Fermenting.

[recruiterg]

Salix - how did you get started? Did you buy a starter kit? Do tell...

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

Your sauces look really good. I'm curious why your Aji Amarillo sauce is green. Did you process them when they were green?

Yup. They didn't have enough time to fully ripen before frost and had to be picked green. Not the right climate for them, unfortunately.

[salix]

I visited my wonderful next door neighbour to learn how to make kefir. That led to checking out her kombucha and I loved the taste, so she gave me that SCOBY and a cup or more of the batch as a starter. Photocopied a page of her "Cultured Food for Health" book by Donna Schwenk (google her!) and I went home and got started with a green tea recipe. Took 10 days for the first brew to be ready, and I second fermented half of that with ginger and lemon (very fizzy) and the other half with pomegranate juice (quite tasty). The second batch I made with Rooibois tea and green tea, left half plain and second-fermented the other half with grape juice. The third batch is about half done...

I am quite sensitive to caffeine, so I was delighted to learn that Rooibois tea could be used (actually it's the added sugar that is fermented) although apparently not all herbal teas are usable due to the oils interfering with the culture organisms. There is a lot on the internet, and I found that there are at least 2 companies who sell the starter kits on Amazon. It would probably be quite easy to find someone in your area who would be willing to share.

[Worth1]

Some observations on my wild pepper sauce no pictures but I will explain as best I can.

Like I said I ran the peppers through a blender and added the salt water.
What happened was, the lighter mash floated on top full of gas bubbles, most seeds settled to the bottom.
There was clear water in the middle.
As time went on less stuff on top and less activity.
Yesterday I have almost nothing on top all is on the bottom and clear water on top.
It looks like a nebula inside the jar as this stuff floats up and down.

[Worth1]

Here is the latest wild pepper sauce.
Several trips to the blender and heated up for the addition of the gum citric acid and some sugar.
Came out great but I have to say my mouth is on fire from test tasting.

Think I will call this one Texas Sunset.
Worth
IMG_20161203_30826.jpg

[Shrinkrap]

Smells amazing! Pepper vinegar.

[Worth1]

I used to do that with peppers but not anymore.
I cant stand the taste of strong vinegar and found I was just letting them sit.

My new hot sauce passed the separation test.
All night long and it is still just like it was when I mixed it up.
I cant believe it took me this many years to use xanthan gum.

This one was the water and peppers ground up and the seeds and skins separated.
It made about 3 cups of sauce.
In this I put a little over 1/4 teaspoon of the gum, around 10 teaspoons of sugar and around one to two teaspoons of citric acid powder.
Blended up hot and poured in the jar.
The big kettle I heated and worked the sauce in I didn't even bother cleaning.
I just added water and cooked my left over thanksgiving roast in it to make soup.

Worth

[Shrinkrap]

Zesty!

[Rajun Gardener]

I don'y know what it says but I thought it was creative.

[oakley]

Originally Posted by salix

I visited my wonderful next door neighbour to learn how to make kefir. That led to checking out her kombucha and I loved the taste, so she gave me that SCOBY and a cup or more of the batch as a starter. Photocopied a page of her "Cultured Food for Health" book by Donna Schwenk (google her!) and I went home and got started with a green tea recipe. Took 10 days for the first brew to be ready, and I second fermented half of that with ginger and lemon (very fizzy) and the other half with pomegranate juice (quite tasty). The second batch I made with Rooibois tea and green tea, left half plain and second-fermented the other half with grape juice. The third batch is about half done...

I am quite sensitive to caffeine, so I was delighted to learn that Rooibois tea could be used (actually it's the added sugar that is fermented) although apparently not all herbal teas are usable due to the oils interfering with the culture organisms. There is a lot on the internet, and I found that there are at least 2 companies who sell the starter kits on Amazon. It would probably be quite easy to find someone in your area who would be willing to share.

I've had mine going for a few yrs now. My favorite second fermentation is ginger and yellow beet. The sugars in the beet kicks a nice fizz.

[Worth1]

Darn right creepy looking.
Worth

[oakley]

Od do i agree...but after keeping this going for so long it is as common as an omelet in our house. It was bit off-putting at first but i had my first pint from a tap in the Fizer building where KombuchaBrooklyn was set up. They sell kegs to bars around town. And kits. After reading Sandor Katz and studying fermentation, i no longer fear it. ...and it is so good. My next batch will have fresh turmeric, ginger and yellow beet. I don't experiment with the tea. Just three organic green and three black.
I keep that part basic, then use the veg in the second fermentation. Strain through a mesh filter and into the fridge in growlers. Not much effort for a naturally fermented
beverage. (we have not had soda in 20 years. Maybe 30. Never had it as a kid, was not allowed as my folks were too cheap. Went to friends houses for junk food.

Probably a good thing as i've always liked savory over sweet.

[velikipop]

Kombucha is so easy to make and very expensive to buy. Getting a scoby is the most difficult part. I got mine from a lady at a health food store for free. If you ask around you should be able to locate someone with a surplus because every time a new batch is made it also produces a scoby. Check out this site.
https://www.kombuchakamp.com/hannah-...kombucha-mamma

[oakley]

Originally Posted by velikipop

Kombucha is so easy to make and very expensive to buy. Getting a scoby is the most difficult part. I got mine from a lady at a health food store for free. If you ask around you should be able to locate someone with a surplus because every time a new batch is made it also produces a scoby. Check out this site.
https://www.kombuchakamp.com/hannah-...kombucha-mamma

I have 4-5 in the fridge and have freely given them away...with some lessons. Amazing how many co-workers buy it at that great expense but fear making it. A few of us at work really don't make much comment unless someone shows a real interest.
Same with kefir grains and SousVide...all have a place and common friends/co-workers
that like the challenge and experimental foods.
Just today a co-worker i've had some conversations about tomatoes asked if i wanted his extra BakersCreek catalog. "of course!". We talked tomatoes one day...He just was sent two catalogs this past weekend.

[velikipop]

I have a few as well that I keep as backup, but would give away if anyone in my area wants one. I am curious that you store yours in the fridge. All the advice I have read is that they should be stored at room temperature, yet I have had some second ferments stored in the fridge create a very small one. Strange.