Re: [CH] Fermented Mash Sauce Questions

Cameron Begg (begg.4@osu.edu)
Fri, 08 Jan 1999 08:47:24 -0600 

Hi C-H's,

Well Mark, you made a very good suggestion -
On 7 Jan 99, Mark Ellis wrote:
>I am beginning to wonder if it really IS mold.
>...  In fermentation of strong wines, you sometimes get
>what in Spanish is called "flor". That is the wine yeast floating up
>on the surface to get air to be able to multiply in the strong
>alcohol. Now if, as Cameron suggests, this strong salt fermentation
>really is some sort of yeast thing, or some very unusual bacteria,
>maybe that is what you are getting. And in that case it should be
>harmless.

I spoke to my commercial hot sauce fermentation expert last night and -
with respect to high salt concentration pepper mashes - he told me the
following: White or creamy colored growths on the surface are
manifestations of the salt tolerant yeast that you want to encourage.
Therefore stir them in. FYI, the growths on my mash strongly resembled
popcorn, and did not have the flat "furry" appearance that I associate with
mo(u)lds. However if you leave these white growths on the surface they can
provide a foothold for other bacteria and fungii, as their top surface is
not in contact with the strong salt environment. These growths are
typically black or dark in colo(u)r, and will spoil the product.

He mentioned "Candida" as the yeast genus responsible. Any ideas George?
I've not researched this yet. He also said that the target NaCl
concentration is 17% by weight of the peppers, and that mine at 18% should
be fine.


Steve wrote:
>I have a hale gallon jar of hab mash (freminting?) which had grown some
>white stuff on top surface only after about a week. I scraped it all off,
>added more salt and heated it to kill any bad guys. The salt contration is
>more than 20%. I added no water to the mash just salt. The white stuff came
>back in a few days. There has been no noticable fizzing of bubbles
>gererated science August when I started it. Should'nt there be noticable
>gas release during the fermation process?

I hope the above helps. It looks like you are doing fine Steve. Remember if
anyone else tries this to use pickling salt or rock salt and not the stuff
they sell for table use. Do it in the dark at room temperature. The
conversion process is very slow and you may not see gas evolution.
                     Regards,               Cameron.