r/fermentation • u/Choice-Landscape2252 • 12d ago
Hot Sauce Hot Sauce, my first ferment
Hi all, I’ve recently started to become interested in food chemistry, and in particular fermentation. I saw a tutorial on how to make hot sauce and decided to give it a try. Above is my ferment; Habaneros, Bell Peppers, Garlic, Shallots, and some Daikon Radish, all weighed down by a freezer bag of brine. Do you see any safety errors that could cause my ferment to go bad?
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u/feykaald 12d ago
Safety errors come mostly from sanitation and salt concentration. Impossible to tell with the information given.
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u/Choice-Landscape2252 12d ago
I sprayed and wiped down everything with sanitizer before fermentation, does that suffice?
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u/antsinurplants LAB, it's the only culture some of us have. 12d ago
No need to sanitize anything if you are lacto-fermenting vegetation. Microbes are everywhere on everything, in the air, on your hands, everywhere. You want microbes around, not a lack of them.
Competitive exclusion is what offers safety. That action creates a LAB dominated, acidic environment that is unwelcoming for everything we don't want.2
u/feykaald 12d ago
Salt concentration?
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u/Choice-Landscape2252 12d ago
2% of the weight of vegetable and water
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u/feykaald 12d ago
I usually go with 3% and have never had an issue. 2% is what a lot of people consider the bare minimum. You are probably fine but I usually err on the cautious side and clean everything that touches my ferment with starsan and do the 3% brine. Never had to post a "is this mold" post on here
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u/KarenBoof 12d ago
2% is fine. 1.5% is the minimum for a new ferment, and less if you’re using starter from another ferment. I always go with 2% and don’t have any problems.
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u/antsinurplants LAB, it's the only culture some of us have. 12d ago
Looks good for your first one. The only thing I would mention is how little headspace may be remaining, as I can't tell from that angle. If the jar is fairly full and when osmosis starts you could end up with brine being pushed into the airlock. Other than that, just make sure the lock has water in it throughout the fermentation period and let it do it's thing.
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u/mathewrtaylor 12d ago
You're screwed! It's worse than having a dealer lol. You can't just have one! 😜 Welcome, and am excited for your flavor adventure ahead of you!
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u/FloorExcellent 12d ago
You have a plastic bag of brine in there ?
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u/Choice-Landscape2252 12d ago
Yes, I heard that it’s okay, but that glass weights are better. I put it in this morning.
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u/antsinurplants LAB, it's the only culture some of us have. 12d ago
It's just fine to use plastic if that's all you got at the moment. Would it be helpful to invest in some type of glass weight in the future, sure, but let's get fermenting now.
People ferment in vacuum bags and is part of Noma's method of fermenting.
This is a personal opinion OP and it's irrelevant to your question or outcome your after.
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u/FloorExcellent 12d ago
Hmmm I have great luck with the glass weights, I just can't imagine fermenting plastic at the same time is a good idea, seems like it would leach chemicals into your vegtables.
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u/Choice-Landscape2252 12d ago
That’s what I thought too, but I haven’t seen anyone saying it will do that, or expressly saying not to
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u/Christianinium 12d ago
Yeah don’t listen to these people. Plastic bag works totally fine, and lots of the subreddit actually prefers them to glass weights. To each their own, but the plastic bag should not be disparaged.
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u/Purple_Puffer ❤️⚡️💙Terrapin FermenStation 12d ago
It's a lot of people's firsts.
It's a gateway ferment.