Carolina Reaper Peppers - Pickling?

Dyal_SC

Anyone have a favorite pickling recipe for peppers?  I grew these 2 reaper plants this year — started at 4 inches tall and now they're both over 6 feet in height. I tried making a smoked hot sauce out of it using the Mini, but even after diluting it with weaker peppers, it was unconsumably hot. Ended up tossing it around some flowers in the yard to keep deer away. Worked great for that. 




Here are the plants as of now. I’ve given away about 2 gallons of them already. And now have about the same amount left. Was thinking I’d try pickling them and then using 1 as needed for sauces, marinades, etc. Pardon my sloppy flower bed. One reaper plant is hiding, but is being supported by that old junky wooden ladder.




Any pickling recipes worth trying?

lkapigian

Lacto Fermentation will mellow the heat for sure . 2-3% salt water brine and a couple weeks of time- There are some great ideas here

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1211374/ot-lacto-fermentation-fun-peppers-and-sriracha/p1

I have some reapers going right now 

fishlessman

i did a lacto-ferment with ghost, thai, onion, garlic this year and toned it down with fish sauce and cider vinegar after a few weeks fermenting. those are hotter, more onion and garlic would be needed.  basically a really hot rooster sauce

after staining and drying i have an intense rub or bloody mary mix addition

Dyal_SC

Woooah... that’s perfect.  Thx!!  Looks awesome. 

fishlessman

lkapigian said:

Lacto Fermentation will mellow the heat for sure . 2-3% salt water brine and a couple weeks of time- There are some great ideas here

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1211374/ot-lacto-fermentation-fun-peppers-and-sriracha/p1

I have some reapers going right now 

have you noticed it mellows even further in the fridge, last falls batch is much milder than when i bottled it a year later. the flavor seemed to have rounded out, i like it better than when i first made it

northGAcock

I have some pepper sauce bottles, caps and inner caps if you need them. Let me know.

lkapigian

fishlessman said:

lkapigian said:

Lacto Fermentation will mellow the heat for sure . 2-3% salt water brine and a couple weeks of time- There are some great ideas here

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1211374/ot-lacto-fermentation-fun-peppers-and-sriracha/p1

I have some reapers going right now 

have you noticed it mellows even further in the fridge, last falls batch is much milder than when i bottled it a year later. the flavor seemed to have rounded out, i like it better than when i first made it

@fishlessman I would say most mellow in the fridge, but I do have a batch of Fresno's in the Fridge that seem to have gotten hotter, none the less I think the flavors get more complex the longer in the fridge 

Dyal_SC

Just picked up some pickling salt, sweet peppers, white onion, garlic and carrots. Also picked a few dozen of the reapers. Going to try this out. Thx again. 

lkapigian

Get some Xanthan Gum
  t

Dyal_SC

Will do, @lkapigian ... that goes in after the fermentation period, correct?  Do u use any sugar, or just straight up 2% salt brine?

fishlessman

i found the gum in theflour section with the redmill flours. i mixed it in after straining a 1/4 tsp at a time resting it a while before testing and adding more.  theres plenty of sugar in the onion and veggies.

lkapigian

Dyal_SC said:

Will do, @lkapigian ... that goes in after the fermentation period, correct?  Do u use any sugar, or just straight up 2% salt brine?

For peppers straight up brine 2-3% if putting peppers in whole, i prick small holes in them for the brine to get inside or you can just lop the top off. I don't use sugar as the onions I add have enough sugar content to get the good bacteria fed and started .........The gum is for after your ferment is done and you've squeezed all the brine out of the mash, The gum will thicken and stabilize the sauce....

Dyal_SC

Let’s do this.

Carolina Q

Gloves? What a wuss!

lkapigian

Dyal_SC said:

Let’s do this.

Talk about jumping right in!!

Take a zip lock baggie with some brine and weight the peppers down so they are all below the brine level 

Dyal_SC

LOL @Carolina Q ...  and @lkapigian , thx I was was wondering about that. Done.

Dyal_SC

Carolina Q said:

Gloves? What a wuss!

Seeded them too @Carolina Q !!  Hahaha!!!  I learned my lesson the first time with these peppers. They’ll hurtcha...

lkapigian

You'll see some activity in a day or so, it will get cloudy which is Very Normal ....Personally for a sauce I let it go three weeks, you can go Months but I can't wait and it will keep fermenting once you've converted it to a sauce and refrigerate

Carolina Q

Dyal_SC said:

Carolina Q said:

Gloves? What a wuss!

Seeded them too @Carolina Q !!  Hahaha!!!  I learned my lesson the first time with these peppers. They’ll hurtcha...

I have no doubt. I wouldn't even plant the seeds!

BugFreak72

Brave soul with those peppers. I bought some seeds a while back and have yet to plant them because I can't find a use for all the ghost peppers my plant is producing and they don't come close to reapers. I might give this method a try though. GL with yours!

milesvdustin

Please tell me your secret for such great plants. Mine were about 6 inches tall

BugFreak72

I left my ghost pepper plant completely alone and it grew like that. Mine was even stripped down to the trunk in our last hurricane and grew back like a champ with no interaction from me.

JRWhitee

Dyal_SC said:

Carolina Q said:

Gloves? What a wuss!

Seeded them too @Carolina Q !!  Hahaha!!!  I learned my lesson the first time with these peppers. They’ll hurtcha...

Dont rub your eyes or ass...

northGAcock

JRWhitee said:

Dyal_SC said:

Carolina Q said:

Gloves? What a wuss!

Seeded them too @Carolina Q !!  Hahaha!!!  I learned my lesson the first time with these peppers. They’ll hurtcha...

Dont rub your eyes or ass...

....and definitely don’t diddle the wif.

Dyal_SC

LOL!!  @milesvdustin , I just planted them and left them alone. Propped them up when they got tall and drooped over. They just worked themselves out I guess. 

marysvilleksegghead

For future reference:  https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-take-the-heat-out-of-any-chile-pepper-article

Dyal_SC

marysvilleksegghead said:

For future reference:  https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-take-the-heat-out-of-any-chile-pepper-article

WOW, that’s interesting!  Thx! 

milesvdustin

Did you start from seeds? 

Dyal_SC

milesvdustin said:

Did you start from seeds? 

No sir, I started them at about 4 inches tall from the hardware store. 

milesvdustin

That's what I did, but mine were 6 inches when I got them, and 6 inches when they died. I got one pepper the size of a marble. 

Dyal_SC

@lkapigian , it’s getting happy, cloudy and with plenty of bubbling activity.  Looking fwd to the end of the 3 week wait. The “burps” are smelling nice. Lol. Thx again.  Will report back in 2.5 weeks.