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Agreed... I can never find a hot sauce ferment recipe that has weights and measurements like sauerkraut or kimchi. Everything is too eyeball-ey and makes me su

Agreed... I can never find a hot sauce ferment recipe that has weights and measurements like sauerkraut or kimchi. Everything is too eyeball-ey and makes me super paranoid about not getting the right salt and ph. Botulism scares the shit out of me.

ssl-3 2y ago
There's only a few things to do with pepper ferments. It's not at all like baking a cake is. And it's far easier to accomplish safely than canning is. Only one ingredient must be measured before it is added: Salt. There is just not anything here that could be improved by adding specificity: 1. Use pure-ish water, if any water is used at all. Chlorine is bad. Buffering from dissolved minerals is also bad. (Distilled water is cheap; use that.) 2. Weigh water, if any, along with the peppers. 3. Add 2% non-iodized table salt, by weight. (Kosher salt works here, and has other uses.) 4. Mix it up in a suitable vessel (I prefer vacuum bags because the results are both flawless and easy), and put in a dark-ish place that is not cold. 5. Wait. That's really all there is.
- Dylan16807 2y ago
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30166176/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30166176/ https://www.openagrar.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/openagrar_derivate_00017908/A1911.pdf https://www.openagrar.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/openagr... I don't think you need to worry about iodine.
  - ssl-3 2y ago
    That's persuasive-enough data to make me convinced. Thanks. I'll still use kosher salt in my ferments because...well, just because. For one thing, the larger salt corns dissolve more slowly, and this gives me a longer period to work before chunks of chili pepper react with salt and start producing liquid. I've been surprised before by how quickly this can happen. (Slower/less-liquid-ey is easier for me to handle with my particular (cheap, Aldi special) vacuum sealer.) But if I get to that point in the process and discover that I don't have any kosher salt today for some reason, then: I'll have no reservations about using regular iodized table salt instead.

ssl-3 2y ago

There's only a few things to do with pepper ferments. It's not at all like baking a cake is. And it's far easier to accomplish safely than canning is. Only one ingredient must be measured before it is added: Salt. There is just not anything here that could be improved by adding specificity: 1. Use pure-ish water, if any water is used at all. Chlorine is bad. Buffering from dissolved minerals is also bad. (Distilled water is cheap; use that.) 2. Weigh water, if any, along with the peppers. 3. Add 2% non-iodized table salt, by weight. (Kosher salt works here, and has other uses.) 4. Mix it up in a suitable vessel (I prefer vacuum bags because the results are both flawless and easy), and put in a dark-ish place that is not cold. 5. Wait. That's really all there is.

Dylan16807 2y ago
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30166176/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30166176/ https://www.openagrar.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/openagrar_derivate_00017908/A1911.pdf https://www.openagrar.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/openagr... I don't think you need to worry about iodine.
- ssl-3 2y ago
  That's persuasive-enough data to make me convinced. Thanks. I'll still use kosher salt in my ferments because...well, just because. For one thing, the larger salt corns dissolve more slowly, and this gives me a longer period to work before chunks of chili pepper react with salt and start producing liquid. I've been surprised before by how quickly this can happen. (Slower/less-liquid-ey is easier for me to handle with my particular (cheap, Aldi special) vacuum sealer.) But if I get to that point in the process and discover that I don't have any kosher salt today for some reason, then: I'll have no reservations about using regular iodized table salt instead.