It's Been A Hard Few Months....

Ingredients (with quantities/substitutions noted)

Hot sauce ferment (loosely following Plant to Plate recipe)

• Chilies:
  • “A few” cayenne chosen for taste test
  • Later “caps off” chilies
  • Overall chilies weighed in the jar (see brine math below)
• Garlic: “crushing a few cloves”
• Leeks: used instead of onions (no onions available)
• Tomatoes: used instead of sweet peppers
  • “Three good ones… just chunks”
  • Added to make 900 g total of ingredients before water
• Sea salt (for 2% brine):
  • Combined weight of water + ingredients = 1,734 g
  • Salt amount = 34 g sea salt (2% of combined weight)
• Water: added “just enough to cover,” then adjusted after weighing

Fermentation setup items (for the jar)

• Plug to keep ferment submerged:
  • “a charred leaf… or a big slice of onion or a cabbage leaf”
• Fermentation weight to keep everything down

“Tea” to calm spice mouth (for presenter/guest)

• Chamomile
• Lemon balm
• Calendula
• Peppermint

Note: It’s specifically mentioned that capasaicin is fat-soluble, and dairy/milk tends to help—though the tea ingredients listed above are the herbs named for the drink itself.

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Equipment / prep

• Greenhouse chilies (homegrown; handled carefully)
• Jar + fermentation weight + plug leaf
• Digital scales (explicitly stated as important for fermentation measurement; also used during the build)
• Optional referenced gear: jar/weight available via their shop
• Chopping tools for tomatoes and roughly chopping garlic
• Blender (“blitzing it up”) after fermentation
  • Hot sauce end step mentioned; not fully shown in the subtitles

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Method (step-by-step with key technique cues & timings)

1) Plan & taste challenge (prep stage)

• Select a chili for tasting (a cayenne pepper).
• Technique cue: handle chilies but avoid chopping during assembly to prevent spreading heat onto hands/board.

2) Prepare aromatics

• Roughly chop garlic (“crushing a few cloves”).
• Chop tomatoes into chunks (“just into chunks”); further cutting is discussed (“in half again”), but they proceed with the current chunking.
• Add leeks (substitution for onions) to the jar mix.
• Handling tip: keep chili chopping minimal; scrub hands clean; avoid touching sensitive areas.

3) Assemble ferment base and weigh

• Add ingredients to the jar and verify on the scales:
  • Ingredients reach 380 g at one point
  • Then leeks and tomatoes bring the mix to 900 g total
• Mash everything down to create head space.

4) Add water and calculate brine

• Add water on top “just enough to cover.”
• After weighing/realizing total weight:
  • Water + ingredients = 1,734 g
  • Add 34 g sea salt for 2% brine
• Salt purpose:
  • Helps keep “bad bacteria out”
  • Allows lactobacillus (on chili/tomato/leek skins) to thrive and acidify/preserve

5) Dissolve salt and pack down

• Shake the jar well to help dissolve salt (since salt was added separately).
• Pack it down again.

6) Submerge with plug and weight

• Add a charred leaf/onion/cabbage leaf plug to prevent floating.
• Add fermentation weight to keep everything submerged.
• Caution: if anything floats and touches oxygen, it could make the ferment fail.

7) Fermentation time

• Place the jar in their “fermentation station.”
• Ferment for about 5–6 days, depending on kitchen temperature.

8) Finish into hot sauce

• After fermentation: blitz it up into hot sauce (end step mentioned; not detailed further in subtitles).
• Flavor note: heat “during fermentation… dwindles” and becomes “flavorsome,” described as similar to Tabasco.

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Tips / common mistakes / adjustments mentioned

• Don’t chop chilies (or keep chopping minimal) to avoid heat getting everywhere.
• Use digital scales for accurate fermentation measurements.
• Keep everything submerged to reduce oxygen exposure (helps avoid ferment failure).
• Substitutions when missing key ingredients:
  • Onions → leeks
  • Sweet peppers → tomatoes (to “cool those chilies a bit”)
• Spice tolerance/remedies:
  • Guest’s mouth may go numb/burning
  • Remedies include tea and mention that dairy can help

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Serving / plating

• No explicit plating instructions.
• The hot sauce process is presented as something to make first, then enjoy after fermentation.
• The tea is used during/after tasting to manage heat.

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Presenter / channel & referenced sources

• Presenter(s): Teagan and Gaz (collaborators in the video)
• Referenced source: the recipe is stated to come from the book Plant to Plate
• Shop mention: fermentation equipment/jar/weight and the book are available via their shop (link mentioned to be placed under the video).