Fermenting.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by zipcode

Not sure if hock or shank, but it looks exactly like the first picture in that link (it can be that part from the front or rear leg).

Now more thoughts about fermenting. After a few more successful retries at pickling peppers I would say the results are as should, but they are still not like original pickled greek peppers that I can buy (at a very high price from one turkish shop).
There is something in their recipe which is different, and I don't know what. I don't think it's just the variety used, it's too different. I used lots of garlic too, thinking this may be the secret, and it's still not the same. First of all I think they stop the fermentation fairly early with tons of salt (they are really salty, and not very sour but definitely don't taste half pickled either).
My opinion is that they add some herbs or 'stuff' that I have no idea which they are. It sometimes has a slight smell of olives (like kalamata 'cured?' olives, the somewhat pink ones you can buy, which are the absolute best olives I have trie).

Also it's tough to find good peppers for pickling, too many are too hard in texture or thick skin, or very commonly reaaly seedy.
This is what I tried this year:
Golden Greek - thin skin but kinda hard texture, very thin walls, very good for grilling actually, but less so for pickling, has a bitter taste pickled. Almost no heat.
Caloro - heat is some, but not too much. Extraordinarily seedy, basically useless, otherwise if you core them they are probably the best. (not much will be left after coring).
Jalapeno TAM - supposedly milder jalapeno, dunno, it was really, really hot for me. I had to remove core and some veins to make them milder. Best texture, really thin skin, not too much seeds, but taste pickled is rather average (just sour).
Aci Biber - means hot pepper in Turkish, which means it's one of 100 with the same name. Kinda seedy, kinda hard, very nice flavour eaten raw still small and tender (probably should be pickled at that stage too if you can gather enough).

Next year I'll have to try some others, will keep the Jalapeno. I had Hungarian Wax but it didn't want to germinate.

One of the problems is what is in the jar for market isn't what they did to ferment it.
At least that is the way it is in the US.
The ferment first then get rinsed and then put in another brine vinegar solution with spices.
Sweet gherkins start out sour.
The Greek peppers may not have even been fermented.
Trying to duplicate what a person finds in the market is very difficult if not impossible.
Another problem is people just dont give it enough time sometimes it is months.


Worth

[Rajun Gardener]

The Fresnos are floating, perking and the brine is a little cloudy.

Not fermenting but a few weeks ago I made a few jars of bread and butter squash pickles. I was worried at first because it was too tangy but the flavor has mellowed and it came out good, I popped open a jar today and ate about half already.

[Worth1]

I always found the recipes are too tart for some of this stuff so I always add more sugar.
I can't remember the last time I even looked at a recipe.
My dill pickle redo came out great they are even more crunchy now than they were before.
Worth.

[Rajun Gardener]

I need to find a cucumber that will grow good here, I've tried about 6 different types this year and have yet to have plants that thrive. I've tried, Muncher, pickling, a few burpee types both burpless and regular, some smooth skin and a few others.

[whistech]

Rajun, you might try Calypso pickling cucumbers. They grow well for me.

[Tropicalgrower]

I just found a really good cucumber 2 years ago.(or was it 3?).Suyo cucumber.It grows a long sweet cucumber,and the wife and I like them better than any other we have ever grown.

Only problem we have found is that the ants we have here in the Philippines love them,and will even burrow into the fruit.Did I say we have lots of ants here?And I mean lots of ants.Doggone ants are into everything,and are the bane of my existence.If all the ants disappeared from the soil overnight,this country would be under water.

[Rajun Gardener]

Thanks for the cuke recommendations, I'll try them next year.

Worth......

My kraut in the fridge doesn't have brine over the cabbage, should I add water or more brine? I hate to ruin it but I like some brine when I eat some and I guess I need to do something if it will go bad.

edited to add. I found a new test guy that has never eaten kraut and now he wants to start fermenting too. He's tried all of my canning stuff and really wanted to know how to do this. I think you have another person hooked!!!!

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Rajun Gardener

Thanks for the cuke recommendations, I'll try them next year.

Worth......

My kraut in the fridge doesn't have brine over the cabbage, should I add water or more brine? I hate to ruin it but I like some brine when I eat some and I guess I need to do something if it will go bad.

edited to add. I found a new test guy that has never eaten kraut and now he wants to start fermenting too. He's tried all of my canning stuff and really wanted to know how to do this. I think you have another person hooked!!!!

Mine sucked up all the brine too and it is fine, you could add a little brine but it wont be the same.
No you have another person hooked.
Welcome him to the fold.

Worth.

[coronabarb]

Here's an interesting bit about cucumbers. Our small farms coordinator at our county extension did a cucumber trial this summer. She grew around 10 different varieties. At the MFP meeting, we tasted the fresh cukes to see if any were suitable for fresh eating. None were very good. Then, she pickled them all as quick dills and let them sit for a few weeks. At a "farm to market" class on pickling, we got to taste all the different varieties as pickles. One really stood out for flavor...Eureka. It's a hybrid carried by many seed companies. It was far and away the best. I asked her later if maybe it was because it was the first one we tasted. She said no, that even when put in the middle for tasting (with other people), it was still rated the best. I plan on growing it next year.

[Father'sDaughter]

So here is my hot sauce "de-gassing" prior to bottling. After fermentation ended, I added vinegar and let it sit for a little more than a week. Today I blasted it with a little xantham gum in my Nutri Ninja and pressed it through a fine mesh strainer.



The Serrano is really hot with a deep, almost roasted chili flavor which is weird because the peppers weren't cooked or smoked in any way.

The Tabasco is the hottest and has a bright, almost acid bite, but not vinegary acid.

The unripe Aji Amarillo Grande sauce has just a hint of heat and a strong, lemon/lime brightness in the flavor.

[Rajun Gardener]

They look good. How much xanthum gum did you use? I need to do what I have fermented now.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Rajun Gardener

They look good. How much xanthum gum did you use? I need to do what I have fermented now.

I pulled this off my old post it worked great.
Looks like about 1/2 teaspoon in warm liquid.
I just processed one quart of fermented habanero peppers into a quart of hot sauce.
Here is the recipe.
1 cup of water.
2 cups of white 5% acidity vinegar.
1 table spoon of salt.
1 cup of sugar.
3 tablespoons of lemon juice.
I added three drops of red food coloring to mine.
Put in kettle and start heating up.


Pull stems from peppers if you left them on.
Rinse the peppers in a colander and discard the salt water from the fermentation.
Put the peppers in a blender and add some of the now boiling brine you have going and start blending on high seeds and all.
Keep adding the brine until you have used it all.
Take 1/8 teaspoon of xantham gum and slowly add to the blending mix a sprinkle at a time keep doing this as it is blinding on nigh until you have used 3 to 4 of the 1/8 teaspoons of the gum but not any more and blend real well.
You know what to do with it now.
Enjoy it is very good.

[Rajun Gardener]

Are the Fresnos I started fermenting 2 weeks ago still good? The brine is cloudy and has a little white stuff at the bottom around the jar. They smell and taste awesome but the peppers are soft enough that I can scrape the flesh off the skin with a spoon.

[Father'sDaughter]

Since I did it in the Nutri Ninja, I couldn't add anything while it was blending. For each batch I added 1/4 teaspoon of xantham gum to some water and mixed it as best as I could, then added that to the blender jar with the pepper mash immediately before fire blending. My goal was not to thicken it, just hoping to keep it from separating.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Rajun Gardener

Are the Fresnos I started fermenting 2 weeks ago still good? The brine is cloudy and has a little white stuff at the bottom around the jar. They smell and taste awesome but the peppers are soft enough that I can scrape the flesh off the skin with a spoon.

They should be just fast fermented.

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

Since I did it in the Nutri Ninja, I couldn't add anything while it was blending. For each batch I added 1/4 teaspoon of xantham gum to some water and mixed it as best as I could, then added that to the blender jar with the pepper mash immediately before fire blending. My goal was not to thicken it, just hoping to keep it from separating.

The stuff looks good it was my goal to not have separation too.