Re: [CH] Tabasco type sauces...

Rich McCormack (macknet@cts.com)
Sat, 22 Aug 1998 06:47:47 -0700 

shadow1@pioneer.net wrote:
> 
> I would like to see the recipe for tabasco type sauces so if you find
> it please would you share with me. I don't think that the rest of the
> members would mind the repost since we have new members coming in all
> the time .
> thanks
> hot regards
> mark
> might it be in a old chile-head archive ?

Found it.  The reason I couldn't find it before was the message was 
apparently posted to the list more recent than I thought and I hadn't 
yet filed it into my collection of permanent folders meant for saving 
such things.

Here is a repost of the message I was refering to and a follow-up 
comment from another C-H.  I hope Cameron Begg and Kit Anderson 
don't mind the repost of their messages.  


Subject: Re: [CH] V5 #2 Pepper Mash
   Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 08:30:29 -0500
   From: Cameron Begg <begg.4@osu.edu>
     To: chile-heads@globalgarden.com


Hi C-H's,
Ron wrote:
>Has anyone here ever tried their hand at aged pepper mash?

Yes. I had a lot of different kinds of ripe pods left over last Fall and
needed some way of preserving them; so I fermented them. I put the whole
lot through the blender but there was insufficient liquid in the
resulting
puree. Therefore I put a portion of this through our KitchenAid
ricer/juice
extractor, eventually ending up with about 0.75gal. (US) of red
porridge. I
semi-sterilized this by holding it at 65-70deg C for a few minutes and
poured it into a sterile glass gallon jar. I added some sugar and wine
yeast, just to make sure it got the message, although I believe the
"Tabasco" company relies upon wild yeasts on the peppers. After a few
days
in a cool place, the contents of the jar started to displace air through
the airlock, albeit slowly, and I left it alone (forgot it!) for about 3
months. At this stage I added some malt vinegar which we had had lying
around for a long time, and which had those cloudy jelly-like "mothers"
floating in it that I assume to be clumps of acetobacter bacteria. I
left
it for another long time and when I next examined it, I was disappointed
to
see a clump of mould growing on the surface. It was very compact and I
was
able to remove it in one piece. The stuff smelled quite vinegary, but
did
not taste it. In fact it tasted pretty damn good. In view of the mould
problem I repeated the heat treatment and have kept the stuff in the
fridge
since. It is hotter and thicker than "Tabasco" and has a bitterness to
it,
which I like, but some probably would not.

If I do this again, I'll probably be a bit more careful about the
ethanol->acetic acid conversion. Perhaps see if I can obtain a small
amount
of commercial vinegar culture.


                     Regards,               Cameron.


Subject: Re: [CH] V5 #2 Pepper Mash
   Date: Tue, 04 Aug 1998 07:00:10 -0700
   From: Kit Anderson <kitridge@bigfoot.com>
     To: Chile-Heads <Chile-Heads@globalgarden.com>


Cardinal Begg wrote;

> If I do this again, I'll probably be a bit more careful about the
> ethanol->acetic acid conversion. Perhaps see if I can obtain a small
amount
> of commercial vinegar culture.

Remember that acetobacter is aerobic and you will need to introduce
oxygen when you pitch the mother of vinegar culture. The mold spores
will do no harm if removed but to keep them out, use a filtered line
when aerating the mash. For homebrewing, I use an aquarium pump that has
an inline filter. You can find commercial cultures at
http://www.brewtek.com
-- 
St Kit

-- 
Rich McCormack (Poway, CA) macknet@cts.com

Who is Rich McCormack?  Find out at...
http://members.cts.com/crash/m/macknet/