Fermenting Hot Peppers
Fermenting peppers is not a difficult process! It is quite easy, but patience is required! Fermenting peppers is an essential step in making hot sauce.
Servings 3 quarts
Calories 10kcal
Cost $2
Ingredients
- hot peppers, any variety will work See post for more information
- 3 Tbsp salt, per quart of peppers.
Instructions
- Remove stem from peppers.
- Grind in food processor.
- Mix 3 tablespoons salt per quart of peppers. Mix well. The salt will draw water out of the peppers and they will ferment in their own juices. Alternately, you can mix 1 quart of unchlorinated water with 3 tablespoons of sea salt, per quart.
- Sterilize jars. Pack in jars with peppers, pushing down contents to remove air. Leave 2 inches headspace.
- If using the brine method, cover peppers in jars with the water and salt mixture to cover. It is important the the peppers stay below the surface of the brine.
- Ferment in cool place for 1 to 4 months, up to years. For the first 2-3 weeks, burp jars daily, thereafter burp once per week.
- Use fermented peppers for making hot sauce.
Video
Notes
Make sure jars are sterilized before adding peppers!
For the first two weeks after adding peppers to jars, make sure that you release air daily!
Store peppers in a cool, dark place, like a basement.
How to know if peppers have gone bad?
- Trust your nose. If they smell rotten or sour, the batch is bad. Discard.
- If a pink or white fungus appears on top, the ferment has gone bad. Discard.
Nutrition
Calories: 10kcal | Sodium: 6976mg | Calcium: 4mg