OT- Lacto Fermentation Fun- Peppers and Sriracha

caliking

No pic, but I did some japs, cukes, garlic, onion, bay leaves, coriander, in a 3.5% brine for a week, a few weeks ago. 

The japs  were crunchy, but the cukes were somewhat soft. I'll try 5% brine next, and see if that makes a difference. 

lkapigian

caliking said:

No pic, but I did some japs, cukes, garlic, onion, bay leaves, coriander, in a 3.5% brine for a week, a few weeks ago. 

The japs  were crunchy, but the cukes were somewhat soft. I'll try 5% brine next, and see if that makes a difference. 

Cukes my shortcoming ...next time ferment in the fridge 

stv8r

caliking said:

No pic, but I did some japs, cukes, garlic, onion, bay leaves, coriander, in a 3.5% brine for a week, a few weeks ago. 

The japs  were crunchy, but the cukes were somewhat soft. I'll try 5% brine next, and see if that makes a difference. 

hmm that's a much higher brine than I've tried.  2% for me.  Have to try this and see the difference

poster

I had luck with cucumbers this year but not so much last year. I did everything the same except I picked and pickled the same day this year. I also cut the stem end and blossom end back a touch. I didn't use any cucumbers larger than 1" diameter or 3" long. I think picking then straight to the jar made the difference. I fermented on the counter for 5 days at probably 72 degrees. I had a few cucumbers too many that I left on the counter overnight, they were already starting to wrinkle by morning. Makes me wonder what they put on them in the grocery stores to make them last longer. They are still crunchy after a few weeks now. I dontd know what ratio my brine was, but I used 3 tablespoons of  pickling salt to a quart of water

lkapigian

poster said:

I had luck with cucumbers this year but not so much last year. I did everything the same except I picked and pickled the same day this year. I also cut the stem end and blossom end back a touch. I didn't use any cucumbers larger than 1" diameter or 3" long. I think picking then straight to the jar made the difference. I fermented on the counter for 5 days at probably 72 degrees. I had a few cucumbers too many that I left on the counter overnight, they were already starting to wrinkle by morning. Makes me wonder what they put on them in the grocery stores to make them last longer. They are still crunchy after a few weeks now. I dontd know what ratio my brine was, but I used 3 tablespoons of  pickling salt to a quart of water

I think I've gotten away with the 2-3% brine because of what I have been fermenting , need to kick up the % for softer veggies 

caliking

I poked around the interwebz a bit, and it turns out that food science folks are pretty nerdy about the whole crunchy pickle issue. 

What I learned was that higher salt concentration does help, but only to a point. No benefit (in fact it made things worse) past 11% according to one paper. Commercially, disposing of higher concentration brine is a problem, so they figured out that adding calcium chloride (0.2%) in the mix helped make a crunchy pickle, and less sodium chloride was needed. 

Enymatic activity of the yeasts and molds on cucumbers also contributes to softening of cucumbers. I think one paper said that taking the cukes out of the fermentation brine and sticking them in a fresh storage brine helped. But I may not be recalling this correctly. 

And as @poster mentioned, post-harvest processing makes a difference as well, particularly refrigeration (after harvest, but prior to  fermentation). 

I’m out

lkapigian

Thanks @caliking

caliking

So my first rice beer experiment turned out decently. 

Fermented for 2 weeks. Would likely have been done in 1 week, if I had used a more starchy rice like the short grain sweet rice that is supposed to be used. 



Pasteurising at 160F x 1hr. 



Flavor is pretty good - sweet notes, and has a nice warmth to it when sipped. Kind of like a boozy horchata. 

Definitely worth another go

lkapigian

caliking said:

So my first rice beer experiment turned out decently. 

Fermented for 2 weeks. Would likely have been done in 1 week, if I had used a more starchy rice like the short grain sweet rice that is supposed to be used. 



Pasteurising at 160F x 1hr. 



Flavor is pretty good - sweet notes, and has a nice warmth to it when sipped. Kind of like a boozy horchata. 

Definitely worth another go

Way to step it up @caliking

stv8r

so after a 4week ferment my jalapenos are definitely ready.  I rinsed and filled with fresh brine last week.  Clear as a bell still today.  I took out all garlic, and just left the jalapenos.  Still a lot of garlic taste today, and a bit too crunchy/hot.  I was trying to achieve store bought pickled jalapenos but these are much crisper/ hot with a pronounced garlic flavor.  Some would love them.  I'll try some other variations now that I've been indoctrinated lol. 

lkapigian

stv8r said:

so after a 4week ferment my jalapenos are definitely ready.  I rinsed and filled with fresh brine last week.  Clear as a bell still today.  I took out all garlic, and just left the jalapenos.  Still a lot of garlic taste today, and a bit too crunchy/hot.  I was trying to achieve store bought pickled jalapenos but these are much crisper/ hot with a pronounced garlic flavor.  Some would love them.  I'll try some other variations now that I've been indoctrinated lol. 

Awesome @stv8r !!! The old brine is good to go, that's a happy culture 

caliking

stv8r said:

so after a 4week ferment my jalapenos are definitely ready.  I rinsed and filled with fresh brine last week.  Clear as a bell still today.  I took out all garlic, and just left the jalapenos.  Still a lot of garlic taste today, and a bit too crunchy/hot.  I was trying to achieve store bought pickled jalapenos but these are much crisper/ hot with a pronounced garlic flavor.  Some would love them.  I'll try some other variations now that I've been indoctrinated lol. 

Sounds like you've got a tasty condiment for a bloody mary there

stv8r

caliking said:

stv8r said:

so after a 4week ferment my jalapenos are definitely ready.  I rinsed and filled with fresh brine last week.  Clear as a bell still today.  I took out all garlic, and just left the jalapenos.  Still a lot of garlic taste today, and a bit too crunchy/hot.  I was trying to achieve store bought pickled jalapenos but these are much crisper/ hot with a pronounced garlic flavor.  Some would love them.  I'll try some other variations now that I've been indoctrinated lol. 

Sounds like you've got a tasty condiment for a bloody mary there

now that's tempting 

lkapigian

Jalapenos

caliking

lkapigian said:

Jalapenos

Does it hold at room temp? What's the refrigerated shelf life?

lkapigian

caliking said:

lkapigian said:

Jalapenos

Does it hold at room temp? What's the refrigerated shelf life?

@caliking I refrigerate, I'd be guessing at shelf life as it doesn't last but 6 months is a very safe bet 

FarmingPhD

Anyone make wing sauce this way, using your hot sauce as the base?  I really like a heavy garlic with heat sauce and can’t really find a good overt store equivalent of what I like.  Also, what peppers would be best for this type of sauce?  

fishlessman

ghost peppers in the garden are really cutting it close, just starting to turn orange. its getting chilly up here. maybe into the ferment sunday if they dont go bad by then

poster

stv8r said:

so after a 4week ferment my jalapenos are definitely ready.  I rinsed and filled with fresh brine last week.  Clear as a bell still today.  I took out all garlic, and just left the jalapenos.  Still a lot of garlic taste today, and a bit too crunchy/hot.  I was trying to achieve store bought pickled jalapenos but these are much crisper/ hot with a pronounced garlic flavor.  Some would love them.  I'll try some other variations now that I've been indoctrinated lol. 

If your going for the store bought texture, try this:

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/make-crisp-flavor-packed-pickles-on-the-quick

The cook time softens the peppers up a bit and you can adjust longer for your tatses. This is complete the same day as well as you don't have to ferment anything.

When I make pickles I do half this route and half fermented for some variety

I make candied jalapenos also sous vide with the "sweet" brine

lkapigian

FarmingPhD said:

Anyone make wing sauce this way, using your hot sauce as the base?  I really like a heavy garlic with heat sauce and can’t really find a good overt store equivalent of what I like.  Also, what peppers would be best for this type of sauce?  

@FarmingPhD I use it in a lot of things but have not as a wing sauce base, but you could--A few things to consider, Fermented Garlic does not taste like Raw Garlic , the peppers you use will really mellow out with the fermentation and the heat will kill the beneficial bacteria--

Like you say, you could use it as a base, it has TONS of flavor, add Raw Garlic to the Mix and unfermented peppers to give some additional heat to the mix...

Jalapeno Fermented Hot Sauce is usually quite mellow, bit this last batch has way more Kick than the Fresno's I did a few weeks ago......I Love Franks Wing Sauce that I used to add to dishes and just use my ferments 

caliking

FarmingPhD said:

Anyone make wing sauce this way, using your hot sauce as the base?  I really like a heavy garlic with heat sauce and can’t really find a good overt store equivalent of what I like.  Also, what peppers would be best for this type of sauce?  

A friend of mine made a sauce out of fermented Fresno's and garlic, and I've been thinking of using that for wings. I wasn't going to cook the sauce, though. Planning on cooking the wings,  then tossing with some sauce to coat. 

lkapigian

Trying to kick up the heat...4 pounds Jalapenos , 1.5 pounds Habanaro .75 pounds Thai Chili...Cold Smoking half the Jalapenos and Habanaro 

20stone

lkapigian said:

Jalapenos

Very good stuff there 

lkapigian

20stone said:

lkapigian said:

Jalapenos

Very good stuff there 

Thanks @20stone

lkapigian

lkapigian said:

Trying to kick up the heat...4 pounds Jalapenos , 1.5 pounds Habanaro .75 pounds Thai Chili...Cold Smoking half the Jalapenos and Habanaro 

I did use a starter culture on this one, Not necessary but it does give it a kick start. I bought some when I first started fermenting, this is only the second time I've used it...and it is percolating away 

fishlessman

started a batch with some chopped ghost peppers yesterday. toughed my eye a few minutes ago, dont do that

fishlessman

found the gum at the market, how much do you add say per cup. does it go straight in or mixed with something first.

lkapigian

fishlessman said:

found the gum at the market, how much do you add say per cup. does it go straight in or mixed with something first.

I use about 1.5 TBS. Straight in a big blender that's about 2/3 full....a little goes a looonnng way...the more you blend the thicker it gets, keep an eye on the temp when blending as to not kill the good bacteria

If it's per cup id try 1/2 TSP To start

fishlessman

thanks, ill start with even a little less then in the food processor. looks like i have a lifetime supply of the gum

lkapigian

fishlessman said:

thanks, ill start with even a little less then in the food processor. looks like i have a lifetime supply of the gum

I bought a bag on Amazon and haven't put a dent in it...FWIW keep it in the fridge