have you ever made your own vinegar?

[LaBellaVita]

not trying to away from all that is going on, I'm trying to think beyond food preps, and start organizing myself in other ways. One thing I'd like to do is make vinegar. It cleans, it preserves, I use it as a fabric softener...

 

I was just wondering if you've tried it? I've seen recipes online and am thinking of giving it a try.

 

[PoGo]

LaBellaVita, here are a few threads about making vinegar. Perhaps you'll pick up some more info when reading through them.

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...5&Number=162905

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...10&Number=22777

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...6&Number=160008

 

[Fritz_Monroe]

Yep, I've made my own red wine vinegar. You just need a jar to make it in, the wine and the mother. You probably have a homebrew store nearby, many of them carry vinegar mother. Just add the wine and mother and let it do its thing.

 

If you make your own vinegar, you will need to make sure it is the correct ph if you plan on using it to can. There are directions on how to do it around someplace.

[Canned Nerd]

The National Center for Home Food Preservation does not recommend using homemade vinegar for canning because the acidity can vary and will be unknown. Simple pH testers are not accurate enough.

 

[PureCajunSunshine]

From my blog...

 

 

Homemade Vinegar is Fun and Easy

 

Here's how I make vinegar for making gourmet salad dressing, and poison ivy killer too.

 

For a recipe for making weed killer with vinegar, go here http://purecajunsunshine.blogspot.com/2007...eed-killer.html

 

 

Cover any kind of chopped fruit and/or fruit peelings & cores with water, in a clean widemouth glass container. This can be scraps leftover from home canning, piemaking, or general mayhem involving fruit.

 

Different fruits yield their own special gourmet flavors. A pear canning spree usually results in a nice salad vinegar with a delicate undertone. Apple peelings make a more robust vinegar. Experiment and have fun.

 

If possible, use rainwater, distilled water or water from a well or spring. Chemicals in tap water may interfere with the natural bacterial action that is needed to make vinegar. Cover the container securely with a cloth to keep out insects while allowing contact with air. Keep it in a warm dark place for a few months, stirring now and then to allow the topmost layer to work with the rest of the mess.

 

The wild strains of vinegar-making bacteria present in the air should colonize and feed on the sugars and starches in the liquid. After a few weeks, you will notice a vinegary smell. Allow the liquid to ferment until desired strength is achieved (smell, taste). Strain and pour into clean bottles.

 

For faster and better action, add a cup or so of Bragg's Vinegar or other natural unfiltered vinegar (from health food store) to the water before fermentation takes place. This promotes rapid growth of the good bacteria, while discouraging unwanted bacteria that could spoil the batch. I usually use a bit of my previously made vinegar for this purpose. The "mother of vinegar" sold by Lehman's http://www.lehmans.com/ and other 'Back-to-Basics' stores, also helps to ensure successful vinegar making, by introducing a dense population of the "good bacteria" that converts sugars to vinegar.

 

 

Some tips:

 

You can make vinegar from just about anything that contains starch or sugar: Fruits, fresh or frozen fruit juices, berries, grains, roots, or even a 10% sugar water solution.

 

Do not use canned or bottled fruit juices, as they contain chemicals that prevent fermentation.

 

 

 

The 1999 July/August issue of Countryside Magazine has an excellent article on canning and general purposes:

 

http://www.countrysidemag.com/issues/4_1999.htm

 

 

 

 

This may be reprinted by you for noncommercial use, if the following credit is given:

 

This recipe is an excerpt from Mrs. Tightwad's Handbook #5 : QUICK SUBSTITUTES & EASY FORMULAS FOR OVER 100 CANT'-DO-WITHOUT ITEMS. For more information, see the left sidebar on this site: http://purecajunsunshine.blogspot.com/

[mommato3boys]

Thanks for all the great links. My goal before year end is to make a lot of "How Too" manuals. I have a gut feeling that next year we (as in my family) well be facing challenges we haven't faced before so I am doing everything I possibly can to be prepared.

[LaBellaVita]

thank you all!

 

I actually have some Bragg's, so I might just give it a whirl.

 

Really wanting to get independent here...

 

[Leah]

Well poop.

I was trying to make vinegar, and wound up making booze again.

PLEASE, PLEASE - HOW DO I MAKE VINEGAR AND NOT BOOZE???????

Can I turn my booze into vinegar, or must I start all over again?

[Prickle]

Well poop.

I was trying to make vinegar, and wound up making booze again.

PLEASE, PLEASE - HOW DO I MAKE VINEGAR AND NOT BOOZE???????

Can I turn my booze into vinegar, or must I start all over again?

 

Isn't vinegar just booze that went "bad"?

 

http://www.dovercentrebooks.com/free-cookbooks/Vin/02.htm

[CrabGrassAcres]

Just cover the mouth of the jar with some cheese cloth and leave it in the cupboard. It will turn to vinegar after a bit.

[Leah]

I have it covered with a balloon.

 

I take it, that at this point I want to let room air in? When making alcohol, I'm careful to keep the air (and little buggies) out.

[PureCajunSunshine]

Yes! The balloon is part of what helps it from turning to vinegar...

 

...and if'n you're patient (it takes time), and don't get too you should have a fine lot of vinegar. Sometimes not enough of the 'right' kind of bacteria may not be present, and once in a blue moon a batch will not 'take' to vinegar. To prevent this I like to add a bit of the 'mother' from a previous batch (or at least add a cup of a natural commercial vinegar, such as Bragg's.). That way, I know for certain there is a big enough population of the 'right' kind of bacteria to overwhelm any unwanteds that may be present.

 

I hate waiting all that while for nothing!

 

[Leah]

Thanks much!

HippieDad keeps offering to take it off my hands, as is... LOL

I want to try making vinegar without adding anything at all to it, so I know I can do it even if all I have is fruit from our trees.

 

Fabric has been stretched over the opening.

[TurtleMama]

Hey Leah...what is the saying? When vinegar-making foibles give you booze, make MARGARITAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'll be over this afternoon for the par-tay!!!!!

 

hehehe!

[Leah]

You don't want that, it's too new.

I have some 2 year old golden plum wine that is just gor-ge-ous! Used a champagne yeast in it.

[Leah]

Well poop.

 

All I have is booze.

 

Guess I'll get some of that active vinegar to add. Tried to take too big a leap for my first try.

Thanks for the information.....

 

 

 

 

stubborn woman goes grumping away to add it to the grocery list...

[Prickle]

I made pineapple vinegar recently.

 

Basically it's just pineapple peels and core in a quart jar with a 1/4 cup of brown sugar then filled with warm water. I put a little bit of cheese cloth over the top of the jar to keep out the crud. Then you just let it sit in a cupboard for 5 days then remove the peels and core and let it sit for another 5 days. There is some white cam yeast that grows on it. It's harmless and swirling the liquid makes it sink to the bottom. After 10 days you strain it through some more cheese cloth and put it in a jar with a lid and let it mellow for a month.

 

It looks and tastes a lot like apple cider vinegar. I imagine it would work with other fruit.

[Mt_Rider]

If you're working with a mother already, do you have to add red wine to red wine mother and apple cider [hard or regular?] to apple cider mother? Or .....what are the options? Does just water and more apple peels {what about rotten apples???} or.......

 

 

MtRider is getting VERY confused by the apparent options and her 'mothers' are hungry.

 

What I did so far was to add some regular cheap [not organic] apple cider [not hard apple cider] to the one. Added some cheap red cooking wine to the other. Tell me I didn't kill my mothers.

 

 

[CrabGrassAcres]

Mt Rider, as long as the cooking wine doesn't have salt in it, it should do ok. I've been adding cheap red wine vinegar to a mother for several yrs. I bought a small bottle of red wine vinegar some yrs back and a mother started growing in it so I decided to keep it going.

[Mt_Rider]

LOL...y'know, most folks would think the mother is some horrible alien in there!

 

 

MtRider...off to check for salt in wine ingredients....