Scott wrote:

> In article >,
> George Shirley > wrote:
>
>
>>Once Tabasco has the crushed/chopped peppers in the wooden barrel, all
>>the way to the top, they put the lid on and put the last hoop on it. the
>>lid has holes drilled in it and the people then layer on about a 2 or 3
>>inch layer of salt. With them the idea is to exclude air so the peppers
>>will ferment naturally. At the end of about 3 years they break the salt
>>crust, dump it and then process the barrel contents. they also talked
>>about the discolored peppers at the top of the barrel where air got to
>>them as "oxidized", ie oxygen in the air turned them dark. those peppers
>>get dumped too. I do much the same thing but on a zillion times smaller
>>scale. To avoid getting over salty sauce I would throw away the salt at
>>the end of the fermentation period, that's what I'm doing nowadays and
>>it makes a better sauce. At least I think it's better. Barb, Bob, what
>>say ye?
>>
>
>
> So (based on what you said about excluding air), you pack the peppers
> down when you put them in the container? How thick is the salt layer?
> I didn't have the optimal container; I used a... oh, I don't know, about
> a three litre glass mason jar, and the chopped pepper comes up about
> halfway. I added 1/4 cup salt, which covered all the peppers, but by no
> more than 1/16" or so. I suppose that, if I'm tossing the salt anyway, I
> could just add more on to make sure everything's adequately covered.
>
> I suppose I won't have anything usable until this fall, or thereabouts.
>

I have a three gallon crock and three one gallon crocks that I use. I
save the peppers in zip bags in the freezer until I get enough to fill a
crock to the top. I do pack them down but not greatly, just enough to
even out the peppers. I used to use just enough salt to sprinkle on the
peppers but have determine I will use the Tabasco method in the future
and try to exclude the air by packing pickling salt atop the crock full
of chopped peppers. I would think you could add salt to the pureed
peppers when you start processing them to give you the taste you want. I
figure enough gets in there from the top layer that I don't worry about it.

I'm not making sauce this year or even next as I have more than enough
to last two years on hand. The 2005 pepper crop will include peppers to
make the 2006 vintage sauce. How's that for planning?

George