[CH] Going to ferment now...
Kristofer Blennow (kristofer@blennow.se)
Sat, 17 Oct 1998 09:08:39 +0100
OK, I found 2 pounds of some unspecified chiles. Small (2"), thin,
red, like an asian variety, but actually not that hot. Only
$2.50/pound. They have an interesting almost bitter taste, and when
the heat cools off you get a feeling of liqourice in the mouth.
In this country you have to take what you get... the habs, if you
find them, costs $0.50 each... ;(
I want to ferment them with salt. I chased the web around for
recipes, not finding anything, except for the very approximate one
below.
How much salt should I use? Cameron suggests a concentration of 15-
20% but that seems to me to be concentration of the liquid, and not
the amount to add to the crushed peppers. Anyone care to guess?
How long should I leave them fermenting? 5-6 days as below... or 3
years as McIlhenny does with Tabasco?
Have to start latest tomorrow...
Kristofer /in experimental mode
kristofer@blennow.se
http://www.blennow.se/
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Post from Rich McCormack, found on the web:
The amount of salt and vinegar will vary according to the amount of
chiles, and the amount of chiles I use is generally what I have on
hand. But, I'll take a stab at being a little more specific:
I usually use 1.5 pint canning jars...the freezer type with the
tapered "a bit wider at the top than bottom" mouth. Each jar should
hold about a pound of chopped chiles, so if I had a pound of chiles
on hand, I'd take a few out to allow for some space between the
chiles and the jar top. BTW -- that includes seeds, I just wash 'em,
cut the stem out, and throw 'em whole into a food processor.
If you want, you can clean out the seeds, in which case you might get
the whole pound of chiles into a single 1.5 pint jar (if you packed
'em a bit).
I measure the coarse salt by my fingertips and thumb...as in,
whatever I can pick up with 'em. Two fingertips full on the bottom of
the jar, one between each layer of chiles (each layer being about 3/8
to 1/2 inch thick) and two or three on top. All totaled, I'd guess it
amounts to 4 to 5 teaspoons per pound of chiles.
BTW -- I suggested individual discretion as to how long to leave the
chiles to ferment in the salt. For me, that's usually 5 or 6 days.
Longer might mellow out the flavor, but I can't get over the worry
about mold or other spoilage...so I don't let it sit for too long.
When it's time to add the vinegar, I had however much it takes to
cover the chiles by about 1/4 inch...don't have a clue as to how much
that'd be.
From: Rich McCormack
Post Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997
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