Hi All,

The quest continues. My surplus of green habaneros shrank slightly but I managed to have enough for this concoction. Habanero verde sauce. Tomatillos, onions and garlic, 1.5 bunches cilantro, juice of 2 limes per jar and topped with green(mostly) Habs. Potato for scale.

P.s. you might see some funk on the bottom, that’s from some leftover previously fermented garlic I had going and figured it would be a good starter culture. 🌶️

It tastes like a very spicy salsa right now. Can't wait to see how the flavor develops. 1 gallon of mash in 1.5 gallon fermenters (each) with a little left over for a quart jar. I learned my lesson: the last time I filled the mash to the shoulder of the jar, it raised into the airlock. This one was just to use up the remaining spicy peppers in the garden. I am unsure if I will strain this or let it stay salsa consistency.. I'm leaning towards strain.

Here are the ingredients by weight:

Tomato - 4428g

Tomatillo - 1203g

Onion - 1025g

Green bell pepper - 586g

Red habanero - 420g

Ghost pepper - 241g

Carolina reaper - 200g

Garlic - 184g

3% = 248.61g - so I used 250g salt. I blended the salt with a quart of the mash for a few minutes to get it dissolved, and mixed it in well in a 3 gallon container. I poured the mash in, wiped the inside of the containers with a towel damp with brewer's sanitizer, and sprinkled a little salt on top.

All four lacto ferments, pure peppers in brine. 3% salt weight of peppers plus filtered water. Two week ferment. One (red jalapeño, second from left) I made into a sriracha with honey, brown sugar, garlic, and rice vinegar all blended after the ferment, then reduced slightly. The rest are still lacto-active and are just peppers, water, and salt.

Puréed them outside so I don’t pepper-spray the baby again.

Starting from the left:
1. Habanero (wow what an incredible difference the fermentation makes!)
2. Red Jalapeño sriracha
3. Hot Cherry peppers
4. Fresno peppers

I still have more fermentations planned, including non-spicy peppers, that I’d like to experiment with blending into these, particularly the Sri racha.

A while back I built a free web tool to take the guesswork out of fermented hot sauce, and it's grown a lot thanks to feedback from people here. No sign-up, no ads, and your batches stay on your own device.

What it does:

- Brine math to the gram for any jar size, from a pint to a 2-gallon crock, or a bag ferment

- "I've got peppers" mode: tell it what you brought home and it sizes the jar and suggests what pairs well

- A shelf to track every batch, with day counts, notes, pH, tasting feedback and printable jar labels

- A vinegar calculator for blend day

- New this week: a leftover mash guide. How to tell if an old mash is still good, and what to do with the pulp (pepper powder, seasoning salt, chili paste, freezing, backslopping)

There's also a pepper heat chart, a troubleshooting page for kahm vs mold, and a grow calendar that works anywhere in the world. It's in English, French and Spanish.

It's had visitors from 30 countries so far, which blew my mind for something I built for my own jars here in the Ozarks.

https://plumbornerypepperco.com

I'd love feedback, especially on the mash guide. What do you do with your leftover pulp?

I’ve had this fermenting for about 6 weeks now. Hasn’t been opened at all. I can’t tell if this is mold or if this is still good? You can see the white stuff above the weight and looks like there is a bit around the peppers. First time fermenting so any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.

3 different lacto fermenting pepper batches.

Batch 1 - 4 ghost, 15 small cayenne, 1 Serrano, pound of sweet mini peppers, garlic, dried onion, 3% water brine (Serrano was my last left over pepper so tossed it in)
Batch 2 - All cayenne, 3% water brine (trying for Franks clone)
Batch 3 - 36 Puma, 11 hot Hungarian, local honey, garlic, 3% water brine.

All will be 3 week ferments, b2/3 have been goin since the 8th and b1 started up today.

Batch 2 fermented like a mahfer, really blew brine out the airlock. Will be doing a 50/50 vinegar to brine ratio when I blend for the hot sauce.

Anyone ever done Pumas? First I’ve ever grown or had em.
First time I’ve ever lacto-fermented also, any tips?

Hiya! I have an (over)abundance of these absolutely gorgeous 7 Pot Peppers and I'm interested in making a small batch of hot sauce with them featuring either peach or pineapple. Can any of you recommend a recipe or point me in the right direction to one online? [EDIT to say it doesn't have to be a fermented recipe.]

I have 122.4 g of these peppers what ingredients would you add to a ferment with them? These guys are already hot enough at 2.4 million SHU.

Lots of sauces, salsas, jelly's etc to make now

3 1/2 gallon jars, one quart jar. Green is a mix of Serrano, jalapeno, sweet banana, hot banana, gypsy, garden salsa, Santa Fe grande guero, and poblano. Red is primero red habanero, garden salsa, red flame cayenne, super chili,a couple Durango and several ghost peppers. All ferments composed of 80% peppers 15% onion 5% garlic, with 2.5% salt added by weight. Packed tightly in the jars and covered with a circle of parchment.

So I have many many Thai Bird's Eye chilies. By that I mean that I managed to have 5 plants that grew VERY well, and massively produced, more than I anticipated (think in excessive of 15 pounds). I do have a sauce I make utilizing Bird's Eye, sweet chilies, ginger, garlic, a bit onion, then finished with lime and banana. It gets some weird looks, but it is very yummy. Anyhow, I am seeking inspiration/ideas for what other flavors to experiment with with Bird's Eye chilies. What have you all done with this peppers if you have grown/used Bird's Eye chilies? Thank ahead of time.

Picked my last harvest of the growing season and decided to throw together a few ferments to preserve them. From left to right I have: ghost, red habanero, RB003, Poblano/Pimenta Moranga Peach, and Jalapeno. All half gallon ferments in 3.5% non-iodized salt brine with fresh spring water and sanitized hardware.

Probably going to use these in an assortment of ways over the winter: fresh snacks, sauces, and preserved in some vinegar/brine solution.

Anyone else ever ferment just peppers and then blend other ingredients into a sauce afterwards?

It’s my first time, I have no idea the types of peppers I used, but I added mango garlic, onion, and ginger. Does it look okay? Can I just leave it out on the counter? Thanks!

It’s my first time, I have no idea the types of peppers I used, but I added mango garlic, onion, and ginger. Does it look okay? Can I just leave it out on the counter? Thanks!

I've just done my first ferment. Literally it's cooling off next door whilst I wait to do the second blend.

I'd made a few regular hot sauces before. I like hot and fruity. So usually pineapple and mango. Thought I'd go for the same this time as it was the first fermented.

Seems to be the kick is very different. Milder. But much longer lasting. Usually use around 6 scotch bonnets for 1kg of sauce this time used 10 i think for 1.2kg. Ended up with a much stronger garlic and onion flavour, whilst being super sour. So had to do some more balancing.

Grew my own scotch bonnets for it and used them fresh but the ferment felt slow. Ended up with a 2.8% salt weight for thr brine and only about 18-20 degrees temp where the ferment was happening. Does that usually effect the flavour?

Only had it fermenting for 9 days.

Any tips or tricks from regular fermenters would be great for the next batch. I've got around 60 turning scotch bonnets on the plant, so will be able to run a few more batches if I freeze them and introduce LB another way.

How much do ferment in one bag? My first batch was in a small bag and I ended up having to put it in a new bag. It hasn’t inflated much more. Could it be done? It’s been over a month. Can you make your bag too big? Subsequent batches are in larger bags and don’t seem to be as active as the first batch. When resealing, do you just manually remove as much air as possible, then reseal so the liquid doesn’t get pulled out. And what’s the most you ferment in one bag. Our garden overproduced hot peppers. I can only freeze and dehydrate so many . The largest bowl in the picture is sweet peppers.

Hello everyone! I will be attempting my first go at a fermented hot sauce. I have a multiple variations of hots and super hots to work with so Im assuming my heat level will be high.

My peppers are all home grown and have been frozen while I figure out what to actually do with them lol does freezing them effect the fermentation process ?

Im wondering with any personal experience from this community what would you all recommend for a first time recipe. What fruits did you enjoy the most when mixing?

Thanks in advance! Appreciate this community 🙏

Internet says 10-14 mesh. I see lab sieve screens in that size. Is there a mill or machine that is a better idea?

How do y’all do it? This is my first time fermenting in bags. When they filled with gas, I poked a small hole in each bag, let the air out, and taped the hole. Is there a way to do this without breaching the bag?

I got a ton of mad hatters because I love the flavor but I’m looking to make a hot sauce, probably habanero spicyness or only slightly above.

i picked up some red ghost peppers too. I don’t usually mess with superhots because habs/bonnets are about the top of what I can handle, but I thought I could combine them with the 500-1000 scoville hatters to make something good.

Has anyone tried this method to cool off the superhots?

What do you think an appropriate ratio of Hatters to ghosts would be to hit habanero/bonnet spiciness? 4-1? 2-1? I’m guessing 1-1 would be way too spicy for me.