Make your OWN vinegar!

[RowanC]

Here is a link for basic instructions. It's really quite easy and I've done it many times, once with PEACH peels & pits! http://www.vinegarman.com/VinegarMaking.shtml

You do NOT need any special equipment.
You do NOT need "a mother" as your vinegar will make its own.

I originally got my instructions for a book called Old Fashioned Recipe Book which I just love to pieces. For the vegans, it does talk about animal products, so be forwarned.

Vinegar is a two step fermentation. Tirst, one kind of critter turns the sugar into alcholol. This is why you 'could' use that bottle of wine you've not wanted to drink to make your vinegar! Then another critter takes over and turns the alcohol into acetic acid.... vinegar!

This could turn into a long post.. I'll try to abbreviate when I can.

What to start with: Vinegar flavors and acidities vary according to what you start with. Cider vinegar means you start with apple juice or peelings and corings. White vinegar starts with grain. You can make vinegar from any homemade wine but not from storebought because they contain preservatives. Some imported wines can be used if they don't have preservatives. You can make vinegar from juices like pear, grape, cherry, or peelings and corings of those, or from whole cherries. You can add makings every day for a while (sugar, molasses, juicees) and if it stops working before the vinegar comes, you can add more sweetening. If it won't bubble or you want to hurry it up you can add 1 tablespoon of yeast, but I'd suggest you first give it a chance.

WORKING IT: Put your startings in a crock, wooden container, or widemouthed glass jar. Those gallon glass jars are perfect. Never ferment in metal or chipped enamel. Leave about 1/4 to 1/2 your crock empty for later additions and bubbling up. Cover with a clean cloth and tie that around teh neck of your container to keep bugs from dropping in. Wash and replace the cloth once a week. Set the crock in a warm place - 80 degrees is a good temp. The cooler the temp the longer you will wait. By a stove or heater vent is good.

During the first stage, it bubbles. As long as that's going on, bubbles will be coming up. When it's done bubling it's ready for the second stage.

THE MOTHER: Mother is a thick, clear, jelly like sort of amber substance made by the kind of beasties that make the vinegar and they live in it. If you've never made vinegar before, you may have to wait up to 6 months for yours to be ready. Often, I find the mother in the bottom of my Braggs ACV, and you CAN add that!

The crock surface will gradually start to show a think gray film. DO NOT DISTURB IT! It's important that it stays on top until it's work is done. Then it settles to the bottom, heavy and thick.

Don't lose your mother once you have her! She will make your subsequent vinegar makings MUCH quicker! Store some mother in glass jars so next season you'll have her. Just put a bit in a jar, cover with vinegar, and cap.

You can strain the vinegar until it's clean enough to suit you. It will gradually become more mellow. This homemade veingar can be used as a starter for your next batch.

TO STRENGTHEN VINEGAR: Let it freeze on top, then tak ethe ice off the top.

PURE CIDER VINEGAR: Let homemade cider stand exposed to the air for a month or two as instructed above, and it will turn to vinegar. Tart apples make the best vinegar.

Next post will be recipes for various types of vinegar. Please feel free to ask questions. If I know the answers, I'll respond.

[RowanC]

CIDER VINEGAR
Put 1 gallon of good sweet natural cider (apple juice) and 1/2 quart of honey into the container. Cover the top with cloth and set it in the sun or in a warm place. Cover it when it rains if it's outside.

HOMELY VINEGAR
Put peelings, hulls, cores, and seeds of apples, peaches, pear, grapes, or cherries into your crock/jar. Sweeten well with honey. You can try agave, it should work? Please report back. Add enough filtered water to cover. Cover with a cloth as instructed. Let stand several days. You can add fresh peelings now and then. The scum (mother) will gradually thicken. You can taste it occasionally. When it tastes right, bottle it.

APPLE COMBO
Combine a fruit juice with a tart apple juice. Pear is good. If you don't have a juicer, stomp the fruit with something hard and clean. Then cover with water and proceed as above.

You can flavor your vinegars with herbs. If you're interested in those, let me know and I'll post. You can make HOT vinegar by adding horseradish, onion, paprika, peppers, whatever you like, once your vinegar is done.

[RowanC]

Well. . . here's a recipe for making your own brandied peaches. Peaches work best, then cherries.

Choose fine, ripe, very sweet peaches. They must not have bad spots. Peel them. Covern the bottom of something you can bury with WHOLE peaches. Pour in just enough sugar to cover them. Add more peaches, then more sugar in the same container. until you are out of peaches or room in your container.

Now cover tightly but not absolutely airtight, and bury in the ground for 4 months or more. About a 3 foot hole is good. Mark the spot so you'll know where to dig. Put it down in peach season and dig it up next Thanksgiving!

The top layer out of the liquid should be tossed. It's spoiled. What will be left is brandied peaches of a wonderful quality, with the peaches perfectly prserved. Reseal in smaller jars IMMEDIATELY with the juice over the fruit or they'll begin to deteriorate. Exposure to the air is not good for it. You can slice the peaches if you like. But they MUST be kept below the liquid.

BRANDIED DATES

Dates will ferment into a yummy treat if left in a jar in a warm space. We have a gallon jar that we've had for about 5 years. We kept it up top in the dark pantry of the kitchen where warm air gathers. They'll keep forever. I grab one every now and then, but beware, they're definitely gonna make you drunk if you eat too many!

My grandmother used to keep a gallon jar of brandied fruit. We'd sneak bites when we were teens! ::laughing::

[Raw Love]

This sounds so easy to do. I am going to try it - today!
Thank you for teh information, RowanC

Raw Love

[gigi1234]

How awesome! Now I know what to do with all my pear and apples cores!

Thanks RowanC! A couple of weeks ago I had a semi-busted Braggs vinegar container that I posted about here. It had something wierd in it and I did not know it was safe. By your description it had a huge mother in it and I returned it to the store. Live and learn.

[RowanC]

Oh yes, sorry that happened to you. But how could you know? My current bottle of Braggs has the mother in it also. I was thinking of using it to start a new batch of vinegar.

I belong to a group of survivalists. We teach each other the skills needed to survive if society really took a dive and broke down. When we learn a skill and have practiced it to the point of being able to do it with ease, we say we "own" the skill. Flint and steel or bowdrill firemaking is one example. I own those skills.

I hope people will at least try this with a small batch. Like anything that frees you from the brainwashing of consumerism, it is a good skill to own.

[Random Violin Guy]

Nice thread. I like it.

I think it'd be nice to own a few more survival skills... and I bet it's fun to learn these things - almost like a hobby. I was learning some foraging skills this past summer, but it's gotten to be kind of wintry here in Wisconsin now.

[Raw Love]

I got my first batch brewing as we speak.
Thanks for this post. I like making my own things as often as possible.

Raw Love

[RawVegan4Health]

How did it turn out RawLove? Just curious. I make my own wine and vinegar too, but not quite this way. I don't really like the flavor of all the yeast in my wines, so I have steps where I siphon off the wine from the yeast sediment, and once that is done I turn it into vinegar. I also tend to measure the sugars and alcohol to ensure I have enough acidity in the final vinegar to use for pickling/preserving.