the hot pepper thread here at GW has a lot of info on that very thing. hope this helps.

Ah, a subject dear to my heart. There are 'heated' arguments over this, but my basic strategy is to follow the basic salt amount and fermenting recipe for sauerkraut, except using peppers.

From that, I most often use roasted chili, and since it is sterile from the roasting, I add Kefir starter to inoculate the crock. With fresh, un-roasted peppers, its best to chop them up a bit, and while they may not need an inoculant, it certainly won't hurt.

After 6 to 8 weeks in the crock, its done, smells wonderful. There are a lot of variations from this point on. Some run it through a food processor to mush it up, dilute it with vinegar, add fruit juices (eg mango) more salt, and so on. I like to run it through something like a Foley food mill to remove the seeds and bits of skin. Getting the seeds out reduces the heat.

It then needs to be preserved, either through canning, or freezing.

Right now, its chili roasting season in New Mexico, and I am after 5 bushels, which should make enough for 3 x 3 gal crocks. Last year, we only did 3 gallons, and it was all gone by Feb.

Well, David is the person that turned me on to Kefir as a starter and it certainly works well. Sourdough hooch works too and often is a day faster than Kefir whey. I prefer to ferment in glass jars, but crocks are certainly the more popular by far.

jt

Wonderful news, Guys..thanks! I have fermented and pickled several other vegies, and will try your ways next
a few questions:
- there is no such thing as Kefir 'roun heah!! (tho i loved it and bought it often where i used to live). What about active yogurt My good sourdough starter failed last year. I have a buddy that keeps rye sourdough - can i use that? How much into each 1 gallon glass jar? I was assuming only a tsp or tblsp??
- If i was to proportion my hotties out with milder peppers say Habs or Squash Peppers along with milder ones, i have available Anaheims, Heirloom sweet bells, Orange Bell Gourmet, Jalapenos. What do you think would work best?
- Thanks for the idea of mango juice, rather than finding whole fruits in this area! I'd not have thought of that one. Do you think i could use the canned mango nectar found in the Mexican food depts at bigger grocers? They are only 1 hour from here :)

Well, this moderate chili head thanks you SO much. My woodstove area will exude wonderful odors come winter, and our hearts warmed....er, scalded from the sauces produced!
Glad

Glad,

I'm in the planning stages of a new ferment myself & will probably start today. Going to use ripe cantaloupe, whatever hot pepper varieties are ripe, salt, onions, garlic and fresh ground black pepper. (and?)

Active (unpasteurized) yogurt would work. I would add milk to it, let sit for a few days at room temperature and use the whey when it starts to separate. It should smell sweetly acidic. I would be happy to mail you some live kefir grains if you want to start a culture. These supposedly originated in Russia and have been handed down for generations etc.

Get some of that rye sourdough and use it to inoculate a new culture using organic white four. The rye I've found imparts a strong taste that you might not like.

This

Hot regards,
jt

You certainly can use active yogurt, I'd go for the 'whey' (clear liquid) this seems to be around every quart of yogurt I open. I use Kefir because thats what I started out with. The starter is often available in health food shoppes as a dry powder. Sour dough starter works well, but John is the guy to ask about that. The idea is to get enough of the 'good' bacteria going, so I would err on the side of adding more.

There is no reason not to mix up kinds of peppers in the same batch, but with the precaution that its a lot easier to add heat than to get it out.

This is a whole lot of fun.

Yes, it is great fun - and the peppers are just gorgeous and tasty this season around!

I can get yogurt, but there is no health food store within about 85 miles for all those other goodies....still, i will take the rural/remote choice of where to garden!
Thanks a bunch.
Gladder (than before)

Can't thank you all enough for so much good advice here!
Sorry i didn't sing out sooner, down with a flu the last 10 days, and lots to do now with harvest and peppers before the season has flown by.
Bless you!
Glad

Alright, now y'all have me curious. This sounds interesting. I understand the concept y'all are talking about, how do you use it once it's fermented? Condiment? Sauce? Cooking Spice? This woman would like to know!

I refrigerate and use on burritos, fried eggs etc. Use like you would any store-bought hot sauce. It's especially good when dehydrated and ground for powder or flakes.

The green chili I make is pretty mild - I can eat it straight with a spoon - a small spoon, to be sure. Two big uses; roasted pork and chili, where we'll roast a piece of meat until its caramelized, pull it all apart in shreds, mix it with the sauce and eat it over rice.

Most of it is consumed with burritos, flour tortillas stuffed with beans and cheese, microwaved, and the chili sauce gets poured all over it. This is a frequent meal in the winter when the kids sports activities make for late evenings.

Eggs, chicken, and macaroni and cheese all go better.

I'd forgot, John sent me a sample of some of his sauce. Twenty below and my car won't start, I just open the jar by the air intake - fires right up. Engine races a bit, but haven't blown anything yet.

David:
LOL!!!
Now THAT'S some sauce!!
I believe I'll just enjoy it from here (Oregon).
That's close enough for me!
Deanna

So, let me see if I understand the process:

get a load of hot peppers;
get some Kefir starter and get it going;
roast peppers over coals to charr skin;
put kefir starter in large jar or crock; (stir it in?)
add peeled, roasted peppers and whatever else you think needs to go in;
let it work for a month +-; (when is it done?)
puree the works;
add some vinegar to taste;
Put in some jars, seal, and refrigerate. (Do you can it? for how long?)

What am I missing?

Close. I buy the Kefir starter, its a dried powder, so I just stir it into the crock along with the cooled, roasted hot peppers, and salt, approx 3 tablespoons for 5 lbs of veggies. Cover / seal the crock. A month later, you can puree it, or I like the result better if I run it through something like a Foley food mill, which removes the seeds and bits of skin.

Its better simply refrigerated, but I've frozen it and canned it as well. This year I'll end up canning it, since the freezer is full. BWB 20 min for pints.

Thanks, David. Yesterday I bought 3# of hot peppers, mostly jalapinos, and the Kefir, a couple of apples and an onion.

I also bought a small bag of Thai peppers. How many of these would be good for a sauce that's not scorching hot?

Huh. I just lost a post. Oh well. Thats going to be pretty potent, I think. I use Anaheim style chilis, the 6 - 8" long ones, that are considerably less potent than either jalapeno or Thai. But the apple and onion should cool it down a bit, and if you can get the seeds out in the final step, then it may well be pretty good.

Have fun!

David: I just read all the old/new posting to a thread from 2006 where you gave more of a description of what you do. I don't remember if it was you or someone else that said NOT to put anything in the pot but the peppers because it would cause the batch to go bad. But others here have said they ferment all sorts of vegetables..... besides cabbage.

Today I roasted/charred and skinned the peppers, layered them in the crock and sprinkled on salt between layers. At this point I could still add the apples, garlic and onion... which I would like to do if it won't ruin the mash. I'm sure you said you add things to the sauce when the fermenting is done. Help!

Also, I got the impression that the fermenting stops when it is done... about 6 weeks. Is this correct? or do you just stop the process at 6 weeks?

Westelle, I have added finely sliced apples and hot peppers to cabbage when making sauerkraut. It certainly didn't hurt, and I thought helped the end result considerably.

I, personally, have not added anything else to the peppers I'm fermenting, but thats just me, and I see no reason why it would make any difference to the yeast/bacteria if you added your onion and apple. I add any extra green peppers and banana peppers from my own garden to what I purchase.

After the fermentation is over and I've strained out the seeds and skin, I sometimes add other stuff; mango juice, vinegar, and so on to vary the jars a bit.

The fermentation is over when its over. I'd call it 6 weeks, but there is some latitude in there, a week or two longer won't make much difference. The smell, when you open up the crock, is absolutely wonderful.

I use a doubled plastic bag filled with water as a seal on the crock. That still seems to work the best.

Thanks David! I added the apple and onion and am thinking about some garlic as well. But now I don't know if I have enough liquid in the pot. I originally put in one double packet of Kefir mixed with the juice off the draining peppers... as you suggested, but now it isn't coming up to the top of the mass. Should I add some other liquid or leave it as it is?

Thanks again for all your help.
Westelle

Onions, raisins, apples, carrots and garlic are all good additions and I've found that apples (especially) seem to speed up the fermenting start. Sour apples such as Granny Smith are what I use.

The liquid should be over the top of the peppers so the water bag can seal out the air.

Here is a link that might be useful: This should be some help...

You can add a bit of water, but usually, within 24 hours, the packed stuff should have produced enough liquid. I don't think I've ever had to, but I just started 3 separate crocks and checked yesterday - they weren't covered, so I mushed it around a bit, and I'll check again today. I may need to add a cup or two as well.

Thanks!

It's going on 4 weeks now and I have more questions.

My pot is maintaining it's own 80º which I assume is a good thing.
But, I have a pink scum on top, that I keep removing; and it smells like beer. Is all still OK?

It should be fine. I finished processing mine yesterday, which was just around a month long. I opened the crocks up, skimmed off the funny looking stuff, then used a food processor to break it down in smaller bits, and then ran it through a food mill on the medium sized screen, the one that won't let the seeds through the holes.

Its fizzy, thats the Kefir, and what makes it so good to eat.

I had some on a burrito last night, and just for lunch, I finished a big bowl of that imitation crab with the stuff poured all over it. Ate a pint already.

The best way to keep this is fresh in the fridge, where it should last weeks. Next best is freezing. Yesterday I tried canning it, and its ok, but separates. Don't use quarts, that just made a big mess - boiling up and out of the jars, and I had to redo them in pints.

Thanks, Dave.
How do I know when it's done? When it stops working and not maintaining temperature anymore?

I thought to run it thru the Foley mill and then the Blender with the vinegar. Everything seems very "stiff" not soft and squishy as I had expected.

I wonder if running it through a blender would aerate it compared to a food mill of some sort?

Carol

I'm sure its done by now. It wouldn't hurt to leave it a bit longer, but at some point, it will start to loose some of the flavor. I would try to run it through the Foley first, and see what kind of residue you have - that might be all it takes. If all you have left is bits of skin and seed, then thats all it would take. The blender does indeed aerate the mash, which makes it that much more difficult to can. If its not hot enough, add back some of the seeds.

Hope you'll let us know what you think of the result!

Today was the Day
The temperature dropped to 70º so I decided it was done.

I was quite surprised at the integrity of the apples, onions, garlic and roasted Jalepinos, and so ran the works thru the big blender first with a big jar of Mango Puree for moisture. The Foley Mill removed the debris.

I heated the sauce to just boiling to stop fermentation; then added salt and a little sugar before pouring in an almost full bottle of some expensive Sherry Vinegar. It all had a nice consistency and so left it alone.

DH tasted it on some cooked beef and proclaimed it "very good". I figured if he liked it (picky) then I would bottle it.

Thanks for all the tutoring, guys!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:497526}}