Friday, January 12, 2018

Why We Ferment Our Pepper Mash

The answer is really quite simple:

Fermentation creates a LOW PH naturally. Others may use vinegar to lower pH and nothing is wrong with that method except it adds the vinegar flavor. We want our Mashes to have only pure natural flavor. So whether your making you own Hot Sauce or Salsas or just wanna add some kick to your favorite recipes. Pure pepper flavor is what you get. 

 Takes a lot longer but the benefits are MORE than worth the extra effort.
1.  Makes food more digestible.
Because the bacteria predigests the food, the resulting product is easier to digest.  If you have trouble digesting raw fruits and vegetables, fermentation may be helpful for you!
2.  Fermented foods have more nutrients.
The bacteria in fermented foods produce more vitamins and nutrients as they digest the starches and sugars.  They particularly produce B vitamins and vitamin K2.
3. Chock full of good bacteria (probiotics).
Some experts say that each small 1/2 cup serving of fermented foods can contain up to 10 trillion probiotic organisms.  Dr. Mercola states the following in an article on his website
4.  Helps keep your immune system healthy.
80% of your immune system resides in your gut.  A healthy gut = a healthy immune system.
Adding fermented foods to your diet will help ensure a healthy gut!
5.  Helps curb sugar cravings.
By adding fermented foods to your diet, you can limit, if not completely stop, your sugar cravings!
6.  Lactic acid promotes growth of healthy bacteria in the gut.
The lactic acid produced during fermentation helps healthy bacteria already present in your gut to proliferate.  This leads to better gut health!
7.  Increases flavor of foods.
Fermentation adds a new depth of flavor to fermented foods.  They are delicious!



Wednesday, January 10, 2018

2018 Growing Season

Our 2018 Growing season is well underway. This years crops have sprouted and are full into ready mode for the soil.

This years crops include:
  • Red Scorpion
  • Red Ghost (Bhut Jolokia)
  • Dragon Cayenne
  • Serrano
  • Aloha Bell
We grow a small selection to be able to keep them isolated and of the best possible quality. We will have Fresh Peppers, Pepper Mash for making your own sauces, and of course seeds for growing your own peppers. More peppers are also being grown not listed here.

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Onion and Garlic Ferment


5% Brine (roughly)

2Tbs Sea Salt

2 Cups purified water.

We keep brine solution premade in its own jar. Handy to have a jar around and ensures equal quality.

We ferment just about everything we make.
Lets take an example of our cayennes.
(small batch)
Cayenne Peppers
Onions
We take about 3/1 Cayenne to Onion Ratio in a pint jar.
Chop Onions to fill about 1/3 of jar, Cut or just slice a groove in the peppers and and fill rest of jar. Leave about 1 inch head space at top of jar.
Pour Brine mix to completely cover the peppers and onions. Use some kind or weight something to hold the peppers and onions UNDER the brine. This is key to make an oxygen free environment. For a pint jar, you can cut the bottom out of a water bottle and keep sizing it till you get it right to have the lid of the jar press it down to keep everything covered.
That’s it, let the natural bacteria do its work. Place jar somewhere warm and out of direct sunlight. After about 3 days, bubbles will start to form. This is the bacteria doing its job, CO2 gas in created. You can use an airlock type jar but easy to do it just remember to (BURP) the jar once a day to let the excess CO2 out and release the pressure.
Let ferment for at least a week but longer to really develop the flavor and vitamins. We like to wait at least a month. Some sauce companies wait years.
That’s it, at the end of the ferment you will have preserved tangy peppers and onions you can just eat as is or make your own sauce out of.


Dragon Cayennes

The Dragon Cayennes for our Peppa Sauce are getting nice and ripe. Wont be long now and we will be making more.