Goal is to create a reliable “house” hot sauce process using mixed peppers, not optimize for any single variety. Intention is to make a big batch after the fall harvest of peppers from the garden.
I am interested in testing the following variables
| Variable | ||||
| Fermentation | Yes | No | ||
| Garlic | Yes | No | ||
| Vegetable additions | Carrot | Tomato | Both | None |
| Vinegar Type | White | Apple Cider | Red Wine |
I bought a collection of three types of peppers: red thai chilies, green seranos, and green jalepenos and washed them, removed the stems, and combined them all together.
Together I had 1500g total of peppers. I partioned them into plastic bags and froze them all. This way all the tests will be completed from the same starting material even if I do it days to weeks apart (to account for the fermentation time)
Phase 1
Fermentation Experiments
After thawing
| Batch | Add |
|---|---|
| F1 | nothing |
| F2 | ~5 g garlic |
| F3 | ~45 g carrot |
| F4 | ~45 g carrot + ~5 g garlic |
Salt (~2% total weight):
- F1: 4.0 g
- F2: ~4.1 g
- F3: ~4.9 g
- F4: ~5.0 g
Pack, add salt, garlic and/or carrot, and distilled water to just cover the pepper, press down, ferment at least ~2 weeks. It is important to keep the peppers covered with the salt water brine to avoid spoilage. Check this daily. More tips here: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/fermented-hot-sauce/
Drain peppers and save some of the brine, add water blend until smooth. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for 15 minutes. Add vinegar. Strain solids if you want.
Fermented: 25 g brine + 10 g water per 100 g peppers
How much vinegar to add
Use the same ratio as your fresh batches so everything stays comparable.
Target:
~30% vinegar by weight relative to peppers
So for your 200 g fermented pepper batches:
- Start with 60 g vinegar
Important detail
When you process fermented peppers:
- Keep some brine (don’t fully discard)
- But don’t count brine toward the vinegar ratio
So typical flow:
- 200 g fermented mash
- ~25–30 g brine (used during cooking)
- then add 60 g vinegar after blending
Fresh Experiments
Use 100 g peppers each.
| Batch | Garlic | Carrot | Tomato | Vinegar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | white |
| B | 3 g | 0 g | 0 g | white |
| C | 3 g | 23 g | 0 g | white |
| D | 3 g | 0 g | 33 g | white |
| E | 3 g | 23 g | 33 g | white |
| F | 0 g | 23 g | 33 g | white |
For each fresh batch:
- Peppers: 100 g
- Salt: 2 g
- Water: 35g
- Vinegar: 30 g
- Cook 15 min without vinegar
- Blend
- Add vinegar
- Blend briefly again
- Strain and cool
pH Tracking for food safety
Check #1 — After fermentation (optional but useful)
- Before cooking
- Just to see where it landed naturally
Expect:
- usually around pH 3.5–4.2
If it’s above ~4.2, fermentation was weak.
Check #2 — Final product (this is the important one)
After:
- cooking
- blending
- vinegar added
- cooled to room temp
Then test.
Your target
pH ≤ 4.0 is good
pH ≤ 3.6 is very safe territory
Strips aren’t super precise, so:
- if it reads “around 4” → you’re probably fine
- if it looks borderline → add a bit more vinegar
Adjustment rule (keep it simple)
If pH is too high:
- Add 5–10 g vinegar
- Mix
- re-test
Repeat if needed
pH Tracking as a measure of fermentation activity
| Timepoint | F1 (control) | F2 (garlic) | F3 (carrot) | F4 (carrot + garlic) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 0 (setup) | |||||
| Day 2 | |||||
| Day 4 | |||||
| Day 7 | |||||
| Day 10 | |||||
| Day 14 (final) |
What to expect
- Day 0 → ~5–6
- Day 2–4 → should be dropping fast
- Day 7 → likely <4.2
- Day 14 → usually ~3.5–4.0
- Expecting a drop over time
What to write in “Notes”
Keep it short, stuff like:
- “bubbling strong”
- “garlic smell strong”
- “carrot batch sweeter smell”
- “slow activity?”
This helps later when you compare flavor vs fermentation behavior.
What would be a red flag
- If after several days it’s still ~pH 5+ → weak or stalled fermentation
- If it never gets below ~4.2 → not very effective fermentation
Taste Scoring
| Category | 1 (low) | 3 (middle) | 5 (high) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heat quality | harsh, bitter, unpleasant | solid, expected | clean, enjoyable, well-integrated |
| Acidity balance | flat or too sour | acceptable | bright, balanced, not harsh |
| Flavor depth | one-note, boring | some complexity | layered, interesting, evolving |
| Body / texture | thin, watery | decent | rich, full, good mouthfeel |
| Overall preference | wouldn’t use | okay | would definitely use |
Fill in scores 1–5 for each batch.
| Batch | Heat quality (harsh → clean) | Acidity balance (flat/harsh → bright/balanced) | Flavor depth (one-note → layered) | Body / texture (thin → rich) | Overall preference (no → yes) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | ||||||
| F2 | ||||||
| F3 | ||||||
| F4 | ||||||
| A | ||||||
| B | ||||||
| C | ||||||
| D | ||||||
| E | ||||||
| F |
How to interpret results
Phase 1 (A–F)
- Decide:
- garlic or no garlic
- which veg combo works
Fermentation (F1–F4)
- Compare against fresh winner:
- better depth?
- smoother heat?
- worth the time?
Vinegar
- Final tuning only
Vinegar test (later)
Use your best recipe from A–F
Use backup bag (X):
- Split into 2 batches:
- white vinegar
- apple cider vinegar
Final comparison
Take your best overall recipe and compare:
- Fresh version
- Best fermented version (from F1–F4)
