Fermenting vegetables is a great way to extend shelf life. In the case of peppers, making hot sauce is easy with the benefit of knowing what it’s made of and tasting better than anything store-bought.

You don’t need much to do this other than a Jar the ingredients and time. I do add a couple of specialty equipment parts that aren’t too difficult or expensive to obtain.

To Ferment the Peppers

I start by cleaning and sanitizing a half-gallon jar, fermentation weight, and an airlock lid. I rinse the peppers well to remove any dirt or debris, but I’m not scrubbing them. Try to leave the stem intact.

Fermentation time varies depending on how warm your storage location is but 3 weeks is a good average.

Ingredients:

4 whole garlic cloves pealed
1/2 pound of sweet peppers
1/2 pound of jalapeno peppers
3 Tbs Salt (pickling or sea salt – don’t use iodized table salt)
Water to cover

Steps:

1. Add the garlic to the bottom of a half-gallon jar.
2. layer in the sweet and jalapeno peppers packing them loosely (try not to split or crush the peppers).
3. Add the salt
4. Add water to cover the peppers.
5. Put in a fermentation weight to keep the peppers submerged under the brine and close the jar with the airlock (or lid)
6. Place in a room temperature (60-80 degree) location out of direct sunlight for around 3 weeks. Important: If you don’t use an airlock – you will need to burp the jar every couple of days to release the built-up gases.

To Make the Sauce

Ingredients:

Fermented peppers as above
1/2 cup of Cider Vinegar
Brine from fermentation

Steps:

1. I cut the end off the fermented peppers, but it’s not really necessary.
2. Process both the jalapeno and sweet peppers with the garlic in a food processor.
3. add 1/2 cup of cider vinegar – the goal here is to bump up the acidity more for storage life.
4. add brine to achieve your desired consistency. I like it a little thick so I usually only end up with a couple of tablespoons of liquid.
5. Place into jars and store one day for the flavors to meld before using.
6. Keeps for 6-12 months.

Adjustments: To make the sauce hotter or milder – adjust the ratio of jalapenos and sweet peppers. I find a 50/50 mix to be a medium to hot range. the sauce gradually loses some heat as it ages in the refrigerator.