Started my first hot sauce, but possibly have too much water
I read that the recommendation for water/brine is that it should fully submerge the ingredients, but ideally not much more.
My Jar is filled to the brim, but the peppers are only about 2/3rds of the jar full.
Is my sauce going to be ok? Or should I just buy more ingredients tomorrow and fill it up more?
If I should add more: Any recommendations for additional ingredients besides habanero, bell pepper, garlic, carrot and a small amount of pineapple? Keep it simple and use more of the same?
Posted Oct 14, 2019, 3:02 AM UTC
22
There's no too much water for small batches like these, well sort of. Those recs are as regarding excess dilution, but I find that to be mostly inconsequential on a small scale. Even using all the brine along with the peppers to get a sauce it'll still be tasty.
You do want to avoid filling it to the brim since CO2 production will displace a fair amount of liquid so leaving a couple inches of headspace means less brine to be pushed out. Or, keep it on a tray/bowl and just let the brine spill over. Press everything a couple times a day as necessary to help the co2 escape.
Up to you. With an airlock brine coming up through can cause stains or make them ineffective.
I wouldn't change anything as far as ingredients. See how it tastes and make changes next time. Fresh pineapple will contribute some serious stickiness to the bubbles of CO2. If using fresh and an airlock I suggest backing the brine level down quite a bit because it can really gunk them up. Not a serious problem, but cleaning airlocks can be a pain.
I am using an airlock jar, so I will reduce the brine level a bit. I super appreciate the thorough advice, thank you!