the 18 months was easier than it sounds since from 2021 I had 2 dozen ferments going - all staggered in timelines; and the fact I can only east so much sauce in any given time. Some ferments are not super hot and I am still experimenting with heat and flavor profiles. One of my up-and-coming soaks is a serrano and Thai mix - I'd estimate a SHU of about 65 - 80k which should be real nice reprieve for those that don't do super-hot.

and yes, bhut's were the hottest on record a few (maybe 6-10 years) ago.

for calming a heat down, the ferment will do some of it, sugar is another way to dilute heat as well as the pasteurization process seems to bring it down. In my personal super-hot sauce (all reaper) I add an additional tablespoon of reaper power to the final product to bring the ouch factor back.

this particular sauce is killer on baracoa tacos, baja tacos, rice, beef stew, wings, stir-fry, and a pot of greens. it is not good in gumbo - the flavor profile doesn't match.

I seen your feats from last week / week 'fore last, amazing job by the way.

maybe link up ones of these days- a brie-en-croute with some bbq kinda day

There is a fine line, absolutely. I found that line for me last week when we made jerky and I did reaper dust on half - way too much.

This sauce isn't an issue as far as thats concerned thanks to the pineapple and tamarind, but the peppers and all the other stuff in the ferment add their own distinction - and I'm a big fan of the straight pepper flavor.

The hottest I make thus far is straight reaper and I bank solely on that beautiful pepper flavor to round out the heat (a shot of vinegar helps)

Edit: The longer one eats hotter and hotter a tolerance builds and will allow you to taste more of the pepper as the heat becomes less of an issue. Take reapers.. few folks that have tried them realize they're actually very sweet and fruity before the heat kicks in. After a bit though, that sweetness sticks around linger and the heat is manageable.

If you want to try a simplified sweet heat sauce for cheap I'd say buy one at popeyes. It's 30 cents if I remember correctly. A young negro who was properly dressed, pants up, belt on, polite, was surprisingly the shift leader and recommended it to me after I joked "are you going to rob me" and he chuckled and said "this one is on me."

I don't interact with negros unless I have to at a service food desk but if I remember correctly (it's been about 2 years now) was named Jarmaine De'Shawn Bartholmew the Third Junior.

I remember because he looked like a 4 star general with three nametags stacked on top each other on his uniform to incorporate the whole name and a fourth one that said "shift leader".

I don't, yet. I have registered a business with the state - working on trademarking stuff for it right now - name, names of sauces, logo, no idea when I'll get that all sorted. But I do pass some put to folks I work with for feedback. Are you in the US?

I've never done bags. All of my ferments are jars of varying sizes with gassers in the lid. And yes I use weights.

I'll post a pic of why my setups look like tomorrow

That bag must be pretty heavy duty, according to the numbers that's like 3.5 kg of ingredients.

dude, majority of this house is at some funky angles - rush job from the 70s. I still find shit that doesn't add up 6 years after we moved in.