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Author Topic: New Hottest Chile...Carolina Reaper?  (Read 23513 times)

Offline euge

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Re: New Hottest Chile...Carolina Reaper?
« Reply #45 on: November 20, 2012, 05:56:08 pm »
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/23146-fermenting-peppers-101/

Wow that is a great link. Thanks!

And to reply to Tom's query which I so negligently missed. I haven't had to add anything to make the slurry ferment. It really takes off with an obvious ferment.

Quote
1. Wild Fermentation. For a wild fermentation you are going to collect the wild yeast that is in the air and use it to ferment the peppers. To do this you first need to add enough salt to the mash so that the bad bacteria can’t infect your mash before the good bacteria get going. Typically this is somewhere between 6 and 10 percent of weight. Some add a little Ascorbic Acid as well to retard mold. Place your mash into a container and cover the top with several layers of Cheese Cloth to keep out any dirt but to allow the bacteria to get in.  Once you see that mash bubbling away you can loosely add a lid and allow the fermentation to continue.

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard P. Feynman

Laws are spider-webs, which catch the little flies, but cannot hold the big ones. -Anacharsis

Offline euge

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Re: New Hottest Chile...Carolina Reaper?
« Reply #46 on: November 21, 2012, 09:21:00 am »
An addendum to my previous comments above.

I'm kinda disappointed that reading all 14 pages revealed very little except some penis showing and misinformation. That being said don't hesitate to read the entire thread.

My opinion is that one doesn't need to do anything special to start a fermentation- especially if the peppers are ground up into a mash. There is no need to add anything other than salt and a bit of tap water and ferment in a warm dark place. Including whey or yogurt or yeast or sugar or fermented potato etc and cooking is unnecessary.

I do like Pablo's approach to laying salt- I tried this last time but since including 3% in the mash laying more on top the amount was an uncertainty to me. So just used a small amount with fears of retarding the ferment. Now I'll just lay another 3% salt over the top and the fermentation will incorporate the rest in.

As usual folks like to overcomplicated processes that are poorly understood. Before reading any forums I did my research and based it on the Tabasco method of making sauce- which is very simple and IMO the benchmark for all hot-sauces.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard P. Feynman

Laws are spider-webs, which catch the little flies, but cannot hold the big ones. -Anacharsis