Not really. I literally only bought this because I was interested in the bottles that came with the kit. Well, I looked because I'm interested in the subject, but I bought it for the bottles because they are nicer looking than what I was using prior. The kit came with a sampling of different types of dried peppers, so I'm using them for things as well.
If you want to go for a kit, find one with several types of peppers. There is a lot of variety in flavour and heat levels. I mentioned cascabel, for example... they're not particularly hot, but instantly make you think "Mexican!" when you taste it. Even with kits, you still have to buy all the other ingredients, so I think it is actually better to just go that route and use ingredients you already have or buy with groceries.
If you are going to ferment, I did use a water bubbler that I got from a wine brewing place. They are not expensive, since they are simply clear plastic valves and a rubber sealing ring. Just add water. I've seen them for super cheap on Wish dot com even. I don't use a pH tester (although I may in the future), but after 2 weeks, just taste it. You'll know if it is ready because it'll taste very different than how it tasted when you bottled it. Chance of it still fermenting after 2 weeks is nearly zero anyway. At least that's the general consensus I read online, and it worked out that way for my first attempt.
I recommend doing vinegar based pepper sauces to gain experience with how things taste, etc. You'll know very quickly how they turn out. With fermenting, there's a long agonizing wait. Mind you, my first attempt came out so well, I am glad I made both in the same day, so I wasn't without some homemade sauce while I waited for the fermenting one. And with fermented pepper sauces, you use fewer ingredients, so maybe they always turn out well.
> I did use a water bubbler that I got from a wine brewing place. [...] Chance of it still fermenting after 2 weeks is nearly zero anyway.
No need to guess/reason about it if you're using a water-filled airlock - if it's still bubbling it's still fermenting.
In homebrewing people generally leave it for fermentation to stop/slow to a rough rate, since even if you're repeating a recipe it's not that repeatable - the temperature (other than in extreme home setups!) and yeast activity/count (best you can do is buy the same thing 'fresh' both times) in particular. It's not really a problem, it just means it doesn't make sense to stick dogmatically to x weeks exactly.
(Commercially it matters of course, and they control temperature and employ microbiologists to deal with it, and many other variables so they can hit consistent production time, flavour, and ABV, every time.)
Exactly. I mentioned it specifically become some sites I have found talk about pH balance and whatnot as if it is ultra important, and I think if you're using a bubbler it's all a moot point anyway. But someone who doesn't know could easily be convinced to buy those things when unless you're commercial, you don't need them. I've made wine, cider, beer, yogurt and kombucha as well, and haven't yet poisoned anyone.
As long as you keep oxygen away, and don't go overkill on the additional spices and herbs, it's really hard to go wrong.
Nice! Thanks for the heads up. I'll take a look at some kits. I'm more interested in the equipment than the peppers or recipes. I've done sourcrout in the past, used a big 50 gallon plastic container and let it ferment for a week and then into the jars it went.
But I'm really curious about venturing into hot pepper sauces.
If you want to go for a kit, find one with several types of peppers. There is a lot of variety in flavour and heat levels. I mentioned cascabel, for example... they're not particularly hot, but instantly make you think "Mexican!" when you taste it. Even with kits, you still have to buy all the other ingredients, so I think it is actually better to just go that route and use ingredients you already have or buy with groceries.
If you are going to ferment, I did use a water bubbler that I got from a wine brewing place. They are not expensive, since they are simply clear plastic valves and a rubber sealing ring. Just add water. I've seen them for super cheap on Wish dot com even. I don't use a pH tester (although I may in the future), but after 2 weeks, just taste it. You'll know if it is ready because it'll taste very different than how it tasted when you bottled it. Chance of it still fermenting after 2 weeks is nearly zero anyway. At least that's the general consensus I read online, and it worked out that way for my first attempt.
I recommend doing vinegar based pepper sauces to gain experience with how things taste, etc. You'll know very quickly how they turn out. With fermenting, there's a long agonizing wait. Mind you, my first attempt came out so well, I am glad I made both in the same day, so I wasn't without some homemade sauce while I waited for the fermenting one. And with fermented pepper sauces, you use fewer ingredients, so maybe they always turn out well.