Fermented Hot Sauce

5 from 1 vote

Fermented hot sauce, a fiery explosion of flavor, is the perfect way to use a garden bounty of peppers during their peak growing season.

Course Condiment

Cuisine American

Keyword hot sauce, ferment, fermented, fermentation, fermented hot sauce, spicy, peppers

Prep Time 10 minutes

Fermenting period 10 days

Total Time 10 hours

Servings servings

Calories 1kcal

Author Sheryl

1.5 lbs yellow wax chiles or your favorite chile: Manzano, cherry bomb, Cayenne, etc.
2 Tbsp sea salt
4 cloves garlic
4 C warm water

Pull the stems off the peppers and wash. Slice them down the middle with a sharp knife. Pack them into your wide-mouth quart mason jar as tightly as you can. Push the garlic in there.
Stir the salt into warm water until dissolved. Allow the water to come to room temperature, then pour the water over the contents of the jar, taking care to cover the peppers completely.
Place a fermentation weight over the chiles and garlic to hold them under the brine. Or push a jelly jar in the mouth of the wide mouth canning jar (removing a bit of brine may be required).
Place the fermenting lid and airlock on the jar and seal tightly. Allow the jars to sit at room temperature for up to 10 days. The peppers should start to bubble around the end of day 1.
Strain the brine, set aside. Transfer the chiles to a high quality blender. To the blender, add just under a cup of the brine you previously set aside. Blend like crazy.
Strain the pulp through several fine layers of cheesecloth. Then bottle up and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Recipe above will make a generous 17 oz of fermented hot sauce - though the final amount will depend on how much reserved liquid brine you add during the blending stage.
Fermented hot sauce makes wonderful gifts for family and friends. Pick up hot sauce bottles and divide between for easy gift-giving.