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Author Topic: Pickles and other fermented foods  (Read 25390 times)

Offline redbeerman

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #75 on: November 08, 2013, 06:04:12 am »
I'm thinking of giving kimchi a try this weekend. Any tips?

Make sure that the salt and cabbage are well mixed.  Don't be afraid to stick all kinds of veggies in there, carrots, radishes, of course hot peppers.  Leave the lid on whatever you are fermenting in loose, the fermentation will produce gas.  Homemade kim chi is pretty awesome.  You are using Napa cabbage, yes?
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Jim

Offline majorvices

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #76 on: November 08, 2013, 06:40:04 am »
The brine trick seemed to work. I'm on day 19 and full fermentation (bubbles and "hiss" when I cracked open the jar my wife sealed not knowing) - no mold! :)

So, a few days after I posted this I noticed the brine had sunk and the top of my pepper sauce started to turn  very slightly off color probably due to oxydation. I added a tablespoon of red wine vinegar directly on top which seemed to fix problem and even now, on day 38, no mold. Going to blend in my red wine vinegar rest of of the way this AM and trying it on sardines for lunch this afternoon with a pickled egg on the side. :)

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #77 on: November 08, 2013, 10:47:57 am »
The brine trick seemed to work. I'm on day 19 and full fermentation (bubbles and "hiss" when I cracked open the jar my wife sealed not knowing) - no mold! :)

So, a few days after I posted this I noticed the brine had sunk and the top of my pepper sauce started to turn  very slightly off color probably due to oxydation. I added a tablespoon of red wine vinegar directly on top which seemed to fix problem and even now, on day 38, no mold. Going to blend in my red wine vinegar rest of of the way this AM and trying it on sardines for lunch this afternoon with a pickled egg on the side. :)
Are you sure it wasn't lactobacillus?  I can't remember what you were doing here, but when I ferment my hot sauce it gets a lacto layer on top.  When there is just a little it looks like a slight paling of the color.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline majorvices

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #78 on: November 08, 2013, 10:55:46 am »
Might be that's what it was. Regardless, I didn't get mild and had full fermentation which is what I wanted.

Offline gmac

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #79 on: November 08, 2013, 05:52:23 pm »
My hot sauce is actually going faster than I thought.  My local grocery has habanero's at a good pricer per lb.  I'm thinking of getting a pound or two and making another batch.  But, my last sauce was pretty hot for me with mostly cayenne and chili peppers.  I would expect habanero to be a lot hotter.

So, I'm wondering what you guys think about this: 50% habs, 50% plain old red bell peppers? 
Looking for good heat with some flavour but not painfully hot.  The other option that I'm not as excited about but considering is doing 2 batches, one all habs, one all red bell and then blending.  But I don't know if the bell's would work.

Offline jeffy

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #80 on: November 08, 2013, 06:26:28 pm »
Why not use some poblanos instead of the bell peppers?  They're not very hot yet have a ton of flavor.
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Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #81 on: November 08, 2013, 07:11:45 pm »
Why not use some poblanos instead of the bell peppers?  They're not very hot yet have a ton of flavor.
+1.  There's no better flavor pepper than a poblano IMO. Together with a handful of smoking habaneros and you've got a good one. That's what I did when I made mine, and I also added a couple chipotles with some of the adobo sauce for some smokiness.  Awesome stuff.
Jon H.

Offline gmac

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #82 on: November 08, 2013, 08:54:17 pm »
Why not use some poblanos instead of the bell peppers?  They're not very hot yet have a ton of flavor.
+1.  There's no better flavor pepper than a poblano IMO. Together with a handful of smoking habaneros and you've got a good one. That's what I did when I made mine, and I also added a couple chipotles with some of the adobo sauce for some smokiness.  Awesome stuff.
Availability is the reason. We have jalapeƱos, habeneros and bells. That's it.

Offline majorvices

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #83 on: November 08, 2013, 09:47:15 pm »
are you trimming out seeds and veins? cause that's where the heat is. Aside from the seeds I don't find habeneros to be that hot.

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #84 on: November 08, 2013, 11:56:49 pm »
I add bell pepper to my hot pepper jams, it adds flavor and color without the heat.  It works out well.

For hot sauce you can always take the edge off with some sweetness.  Carrots, mangoes, that kind of thing.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline gmac

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #85 on: November 10, 2013, 08:45:38 pm »
I didn't remove anything but the stem.  Seeds and veins went in.  I like hot sauce but not crazy hot. I think I'll give it a whirl without the bells and see how it goes. I can always add something to tone it down if I need to later.

Offline theoman

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #86 on: November 11, 2013, 06:01:40 am »
I'm thinking of giving kimchi a try this weekend. Any tips?

Make sure that the salt and cabbage are well mixed.  Don't be afraid to stick all kinds of veggies in there, carrots, radishes, of course hot peppers.  Leave the lid on whatever you are fermenting in loose, the fermentation will produce gas.  Homemade kim chi is pretty awesome.  You are using Napa cabbage, yes?

Thanks! Yep, I'm using Napa cabbage. I just got it salted. For this batch, I'll keep it fairly simple with daikon raddish, green onion and a bit of carrot.

Offline bluesman

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #87 on: November 11, 2013, 10:34:42 am »
Not quite pickles but...I tried a new Pepper Sauce recipe using Habanero peppers from my garden. However, I used 24 fully ripened Habanero peppers (seeded). It is really tasty. :)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?recipeID=57326&origin=detail&servings=64&metric=false
Ron Price

Offline redbeerman

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #88 on: November 11, 2013, 12:42:31 pm »
Not quite pickles but...I tried a new Pepper Sauce recipe using Habanero peppers from my garden. However, I used 24 fully ripened Habanero peppers (seeded). It is really tasty. :)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?recipeID=57326&origin=detail&servings=64&metric=false

Sounds pretty yummy, Ron.  I need to try that sometime (hint).
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Offline theoman

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Re: Pickles and other fermented foods
« Reply #89 on: November 15, 2013, 02:34:36 am »
The kimchi experiment seems to be going well. I'll try it this weekend. Unfortunately, my wife may never let me make it again.