Jalapeño Hot Sauce

 Fermented Jalapeño Hot Sauce

I've been trying to eat more fermented foods to improve my health.  I also LOVE spicy hot sauce!  This sauce has quite a kick to it,  If you want to mellow it out, just replace the jalapeños with a less spicy pepper or add some bell peppers.

First, chop your peppers.  I recommend using gloves and/or a food processor for this.  You don't want to burn your eyes later... and believe me I have been curled up in the fetal position begging for milk to pour in my eyes while my teenagers are looking for their phones to video me.  It's not pretty and not fun.    

I chop the tops off and throw them in the food processor on slice so they make nice little rings.  Any rough chop will do....

Next I cold pack them into jars.  I like the 1/2 gallon or gallon jars because then everything is in one nice contained space, but any size/number of jars will do.  

The brine comes next.  This is a salt water combination which keeps the bad bacteria out and allows the good stuff to grow.  It is a combination of 1-3 tablespoons of non-iodized salt (I like to use kosher) for each quart of water.  I make a big batch and use it for all my ferments.  You won't need as much brine as your space because the veggies are packed in. 

Add the brine to the veggies and make sure they are submerged in the water either by using a fermentation weight or a ziplock filled with brine.

Here are two ferments going - this jalapeño hot sauce and a ginger carrot jalapeño sauce.  Mmmmm!!!!  I can't wait until they are ready!!!

Make sure you put a tray under your ferments.  These leaked all over the jars below....

Give them at least a week but up to a month depending on how sour you like your sauce.  I did two weeks for mine.

When you are ready, strain the brine out, reserving it.  Put all the peppers in the blending, then add equal parts reserved brine and apple cider vinegar.  Adjust quantities of brine and vinegar according to your taste and the consistency you want. The brine makes it more salty and the vinegar makes it more acidic.

Here they are all fermented up when I strained them - they loose a bit of their color and most of their crunchiness.  

Blend the mixture well and place in sterilized jars.  Store in the refrigerator for several months.

How easy was that???  

Ingredients:

4 pounds of fresh jalapeños

6 T. kosher or sea salt (non-iodized salt)

2 C. apple cider vinegar (preferably with the "mother")

Directions:

1. Slice your jalapeños either by hand using gloves or in a food processor
2. Pack the jalapeños into a large jar (1/2 gallon to gallon jars work well)
3. Make your brine using 3 T. of salt per quart of water - dissolve the salt into the water to make a brine.
4. Poor the brine over the jalapeños making sure they are submerged in liquid.  Place a fermentation weight, clean stone, or ziplock filled with brine over the jalapeños to make sure they stay submerged.
5. Place a lid on the jar, but don't close it all the way.  You want the fermentation gasses to be able to escape and not explode your jar :-).  
6. Place the jar(s) on a shelf at room temperature for 1-4 weeks depending on your desired sourness.  I fermented my jar for two weeks.  
7. Drain the jalapeños, reserving the brine.  Place the peppers into the blender and add back 1-2 C. of brine and 1-2 C. of apple cider vinegar.  You will likely need to do this in batches depending on the size of your blender.  
8. Place the sauce in sanitized jars and store in your refrigerator for several month.  
9. I save the remaining brine to use as a marinade.