Day 1

 

Day 1 

 

I began fermenting round one of my homemade hot sauce last  night. I have been struggling to find the type of pepper that I had intended to use as my main pepper in the recipe so I decided to make my first round one of basically a- very, very hot selection of peppers with a few more mild ones.

 I used:

2 large poblano

2 large italian

 Multiple little orange habanero

Multiple little green habanero

7 jalapeno

Multiple small sweet peppers- red, yellow, and orange

 

Step 1: Wash your vegetables!



 

 

Step 2: Enlist your trusty helper who is learning to use a knife VERY safely to remove all the stems and caps of the peppers

 

Step 3: Begin to blend/process/chop your peppers into a mush/paste

 

Step 4: For every 4.5 cups of pasted peppers, add approx. 1 Tsp of salt to assist in protecting the fermentation from bad bacteria. Be careful not to add to much as it can slow the fermentation process.

 

Step 5: Mix in salt to paste

 

Step 6: Divide paste into jars (avoid plastic as chemicals can leach). Leave plenty of room for bubbling as it can expand up more than we think. Suggestions said to use cheese cloth for the top to allow the peppers to breath but protect from dust etc. I unfortunately could not find cheese cloth, so I used a coffee filter:-)

 

Things I noticed: Take all warnings to wear gloves.....SERIOUSLY! ...and in fact, I would suggest a mask if using a variety that consists of habanero and jalapeno because I felt like I got hit with pepper spray when I opened up that blender! My kitchen could not be entered by even the bravest without a scarf wrapped around their nose and mouth for at least 2 hours..... which means that I was the one getting drinks and snacks from the kitchen...for the next 2 hours:-)  My local farmers market opens on Thursdays so I will be on the hunt for batch two once I locate the aloof Cheyenne peppers!

 

Stay tuned- I will check back in for new findings...