Blending and Bottling

There's always a sense of anticipation when it comes round to 'blending and bottling day'. I'm never quite sure how the sauce is going to turn out. There are a lot of variables that can and do affect the finished product. A good example being the chillies themselves, no two chillies are exactly the same in terms of heat, sweetness and texture. There is always the possibility the ferment itself hasn't worked correctly - was the salt ratio correct? was the ferment kept at the right temperature?

Thankfully this batch was fine, when I measured the PH it was 3.33 meaning the lacto-bacteria has converted the sugars to lactic acid and the ferment has done it's job. It's also pretty obvious because the smell is a dead give away...it's quite a pungent smell, not unpleasant but very distinctive (similar to strong, mature cheese but more pronounced) and it's probably a good idea to open the windows!

After a couple of incidents of exploding bottles, I now pasteurise the sauce to ensure the product is shelf stable but still retains the distinctive flavours that have developed during fermentation. This involves heating the sauce to 180F for 15 minutes and then decanting into sterilised bottles.

It can be quite a laborious process but there is huge sense of satisfaction and pride when the bottle is filled with silky, smooth orangey red goodness and the cap goes on....now, where did I put them labels?