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Pro tip: stopped worrying about exact brine percentages for hot sauce
I used to measure salt down to the gram for every batch of pepper mash, but after a buddy brought over his slap-dash sauce that was just salt and peppers in a jar with no weights, I tried the same method and my last 3 batches came out way more flavorful. The ferment was slower but the funkiness was way deeper. Has anyone else noticed looser ferments tasting better?
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daniel4745mo ago
Picked up on that same thing with my pepper ferments. Letting the brine be a little looser seemed to let some wilder bacteria in that gave it a funky, almost wine-like taste. Kinda makes me wonder if we overthink the science and miss out on good accidents.
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norab215mo ago
That's interesting you mention the slower ferment. Did something similar with my first kraut batch. Threw in some juniper berries and caraway seeds without thinking about salt ratios. The whole thing took like three weeks longer. But man, the flavor was incredible. Real deep and complex. Never got that same result when I tried to replicate it with exact measurements. Something about letting the ferment breathe maybe.
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stellachen4mo ago
Oh man, @norab21 you just described my whole fermentation life in one post. I've got a pantry full of happy accidents I can never recreate on purpose. Maybe my kraut just knows when I'm trying too hard and decides to be difficult.
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