Make your own fermented hot sauce with this kit! Fermentation gives your hot sauce just that deeper flavor explosion. Is that difficult? Not at all! Get started right away with this kit to make a Habanero Hot Sauce or Mexican Hot Sauce with dried chili peppers. You can read the recipes for these sauces below. Or order the fermentation kit separately and get started yourself with your favorite peppers. No sauce bottles at home yet to store your own hot sauce? Order them here.

- What happens during the fermentation process?
Microorganisms break down or convert molecules in food, creating new flavors. For example, peppers naturally contain lactic acid bacteria. These multiply rapidly during the fermentation process, due to the conditions in the jar. As the lactic acid bacteria grow and feed on the sugars from the chilies, they acidify the chilies and the brine they are in, while at the same time preserving and making them tastier. When the pH drops below 4.5, other bacteria cannot survive. With the new acidity, the taste, smell and appearance of the peppers also changes and you get a tastier hot sauce!

- What's in the package?
The fermentation kit consists of a plastic weck jar/fermentation bottle. The lid of the jar has a stopper, to which a water seal can be attached. In a jar with a regular lid, too much pressure can build up. Then the lid pops off, or the whole jar itself pops apart. Not very convenient so hence the water seal. In addition, there is also a press element/pusher inside, this ensures that the fermentations stay under water, otherwise they can go moldy.

Here's how to use the fermentation kit:
Step 1: Clean the jar, lid, water seal and pressing element well with detergent and hot water (70 to 75 degrees, no higher than this can deform the jar). Ingredients only need to be rinsed off.
Step 2: Rinse the fermentation kit well with water and dry with paper or a dry clean tea towel. Note this is very important, you should not touch the inside of the jar with your hands after this.
Step 3: Fill the jar with your chosen recipe or one of your own. Spread the legs of the pressing element, place it on top of the ferment so that it is pressed down. Tighten the lid securely, place the water seal on the lid and fill the water seal with water.
Step 4: Let the jar ferment for at least 10 days at room temperature in the dark (out of direct sunlight). Longer than 10 days is also possible; it takes about 5 days for the fermentation process to begin.
Step 5: Pour off the fermentation with the pressing element and continue with the recipe.
- After fermenting your hot sauce, repeat steps 1 and 2. Keep the fermentation kit dry and clean and it will be ready for your next hot sauce in no time.

Basic tips:
- Use clean produce, free of mold and spoilage. Fermentation cannot bring products to life, so only use products you would eat the same way.
- Product + water + 2% sea salt of total fermentation weight. It is important that it is pure and unprocessed salt, so that is why we recommend sea salt.
- Fill the jar until the produce is submerged and no more oxygen can reach it. Do this using the pressing element.
- It is best to keep the ferment between 20 and 28 °C in a dark place (out of direct sunlight). If the temperature is too cold, the hot sauce will not ferment, and too high a temperature can spoil the fermentation.
- Finished fermenting, but have doubts about whether the finished product is good. We recommend that you throw it away and start over, don't take any chances with this. Failure is part of success, so if it didn't quite work out you have a good reason to try again. Fermentation is a learning process, every failure is one step closer to your ultimate hot sauce!

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Recipe 1: Habanero Hot Sauce
Ingredients:
- 550g red Habanero chilies
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 425ml water
- 20g sea salt (2% of full weight of fermentation)
After fermentation add
- 200ml apple vinegar
- 50g sugar

1. Remove the stalks from the chilies and cut the garlic into quarters. Put the habaneros, garlic and water in a blender or blend briefly with a hand blender to and coarse sauce.
2. Put this into the jar. Spread the legs of the pressing element, position it so that the sauce is pressed to the bottom, tighten the lid tightly, place the water seal on the lid and fill it with water.
3. Let the jar ferment for at least 10 days at room temperature in the dark (out of direct sunlight). We recommend somewhere on the top shelf of the kitchen, where it is slightly warmer. Longer than 10 days is okay too, it takes about 5 days for the fermentation process to get going.
4. Pour off the ferment, but save 200ml of the water. Add this water to the fermentation along with 200ml of apple vinegar, 50 grams of sugar. Puree this with the blender or hand blender to make an even finer sauce. Taste and add more sugar and/or vinegar to taste if necessary. Strain if necessary or keep it nice and chunky.
5. Bring the sauce to a boil and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Now the fermentation stops and the sauce will keep longer in the refrigerator. If you find the sauce too thin, you can bind it with a binder of your choice, such as cornstarch.
6. Pour the sauce into a clean bottle or jar, twist on the lid. Place the jar or bottle upside down so that it vacuums and is perfectly sealed. Allow the sauce to cool and store in the refrigerator.

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Recipe 2: Mexican chili Hot Sauce
Ingredients:
- 55g dried Mexican chilies (2x Ancho, 4x Chipotle, 2x Arbol)
- 5g cumin seeds
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 750ml water
- 16.5g sea salt (2% of full weight of fermentation)
After fermentation add
- 250ml apple vinegar
- 60g of sugar

1. Remove the stalks from the dried chilies and cut the garlic into quarters. Toast the cumin seeds and dried chilies briefly; this will give the Mexican hot sauce a deeper flavor.
2. Put all the ingredients in the jar. Spread the legs of the pressing element, position it so that all the peppers remain under water, tightly close the lid, place the water trap on the lid and fill it with water.
3. Let the jar ferment for at least 10 days at room temperature in the dark (out of direct sunlight). We recommend somewhere on the top shelf of the kitchen, where it is slightly warmer. Longer than 10 days is okay too, it takes about 5 days for the fermentation process to get going.
4. Pour off the ferment, but save 250ml of the water. Add this water to the fermentation along with 250ml of apple vinegar, 60 grams of sugar. Puree this with the blender or hand blender to a fine sauce. Taste and add more sugar and/or vinegar to taste if necessary. Strain if necessary or keep it nice and chunky.
5. Bring the sauce to a boil and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Now the fermentation stops and the sauce will keep longer in the refrigerator. If you find the sauce too thin, you can bind it with a binder of your choice, such as cornstarch.
6. Pour the sauce into a clean bottle or jar, twist on the lid. Place the jar upside down so that it vacuums and is perfectly sealed. Let the sauce cool and store in the refrigerator.