Chillies 2021

I’m trying to guess the chillies (a favourite game in our house!)
The large yellow one - Hungarian hot wax? They get really fiery if you let them turn red!
The purple tapering ones - Hungarian black? A bit too dimply to be Vampire, which are plumper…
The inch-long sausage-shaped ones, the same width at the top and bottom, but with “dimples” - pikito?
The long tapered red one at the top - my guess is Apache - handle with care! - or maybe a small jalapeño?
Some scotch-bonnet types, but I’m not so familiar with them.
The little tapered ones - here, they would be “patio sizzle”, but in the UK, Shiney Hybrids?

 

Hi @Ademission , that looks very professional! Could you please share your brining recipe? I have been toying with sauerkraut method, but my recipe for that is a 10l jar, a couple of cabbages, handful of salt and off you go- chillies are unlikely to work with that.

Basket of Fire is indeed surprisingly hot

 

Hello everyone,

Further to the small batch of Superhot sauce I was fermenting. It is now finished and bottled and tasted. It is as expected, very very hot. In fact we called it Weapons Grade (I borrowed the name and technique from Chillichump on YouTube). As can be seen in the picture, I got 2 and a half bottles.


In answer to Selleri, there's nothing special about my brine. Just 2% Sea Salt (20g in 1 litre water). I fermented it for 2 weeks until the bubbles stopped. This is the sixth sauce I have made so far: -



I started 2 more milder sauces a week or so ago.


Left is Pineapple and Habanero. Right is Mango and Habanero. I only used 3 Habaneros in each. Also included in both are Onion, Yellow Sweet Pepper and Five Spice. Both are bubbling well and I expect them to be ready within the next week as I only used 2% brine. The ingredients are held under the brine with glass fermenting weights and so far I've had no problems with mold using this technique.

Once strained, fermented and liquidised, I add back a little bit of the brine together with a small amount of Xanthan Gum until the texture is right before re-liquidising.

I measure the pH to verify that the sauce is shelf stable. It must have a pH lower than 4.6.

If not, vinegar must be added until it is.

The acidity of the sauces has to be below a pH of 4.6 to prevent bacterial growth.
The results for the 6 I have made were: -
1. Ketchup (3.48)
2. Sweet Chili (4.05)
3. Peri Peri Cherry(2.77)
4. Cayenne (3.13)
5. Habanero (2.95)
6. Weapons Grade (3.67)
As you can see, they are all shelf stable.

Finally I am accumulating quite a lot of harvested chilis. I think I have enough sauces so I will probably end up freezing these ones.

In order: -
Ripe Habaneros
Thai Birds Eye
7 Pot Primo (yellow)
More Habaneros
Jay Peach Ghost Scorpion
Carolina Reaper
Red Bhutlah


Big bowl of Cayennes.

Bye for now.

Ademission

 

That is seriously impressive @Ademission !

 

Hello All,

Yesterday I added 2 more fermented sauces to my collection (I previously showed them fermenting in the jars). My intention was to make mild sauces and so I only used 3 Habaneros in each which equates to 1 Habanero per bottle of sauce. I'm afraid that the sauce was not so mild, surprising me a lot. Also the sweetness and flavours of the Pineapple and Mango did not show itself as I would have liked. I guess we learn from these experiences. Here are the bottled sauces. I got 3 from each batch: -



Bye for now

Ademission

 

This is what came from about 20 plants, poor things suffered being ignored for a month, rehoused for a month, transported to our new home, plonked in the garden and ignored for nearly four weeks, but still they gave me this bounty! Plants are so resilient

 

Hi Tinkerbelle61,

Just curious as to what the chilis in the photograph are? I know there are labels but in some cases I can't read them properly.

Best Regards

Ademission

 

Well, all I can say is that Basket of Fire is very nice looking plant, and very prolific fruiter. Sadly the fruit are very hot but not exactly as aromatic as one would wish.

Feeling clever, I grew most of the plants in small pots so that they could be brought in for the winter. The reality is that I have zero windowsill space, and a fair few plants casting longing looks towards our centrally heated home.

Next year I will focus on Hungarian Black, great tasting fruit and still moderate size plants that do ok outdoors.

 

Hi Selleri,

My Basket of Fire is also full of fruit. To be honest it has been for a long time now (see photos I've just taken). I also have a Medussa chili that has produced pods but no heat in them. Finally the Black Pearl has ripening fruit (Black turning to red when ripe).
I have decided not to grow ornamentals next year (or Superhots). I'll probably grow chilis I can eat that are on the milder side (Jalapeños, Cayennes and Thai Birds Eyes) and perhaps a few others. I will also reduce the quantity of chili plants as I believe I need more space between them as some are 6ft high and very wide. Like you, my windowsills are quite full and I need some space for my Citrus plants. I'll probably grow all my chilli's next year from seed.


Basket of Fire


Medussa


Black Pearl

One chili variety I do want to grow next year is Serenade. I have one plant that was grown from seed in Aldi pods. They are just a little hotter than Jalapeños and good in spicy food.

Bye for now

Ademission

 

Hi @Ademission

Top left are Cayenne - Thompson & Morgan (04/02)
Top right are Razzamatazz - South Devon Chilli Farm (29/01)
Bottom left are Ring of Fire - South Devon Chilli Farm (29/01)
Bottom right are Tinkerbell - Sea Spring Seeds (04/02)

Ring of Fire states Hot, Razzamatazz states Med-Hot

Haven’t cooked with any of them yet, new kitchen being put in so it’s still jacket potatoes, cheese and beans here!

Tink

 

I've got one precious plant of Hungarian Hot Wax that I'm growing primarily for seed for 2022. It's got lots of yellow fruit, but at what stage should I harvest the fruits for maximum viability? Do I need to leave them to turn red?

 

Now that is what you call a professional set-up, well done

 

Thanks, JWK Will do!

 

Hello noisette47,
I agree with your previous replies. The seeds become viable as the chili pods ripen. I've had good success doing this and if you think about it, the pods in the wild are distributed by birds. They are attracted by the final colour of the pods at their most viable time in the life cycle.
Hope this helps and good luck.
Ademission