layers of flavor as it ferments. I'm looking forward to fermenting long periods of time. As long as I see gases trying to escape, great. I'm curious though, what is the longest time you have fermented a batch of peppers. I'm more interested in what would be about the longest you would ferment a batch. I'm guessing that there is a point of diminishing returns. And again, thanks for doing this channel. Enjoy your day. 🌞
Hi Victor, it is my pleasure, I'm glad you are enjoying my channel! With regards to how long my longest ferment has gone...I actually have a couple that have been going for a year now. I will be processing then into sauce soon and will do a video on it too.
@@ChilliChump thanks for the reply. A full year. I'm looking forward to seeing the smile on your face after waiting that long. I'll be watching for those vids especially.
I always imagined, if you didn't use a fermentation lock like you do.. The old black and white WW2 footage of depth charges going off in the ocean. So the footage you used was spot on. Thank you for the video, and honestly I would come to you and your videos of hot sauce and all things peppers before I went to any "famous" chef. Are you on holiday because that doesn't look like anywhere in the UK to me.. Not that I've seen everywhere (mostly just Surrey and London if I'm honest - home and uni and work).
😊 Yep, I'm on holiday. In Mozambique at the moment! If you are on Instagram or Facebook, I have been posting pictures of my time off (just search Chillichump)
@@ChilliChump Oh brilliant, the closest I've gotten to Mozambique would be Madagascar which isn't THAT far away. One of the best holidays I've ever had.
This might go a little against what you said, or at least highlight something not mentioned. Saccharomyces is abundant as well. These fermentation definitely has some saccharo action as well. At optimim temperatures i think the sacchro works 1st to consume the really easy sugars. after they go dormant, only then does the lacto really take off. I base this on the fact that the first week at least the ph drops very little, yet there are plenty of activity. I use the burp method, and on day 4 the mash/brine foams up like a soda water when opening. week 2 the ph starts to drop with a bit more momentum for another 2 weeks, then it starts to flat line a little. However, the ph drop all the way until the 3 month mark after which no further ph dropping occurs. I've had sauces sit for 6 months to check this. just my 2c.
Hi Ben, I wanted to keep this one a little simple to get the point across (the Chillichump Bitesize series is for videos 2 minutes or under!). But what you are talking about is worth a longer episode. I have done a few experiments, in particular with changing temperatures. Optimal temperature for lactobacillus plantarum is about 30' Celsius, so if you are only interested in getting the pH down as quickly as possible then you can ferment at that temperature. But the flavours are quite funky if you do that. I am trying to experiment with the ideal temperatures and length of time for the different phases of the fermentation. Where I am at the moment is 30' Celsius to start off, for the first 48 hours, then drop down to 19/20 Celsius for the next 3 weeks. Then I drop it down to around 16 for the next month or two. I have a few going at the moment that I am testing.
@@ChilliChump I think a full length "biological chemistry" video will be well worth it. I'm still toying with the idea of making a sauce with lacto, peddio, and brett. Obviously not a super hot sauce. This one i will have to ferment for a year or 2 since brett takes it's time. I also think american white oak will have to be part of that process.
I think the topic is highly subjective. I'm new to fermenting, but just one week seems to work, and it also tastes great, at least in my opinion. I still have to try longer ferments yet, so I don't really know what I'll like better in the end, but I guess my point is: don't rely on fixed numbers. Try different times, and just stick with whatever works best for your taste buds!
Fermenting isn't just about tasting good. The point of fermenting is presentation of the vegetables or peppers. You are trying to get the pH low enough so that you get a shelf stable sauce or fermented vegetable, which will be safe for years at room temperature. However if you are going to use it within a couple weeks and keep it in the fridge, then that's fine to ferment for a week (but I would recommend cooking the sauce when you stop after a week to kill the lactobacillus so you dont get sprayed with sauce when you open the bottle later)
I put that up on the screen during the video. The only problem with that is it does change the sauces flavour profile in my experience. And also the texture depending how long you heat it for
Hi, new to fermentation here. I made a few chili ferments using onions, garlic, ginger, some fruits like pineaple, peach,plums... Different recipes. If the is PH below 4 ,can i blend it and put in to jars with vinegar to stop fermentation and store it in a cabinet. Or another way i was thinking is Blend it and put in to jars, opening them every day or two to keep fermenting.
To guarantee the fermentation stops you will need to heat pasteurise the sauce. However there are some other ways to stop Fermentation like fermenting long enough, or bringing the pH low enough that the lactobacillus becomes dormant.
Have you ever tried blending fermentations? I have a batch that's been going about 2 weeks but I have some more peppers ready to pick and start another fermentation. I'm considering letting the current fermentation go longer and blend it with these new peppers after they ferment a couple weeks. Would I be better off bottling now and again in 2 weeks?
Hey chilli- just finished a batch of fermenting peppers. Didn’t turn out like I had hoped☹️. I used habaneros, onion and garlic, and carrot in one batch; jalapeños, onion garlic and carrot in one batch. They both had a sour taste to them, not good. Tossed them.☹️ I prepped everything well, boiled jars, fermenting lids, used gloves etc. 2.5% salt brine. Water was clear except for some white sediment at the bottom. Fermented for 25 days. Any insight into what might have gone wrong would be helpful. Love your channel.
Carrots are always a little bit strange when it comes to fermenting. Try keep it a little simpler next time round. Also, I hope you aren't adding sugar?
Thanks for the reply. No sugar- don’t want booze!(I did add a small chunk of ginger?). I will keep it simpler next time maybe just peppers and garlic? Should I wash peppers,garlic, onion, fully before fermenting? Committed to figuring it out...
@@woodywoodpecker3643 you won't get booze from the sugar. This fermentation is lactofermentation...using lactobacillus which is a bacteria that creates lactic acid using the sugars in your vegetables. The fermentation that creates alcohol uses yeast to convert the sugars.
So if I ferment for 3 weeks or until it seems to stop, will it then not start again if I add some sugar? for example adding fruit when blending. Or should I boil a sauce I plan to add sweet fruits to to prevent build up in the bottles?
Yes it will start again when you add sugars, fruits etc. Unless you have a pH well below 3.4. But even then I wouldn't risk it, and would boil the sauce up so that it kills the lacrobacillus
I use a ph meter at the end of the fermentation to confirm that it has been successful. Testing during the fermentation proces is not a good idea, you will be introducing oxygen to it, and that is not a good thing. The point of sealing the fermentations with an airlock is to allow the produced co2 to escape, and not allow oxygen back in.
What would happen if the peppers were fermented for a week, then blended up and refermented? Would the process go faster due to the increased surface area and damaged cell walls?
I may have missed the answer to this two part question. First, is there a sure-fire way to recognize when the fermentation process is complete? I have mostly had ferments of 7-14 days that taste great, but I keep them in the fridge so there is no activity. Second, once a ferment is complete, and the sauce blended, is it shelf stable if bottled correctly?
1. The only way is to test the pH, then test it again in a week. If it remains the same then the ferment is done, if it drops further then it is still fermenting. 2. If you ferment thoroughly and get the pH low enough, and then bottle correctly, it is shelf stable.
@@ChilliChump Thank you for that. On a related note, do you think it would be worth investing in a device that measures pH, or just get some test strips?
What if you want a sweeter sauce, i.e., with some sugars still in it? How do you prevent that sugar to be fermented while in the bottle? I can imagine killing the bacteria..perhaps by using vinegar?
Vinegar won't necessarily kill the lactobacillus. It really depends how low you get the pH (LB doesn't do well below about 3.4). You would need to heat it beyond 100' Celsius for a few minutes to ensure you stopped the ferment if you aren't testing pH
What difference between sauce that's cooked like your Nandoes and your fermented sauce. I have ring of fire and feel safer with cooking it but am willing to try. think it would work putting chillies in a bottle and putting cling film over top with elastic band to seal it but should be lose enough to let gas out.
Fermenting is safer than cooking if done right...especially if you want to keep the sauce for longer than a month. Have a look at this video of mine showing different ways to make fermenting containers...I show the method with the elastic band and plastic (I wouldn't use cling film) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Sz-I4jlm9mc.html
I planted all my vegetables and ended up with two "Worlds Hottest Caribbean Pepper" plants as one had appeared to die from the cold snap but bounced back after I bought a replacement I kept in my kitchen and ended up making a new spot for. These are red Habanero type peppers and I want to make a sauce out of them but don't have 5 months to wait like that other video I saw of yours. I also have some New Mexico Chili, Poblano, and Hungarian Wax planted and wonder weather a fully red ripe one from those varieties will be OK to add to the sauce in case I don't have a huge harvest and need some more "bulk" to fill up the blender. So would 3% salt and then 50-50 vinegar mix after fermentation create a stable sauce? Can a bit of brown sugar be added to the mix for the fermentation as I notice the habanero type sauces sold in grocery stores have a bit of sugar and often carrot juice added to complement the flavor.
You don't have to wait 5 months....like I said in this video. 3 weeks at a minimum for fermentation. Adding sugar during the fermentation process is not ideal, the sugar will be used before the sugars from the chillies. You can add sugar at the end if you like...but you need to kill the fermentation first.
@@ChilliChump Saw some after the weekend, when I had left it completely alone for 2 days. Now there are none, but maybe I am just a bit impatient and there disturbing it to often for the bubbles to form. I added leamon peel to the ferment if that could be the problem?
I try to at least go for two weeks with mine, thanks. If you make the brine too salty, will it kill the fermentation process? I'm afraid I over-salted some cucumbers that I'm fermenting for pickles. Also, if you don't have an an airlock, can you *over burp* a jar and let too much O2 in?
You can make it too salty over around 8% and it will start slowing the lactobacillus down. And you don't want to introduce any oxygen, that's why I prefer an air lock, or even my plastic bag method...less chance of introducing oxygen. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Sz-I4jlm9mc.html
For sauerkraut it is a little different. But I generally go for a minimum of two weeks there too. But I ferment sauerkraut until I get the "tang" I want, then I refrigerate. If I am doing a huge batch I will ferment until it stops fermenting so I can can it and store on the shelf. With things like kimchi, I do a bit shorter because I make smaller batches and keep it in the fridge...I like my kimchi to be not too acidic.
What’s the reason for the 19-20c ambient temp for fermenting? It’s often quite a bit hotter here indoors (26-30c). What would I need to be aware of when fermenting at those kind of ambient temps?
The lactobacillus that does the fermenting have an optimal temperature range for creating decent flavours. When you ferment too quickly (high temperatures) you tend to get some unwanted flavours developing
So why do I see folks talking about super long ferments? It seems as soon as the sugars are eaten by the bacteria there would be no more reason to prolong the ferment. Am I missing something? I normally shoot for 2 to 3 weeks.
Because there is still a process that is happening. It is diminishing returns after about 6 weeks though if you are using an inert container like glass etc. However if you are fermenting in something that imparts flavour (like a wooden barrel) the. The maturing process brings out the flavours from that. That is how Tabasco does it, at least 3 years in old whiskey barrels
Thank you for your videos, have a question a friend of mine sent me some peppers that he grew but he froze them and send them to me frozen they are in my freezer can I ferment them frozen or do I just have to grind them and cook and make the sauce ✌❤🌶💪🎅🚍🚌🤙
If you don't have any fresh peppers, then unfortunately you won't be able to ferment those peppers like that. However, you could try ferment some cabbage (sauerkraut) and use some of the juice that is created to start off your pepper fermentation. Otherwise, you may just need to cook the sauce up!
If you cook it, it won't ferment unless you added in some fresh peppers once the cooked sauce cools. Adding vinegar is not advised, like I mentioned in the video, lactobacillus won't survive much below a pH of 3.4. Vinegar has a pH between 2 and 3.
When I think a ferment has run it's course, I frequently pour off about two-thirds of the brine and replace it with a 5% acidty vinegar then pop it in the fridge to deal with later. (In the case of pepper rings I start eating them as soon as they chill!) Never had a ferment re-start after this treatment.
Hello. What will happen if I ferment a sauce and after the fermentation I blend it with vinegar 1:1… but then add canned pineapple? Will that cause a problem?
Your pH is likely to be low enough that the fermentation wouldn't continue. But to be safe I would either simmer the sauce on the stove for 10 minutes or freeze it for a few days to make sure that any lactobacillus is dead
Hi, I have a question regarding timings. I’ve made habanero and mango ferment using vacuum sealer previously and it was a gradual fermentation of three or four weeks. This time round I used double the mango and the temperature was much warmer. The fermentation was insanely fast, the bag blowing up to almost bursting twice in one day at one point. It’s pretty much inert now after two weeks, is there any point leaving it for longer given that no co2 is being produced now?
There is benefit in letting it go for longer. The primary fermentation is complete...but there are still other stages. Have a look at these two short videos of mine. Minimum ferment time ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VZt7PY8ESg4.html Maximum ferment time ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6wdkVQJbNwQ.html
You can ferment for a week and be fine as long as you PASTEURIZE. Which is something you completely failed to mention. If you kill off the lactobacillus by pasteurization, and the PH is low enough, you will have a safe shelf stable product that wont blow up in your face. Cooking does effect the flavor however, but if you just need to crank out sauce after sauce due to limited fermenting space or whatever, it comes in handy. Also, something a lot of folks wont tell you, if you’re doing this with super hots and you’ve realized you’ve made a huge mistake by using too much heat, you can add sugar to the pasteurizing sauce without risking the fermentation starting again. Sugar will cut down on the heat significantly. I’ve used brown sugar in a couple batches and it turns out phenomenal. Plus it really gives you a chance to hone in the flavor profile. If you just fermented it for months and months and don’t pasteurize then you just kinda get what you get, because adding any ingredients at the end could result in restarting fermentation. I’d love to hear the channels thoughts on this though, maybe i’m just crazy, maybe i’m flat out wrong, who knows… But so far it’s worked pretty well for me.
You can ferment and pasteurise, that will of course work. But in all my experiments, it doesn't provide the flavour profiles I'm looking for. Fermenting the chillies fully results in a much tastier sauce....and without pasteurising, you also have the added benefit of including healthy bacteria in your diet (similar to why people drink yakults)
I have tried pasteurize and still exploded bottle(4days fermentation). It is not enough just pasteurized(97°c , 25minutes ). Even i add sodium benzoate that ihibits yeast growth, it is still fermenting in the bottle.😢😅😂
Fermenting at higher temperatures will risk off-flavours. I have experimented with fermenting up to 28'C, and it really was not nice. Target pH is below 4.0, but I normally get to around 3.4/3.5....which in effect also stops any further fermenting (doing away with the risk of "bottle bombs")
There shouldn't be any evaporation...how are you closing the jar/container? But if there was evaporation, you would need to add water only, as the salt won't leave the container.
ChilliChump loose lid. Same way I did my sauerkraut, which I had to recharge once. I didn’t think about salt though, which, now that you say it, makes perfect sense. I have a bubbler, just need to drill for it to use on the next batch.
There isn't one really! But, a sneak peak...I have a year long ferment that is about to be ready! When I get back from holidays it should be ready to film the next phase. I will talk about the maximum length etc. during that vid!
I've made a few batches the last month and it seems like bubbling stops after about 7 days. Is this an indicator the fermentation has ceased or has it just slowed down to an imperceptible level and I should keep going nonetheless?
Started a sealed bag fermentation 2 weeks ago- very surprised the fermentation is slow. I don’t see much action and the bad has not inflated. Normally I have active fermentation that last two weeks in a mason jar. Thoughts? Are bag fermentations slower?
Bag fermentations aren't necessarily slower. Could be lower sugar content of your chilies that you used. Could be the temperature you are fermenting at.
@@ChilliChump so for whatever reason the bag did not inflate much but the fermentation was successful- it was red jalapeño peppers with a cardamom pod (at your suggestion). Good news- it’s a fantastic sauce. Perhaps the bag allowed degass?
I'm pretty new to this but I've tried fermenting my home grown chilis 3 times now and after 5 days, I've seen no evidence that the fermentation has started--no bubbles at all. I've added 3% sea salt (no additives) pepper mash, a bit of garlic powder and a small amount of store bought onion added to the mash. The third time, I added a couple of drops of whey from store bought sour cream. So far, it hasn't made a difference. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.
Were your peppers ripe? What else did you add when you started the fermentation? And what temperature is the environment where you are keeping the fermentation?
@@ChilliChump I used a mix of mostly ripe, red chilis plus a few tabascoes that were yellow, all from my own garden, plus on one of my 3 attempts, half of a sweet red pepper purchased from the supermarket, just to add some volume to the mix. Nothing was added to the fermentation aside from the above. We keep the house at 72 degrees Fahrenheit, so I kept the jars of mash on the kitchen counter.
@@ChilliChump They were cleaned in the dishwasher, and then, just prior to use, I put a half inch of water in the bottom and microwaved them for 2 minutes, in order to steam them. We use Cascade dishwasher detergent. I should also add that I'm not sure that it's not working. It's just that there haven't been any bubbles. After 5 days with no bubbles, I gave up and turned what I had into hot sauce. It's pretty good hot sauce, but I don't know if it's fermented or not.
@@Dieguetesspinozzi agreed...I was just responding to your comment that 7 to 10 days is pickling. Pickling happens in an acidic environment...so either adding vinegar, or through lactofermentation, which produces lactic acid. The lactic acid is what does the pickling, and that only gets produced after the first week or so of fermenting
I have a few going for a year now. But it is diminishing returns on the flavour etc over about 1.5 to 2 months, especially if you are fermenting in an inert container. If you are fermenting in wooden barrels (like Tabasco do) or add wood chips to your ferment for flavour, then you can go for years. Tabasco ferment in old Jack Daniels barrels for about 4 years
@@ChilliChump Thanks. This (the point of diminishing returns in glass) is a question I've been trying to understand for a while. A lot of people recommend going longer than the time to finish LAB fermentation but very little info seems to exist on why and what the benefits are outside of wood aging.
@@ChilliChump thanks for the reply! I was starting to get worried, cus the airlock started going backwards, but so far it hasn't gone backwards enough to suck in any air. Is it safe to add fresh peppers to the ferment?
@@DeepestBlueJ if the air is getting sucked in then that means the temperature where you are fermenting is now lower than it was...that's why I like to use my ferminator, so I maintain the temperature
Isn't the temperature the big difference between your +2week in the fridge recommendation and the 'celebrity' videos who, from what I've seen, ferment at room temperature?
My fridge is modified to maintain a constant "room temperature". I ferment at 19' to 21' Celsius in it (around 68' farenheit). Here is a video on how I built it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nMMbdDRJaUY.html
Not only the timing have they communicated wrong, but amounts of salt and other things. Sure, if you are going to eat it right away then I am sure you would be good. But ack... I have watched a few and immediately knew something was wrong.
@@ChilliChump That is close to what I was seeing in the videos I had watched. He combined the weight of his peppers plus the water to determine how much salt he was going to put in. Not only did this increase the amount of salt he had to do, but he did it for each of his 5 jars separately. Total time waste when you could have just mixed a larger batch of brine and poured over each jar.
@@UCSdNragfmbW_bqzUYBKIK_A or #@UCSdNragfmbW_bqzUYBKIK_A can you make a hot kimchi? i got some peppers and wanna try out but dont know how it would go, you seem to know what your doing.
