I think the trick is the vinegar, as long as the pH is low enough (acidic), it prevents spoilage, and other nasies (such as botulism)

Reason i ask is i am about to receive some Fatalii peppers soon, and i want to prepare them for consumption by letting them age for a week or so in some vinegar and salt.

Let's say chop up and prepare the peppers, and have a measured amount. Let's say i get like 3-4 of them.

How much vinegar + salt should i use to let them age for a week?

Should i keep them in the cupboard in a dark place, or let them age in the fridge?

what is the best type of container to do this process?

thank you

Cheers

fatali mash would be good, but really powerful. let us know how it turns out.

Well friend i cannot let anyone know how it will turn out until i find out how to make it. Which i have not been successful in doing.

Does anyone know where i can find out.

i'll do it for ya.

i took a jar of vinegar, and an empty vinegar sprinkler jar, put 5 fatalis and 3 peach habs all seeded and cut into quarters into it, a couple tablespoonfulls of seasalt and filled it 3/4 of the way with the white vinegar.

i will leave it in the cupboard, and add peppers as they ripen. I'll let you know how it tastes :)

how do you check the PH to see if it is doing ok?

can you give me more details on the process please?

where can i find a vinegar sprinkler jar?

well it's just one of those 2 cup or so capacity fancy vinegars for salads, has 3 holes in the top plastic cap so you can shake out the right amount of vinegar.

anyway the PH will be pure acid if your using vinegar since vinegar is like 5-15% acetic acid, so unless you add a base like baking soda (your not, dont worry) to neutralize it your going to have an acid solution.

oh I should add, I am only going to make 1 concession for safety, and that will be to place the vinegar shaker into a double boiler to get the temp up to kill anything on the peppers that were sitting around for the initial dump, further additions to the mash will just be given a quick poach before adding them.

Okay so i put the peppers and vinegar and salt in there, then i seal it up, then i boil the jar?

or do i boil it first?

Also, let's say i have let the peppers age for a bit, then can i drain the vinegar, add some lime, etc other ingredients and mash it up in a mortar and pestle?

have you ever mashed up the peppers in a mortar and pestle and then put it in the jar or do you just put the peppers in there sliced up a little?

ahh i see.

ok, here would be a sequence of steps to prepare

1) prepare all peppers-wash, de-seed, de-stem etc. (leave seeds in if you want)

2) reduce to desired size- sizes being cut in half thru blended to a puree.

3) add peppers to clean jar

4) add salt and liquid (i prefer a tiny bit of water and lots of pepper puree, but we are talking vinegar here so add that)

5) with cap off place in a pot of simmering water, bring outside water to a boil, leave it there for like 5 minutes, turn off heat, leave in pot for maybe 10 minutes.

6) cap it.

leave it sit for however long you want to. As it gets used up add more liquid and as peppers ripen, add them to the mix after a quick poach.

just to be thorough, poaching is when you heat water to a roiling boil, and using a slotted spoon, drop your peppers into the water, then fish out after they are in the boiling water for a few seconds.

here is the recipe to my favorite mash (caution, the more intelligent people in the forum might scream that this is dangerous, although I'm still kicking)

1) take favorite peppers, wash, deseed, stem etc
2) quick poach
3) pile all peppers into a blender
4) start it on liquify, adding *just enough* water to allow the blender to work. as the peppers are reduced to paste you will be able to stop adding water, there will be enough gunk in the blender to force the new peppers you add into the blades.
5) add a bit of salt to the paste while it is blending.
5.5) optional- add a bit of yeast, 1/4tsp or so bread or beer yeast
6) pour all the mash into a jar and cap tightly. now you can either leave it out or put it in the frig. if you leave it out it will start to ferment slowly, and from here on out you just repeat steps 1-4 to keep it full. the yeast will reduce the pepper puree even further and make this just divine.

the second recipe is to the best of my knowledge of my own devising and again i warn, it's probably in the odds that if enough people try it someone will get unlucky and get sick. but it tastes so good i'm gonna spin the chamber and keep pn making it. ymmv :)

hey thank you so much for your help. i think i am getting the gist of it. one more question.

Can i use any jar i want? what about a little mason jar.

Okay im gonna go with the vinegar for safety.

As long as the peppers are covered in vinegar, it should be fine correct? Maybe 1/4 inch - 1/2 inch vinegar level above the peppers?

is it cool to completely seal the jar, like a mason jar or preservative jar or whatever they are called, that seals it airtight?

Will letting this age for 1 month give a nice flavor?

Cool dark place correct?

Im not sure if fermented peppers is what u want "not really a mash"but i chop up peppers to ferment and put them in a big glass jar and add 10% salt,let them sit at least a month after the last added peppers,the stuff turns into alot of liquid,then i strain off the liquid add vinegar and refridgerate.It is really good stuff!I use mostly tabascos as they are full of juice and habs of different types,Want it a lil' hotter? Add dried hab powder to the liquid!
--Kevin

wayright, by 10% salt, do you mean 10% total volume of salt compared to the peppers or you fill the jar 10% of the way with salt?

Okay i made some mash, tell me if i did it right please.

I chopped up like 7 habaneros into fine pieces, then dusted them with kosher salt.

then i put them in a clean jar. i covered them with some white wine vinegar that says 7% acidity. I completely covered the peppers with it, they appear to be floating, but i just filled it up until they were completely covered no more.

i then put the jar in a pot of boiling water, just sitting on it, water covering the mixture.

i threw the lid in the same boiling water.

i then put the lid on top with a fork, and took water off boiler.

i let cool then tightly closed the lid, and put it in a dark cubbard.

is this ok?

is 7% acidity ok?

did i use too much vinegar?

sounds good to me!

hope you enjoy it.

p.s. try my water mash, it'll blow the vinegar stuff out of the... err water, parden the pun.

that wont get you sick?

Let me preface this by saying I'm a complete nub when it comes to pickles/canning/pepper sauces.

sndk-Do you think that the yeast in your mash could be acting a little like the yeast in a sourdough starter? I only ask because I caught an episode of "Good Eats" where Alton Brown said something to the effect that the yeast action in a sourdough starter helps to keep bacteria out of the starter.

legsbig-I'm not sure I'm reading your post right. When you boiled your jar of peppers&vinegar, did it have a lid on? Or did you let the boiling water get in with the peppers&vinegar? Wouldn't that dilute the vinegar to less than 7% acidity?

I think there is a post on GW, possibly even the pepper forum, with a link to FDA canning/preserving website which has info on peppers, etc.

"sndk-Do you think that the yeast in your mash could be acting a little like the yeast in a sourdough starter? I only ask because I caught an episode of "Good Eats" where Alton Brown said something to the effect that the yeast action in a sourdough starter helps to keep bacteria out of the starter."

that's exactly why you add it, to get your good stuff in before the bad stuff has a chance to get a foothold.

fled i placed the jar in the water bath standing up straight so no water got inside the jar. it didnt come to the top

on my most recent batch i sealed the jar then put it in the water bath and boiled for alot longer.

Okay, I went nuts and bought a ton of hot pepper plants this year. I have 18 habanero plants(12 orange and 6 red), 6 tabasco, 24 cayenne, 12-14 jalepeno plants, 6 thai pepper plants, and I think that is all- oh wait I have 6 of those pepperocini(spelling might be off on that) plants too.

This has been the most amazing pepper year in the 16 years that we have been growing produce. We have a bumper crop of EVERYTHING.

SO, I am looking for new and different ways to preserve this harvest without cooking them.

I have been following this mash thread, and I am a bit confused. If you are doing the salt method- which sounds simlar to the salt method of making sauerkraut or brine pickles-

WHY ARE YOU COVERING IT TIGHTLY?

Won't the fermentation cause the lid to pop and the pressure cause problems?

Don't you need air for this mixture to ferment properly?

Also,
If you use bread yeast, won't that be a problem with yeast ingested and multiplying in people's systems- esp if they are sensitive to yeast?

What if you don't use it- will it turn out just as well?

I am very interested in trying this out, if I can to preserve some of our harvest.

Thanks!

From what I've read, you can leave the yeast out and the peppers will ferment on their own.
My question is: could I add a few cloves of garlic to the mash with out adversely affecting the fermentation process?My goal is to make a batch of hot sauce. I don't plan on storing that long. Just long enough to let the flavor mature a little bit.
Thanks

"Won't the fermentation cause the lid to pop and the pressure cause problems?"

i will losen the lid.

i am confused. As far as I know, the fermentation is caused by lactobacillis. If you boil/sterilize your concoction, won't you just have a nice batch of preserved peppers?
I am close to harvest time and I need some confidence that my summers work will be aged/fermented correctly.
Any answer and/or detailed recipe would be hugely appreciated!

people in this thread are confusing pickling/refigerator pack with fermentation.

fermentation needs a way for air to escape. The way described in the ball blue book is to use some heavy duty cooking plastic wrap (the restaurant kind, not saran wrap) and after putting that on top of your open jar of fermenting whatnot, having been started with sourdough starter, kefir grains, yeasts, whatever; topped with pie crust weights or fishtank gravel. just enough to see to it that co2 can escape but bacteria cant reenter.

Ok, I have a dumb question,
Since I didn't pay attention in math class, how do you figure the percentage of salt to use to the weight of mashed peppers?

The way i make mash is to simply blend the fresh peppers "not poached" with with 1/4 cup sea salt per 1 quart ground peppers. Pour peppers into a clean glass container with a slightly loose fitting lid. Add a 1/2" layer of sea salt to the top of the mixture. The peppers we furment on their own and the 1/2" layer of sea salt will seal out bad stuff but allow the gasses from fermination to escape. Age the mixture for at least one month to get the full taste of the peppers. I use only habanero, naga jovia and a few more very hot peppers. I am not certain wether or not a milder pepper would have the acidity to prevent spoilage. I have been using this recipe with the hot peppers for 15 years aging for 2 months with no problems though