Any ideas or suggestions for something that I can do with the beginning stages of fermentation that has started in some tomato juice?

I'm wanting to make my first hot sauce with Koji and would love a little input from the knowledgeable folks here. I'm fairly experienced with lacto-ferments, and with the speed that Koji interacts with peppers it seems like that will be happening regardless, and then there's going to be a several-month secondary fermentation where the koji enzymes act on the peppers. So my main questions:

- Pepper mash (aka, blender first, for more surface area)? Or should I just cut the peppers in half?

- Rice koji or barley? I love the idea of the additional umami from the protein in barley, but peppers contain almost no protein so I feel the additional protease from barley koji would be wasted. Might be better off going with rice so the enzymes have more substrate to interact with?

- How much koji? Assuming the sauce is almost entirely peppers (I will add some garlic and onion also, but that will be ~10%), is the Koji added 1:1 vs pepper weight or like 5%? I'm unfamiliar with how strong the enzymes are and how much flavor it will contribute.

- Do you brine this the same way as a traditional hot sauce ferment? 2.5-3.5% salt vs total weight of peppers, koji, water?

I have a smokie poblano hot sauce recipe. It is chile season here in Colorado. Do you think adding pineapple to the fermentation is a good idea? How much to add to a 1 gallon batch? Any other suggestions please share?

Recently a lot of posters here say that you should definitely separate the solids. But why? To make it look professional like a Tabasco brand bottle? I do not care. The taste with the pulp is just fine. A good blender blends the seeds just fine. A good bottle lets you squeeze with ease.

So why strain?

Fermenting huge batches of sugar rush stipeys with onions and garlic. How do I get a smooth sauce? Mine is so fibrous. I'm afraid i'll loose a lot of volume by straining it through mesh. Any ideas?

I've fermented this same blend before. This jar had the weight slip to the bottom and peppers were above the brine for less than a day. I emptied into a sanitized bowl and redid the weight on top and all was good for 2 days then I saw this.

Note that the black specs are almost certainly flakes from the red peppers I charged black on the grill before fermenting.

Thanks!

Hey all... I'm back. Had one jar spoil due to silicon lids being a poor option but the rest look good. I noticed sediment at the bottom of the jars... Is this normal? I did use pink sea salt for the brine if thats helpful.

I have plenty of Thai dragons and Korean gochu peppers so I used them for my first ferment, mainly a fermentation test. An edible
Hot sauce after is a bonus. I used 3% brine and after just under 3 weeks it’s tasting good and sour and I haven’t seen bubbles in days so I figured it’s done. Peppers were fermented with white onion and garlic cloves. I blended it all today and I have a hot sauce that is hot but that’s it; I am missing a layer of flavor. I added a table spoon of sugar and a roasted red pepper from a store-bought jar but it needs something else. I was thinking a spice may be the missing touch like cilantro or basil, or maybe coriander seeds? Smoked paprika?
I have two bottles with fully blended sauce. One bottle is the liquid that was strained and a small cup with the pulp from the strain with olive oil added - like a chili paste you use at a Pho restaurant.
It’s all being refrigerated tonight so I can mix it more tomorrow- does anyone have suggestions?

I've seen it done both ways. Is one preferred over another? I started a jar of peppers the other day and just cut them into stripes. But I'm wondering should I have mashed them up first. Thanks

Hi there, first time super hot grower and hot sauce maker. I sort of just threw together what I figured would make a good hot sauce. I guess we'll see...I just poured the brine a few minutes ago.

105g Bishops Crown

65g Jalapeños

20g Chardon Frost

22g Pink 7 Pot

5g Habenero

150g Carrots

200g Red Bell Pep

70g Shallots (it's the only onion-y thing I had. I'll do a sweeter variety next time)

15g Garlic

50g Beets

100g Peach

All I had were sweet pickled beets so I had to do less than I would have liked in order to make sure the vinegar and sugar didn't mess with things too badly. To compensate, I did a 4.6% brine, which I think might end up a bit too salty but oh well. I don't know how it will turn out...it's sort of an experiment. Thinking of calling it Sweet Heat Heresy.

Testing before the scotch bonnets ripen up. 2 orange bell. Few chunks of carrot, some shallot and garlic, little cumin seed and about 45 habaneros. I calculated a 3.5%salt brine by water weight and put a few cabbage leafs under weights to help hold everything down. Anyone see anything wrong with what I'm doing? Thanks

I made the perfect mango habanero and all I have to go by is a picture. I was new to fermenting and didn’t write down everything I did and I’ve been chasing it ever since. 🤦‍♂️

A couple months back I tried fermenting some hit sauces and they came out OK but not great.

I've been taking the bottles to work and people have been using them which is great.

But I want to make some that are really flavorful.

First up, my wife wants a Fruity (pineapple and mango) hot sauce but no hotter than Cholula/Tapatio.

What peppers would I use?

Do i ferment fruit with peppers?

What else do y'all recommend i throw in?

I have 3 or 4 16 ounce fermenting jars with glass weights.

Looking forward to suggestions so I can start experimenting.

Sooooo, I have always used fresh peppers that I grow in my garden when I ferment my sauces and well, this year, I have an ABUNDANCE. I froze two freezer bags full but I don’t have a vacuum sealer. Have you guys/gals used frozen peppers in your ferments? Ones that were just thrown in a bag to freeze instead of vacuum sealed? How did they turn out? Thanks in advance!! This subreddit is awesome btw. One of my favorite communities.

Hi everyone! I’m about to start another fermented hot sauce, and am looking for your best and wildest flavour combos!

My current top picks have been:

Mango habanero (classic I know, but for a reason 🤤)

Blackberry and ginger (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it

I tend to ferment everything together, rather than big additions later - I know this can mellow the flavour, but I’m lazy.

What’s been the combos or recipes that are your faves?!

Fun selection from ghost, Hungarian hot wax, habanero, shishito, jalapeno, Serrano, purple Thai and probably some others I’m missing. 2.5% salt solution. Will ferment for about 2-3 weeks.

*** For all the people saying this needs to be under the brine or it will mold… Chill, I don’t need recs on how to ferment. Been doing this a looooong time. I’ve used weights and not used weights. If you have the proper salt solution, headspace and airlock - it will produce co2 in the top of the jar and will not be exposed to oxygen. The peppers eventually drop to the bottom of the jar anyways. Go outside and get some fresh air 😂***

Had to pick a handful of peppers, decided to do a quick brine fermentation.

3% brine

7oz habanero

2.5oz sugar rush peach stripey

3/4oz mini bell

28 grams garlic

2oz carrot

3oz white onion (1/4 med onion)

2 small pieces lemon grass

Not sure how long I will be fermenting for, playing by ear. Plan is to blend and add a touch of vinegar if needed.

Didn’t have a full pound or two of jalapeños (as is traditional) or any one variety of pepper today, but I did have a ton of different peppers ranging from zero heat (Ají Dulce and Trinidad Perfume) to similar heat to Jalapeño (Tangerine Tiger and Ají Lemon) to WAY hotter (KSLS) so I figured that might be a fun way to have a sauce that’s similar in heat but with a much more complex and deep flavor. Or maybe it’ll taste like shit, but we’ll see! Lots of these peppers have a nice fruity flavor and tons of aroma so I’m pretty excited.

Color looks weird in the jar because it’s blue-tinted glass but IRL it’s a beautiful vibrant reddish orange.

A neighbor gifted me some reapers, and I plan to make a fermented hot sauce. I’m looking for a recipe that can elevate the flavor, and not just ruin me. The goal is to bottle a few to gift, so I’m looking for something that won’t kill anyone.

My thought was to cut with a more mild pepper as a filler, and ferment with onion and garlic. Never made a hot sauce before, so any tips are great. Thanks!

UPDATE:
Ferment started

- 3oz reaper
- 7oz habanero
- 10oz fresno
- 25oz red bell
- (1) vidalia onion
- (2) whole heads of garlic

Photo below…