|
| OK, I finally figured out how to convert my almost 2 year old hard cider into vinegar -- I put it into a large plastic food tub (got it at a restaurant supply, wasn't cheap but I'll have it for years) so it had a lot of surface area, then inoculated with some organic raw vinegar from Whole Foods.
It took about 5 weeks. Formed a big solid, slimy, kind of rubbery mat of "mother" on top. I strained, pasteurized, and bottled it almost 2 weeks ago now. I used some yesterday on a marinated bean salad/salsa kind of thing. I must say, this stuff is STRONG. I was worried that it might not come out strong enough to be safe should I want to try pickling with it. No worries there, it just about curled my toes. I will do the right thing and actually test it properly before using it for pickling this summer, but in a side by side taste test with commercial cider and white vinegar, mine is definitely more acidic by a good deal. I ended up with 7 1/2 gallons. I also saved the mother -- I cut her up into pieces and popped them into the freezer. I don't know if this will work, but I suspect it will. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| Oooohhhh........your post got me right there at the back of my tongue! LOL I'll bet that will make some killer Dill Pickles! When you say you "inoculated" with organic from the store, do you mean you just dumped some in with your cider? Making my own vinegar is something I haven't tried, yet, but would like to one of these days. Deanna |
|
| Yes, I bought a pint of organic raw vinegar at Whole Foods. Shook it up because it had a little "stuff" in the bottom, then just poured it in and stirred it together. It did the trick all right. |
|
| This is interesting. The best tasting pickles I can make, far and away, are done with the raw organic cider vinegar, but that stuff costs a small fortune when scaled up to making dozens of qts. I get around this by diluting the good stuff with standard supermarket cider - not as good, but still pretty good. However, I can buy heat pasteurized / refrigerated apple cider in season, for 4 or 5 bucks a gallon, and if I could use that to make my own hard cider, then turn it into vinegar. I think I'd best run this up the flagpole and see if it passes the Dear Wife-rolling-her-eyes-seal-of-approval before setting this all up........ |
|
| I've been making red wine vinegar for a couple of years now. I started with a cup of Bragg's apple cider vinegar and a cup of red wine and I feed it with wine when I have an unfinished bottle. It's good. |
|
| I'd rather have hard cider. Yum! |
|
| I'd rather have hard cider. Yum! |
|
| I've heard of adding raw apple cider vinegar with mother to regular cider vinegar. This was to offset expense of the Braggs. From what I read, the mother bloomed just fine. Anyone tried this? Also, jxbrown, any particular type of red wine or will any do? Thanks! |
|
| Whatever is leftover in the bottle! |
|
| Hmmm... Erin, adding Braggs (my all time favorite vinegar) to store bought apple cider vinegar might be something I HAVE to try! Braggs costs at least 4 times as much as Heinz or whatever store brand here. I can drink Braggs straight from the bottle. It's THAT good to me! Deanna |
|
- Posted by gardendawgie 5 (My Page) on Mon, May 30, 11 at 3:19
| I suspect a better try on saving the mother would be to put it into a glass bottle with some vinegar to keep it wet and not frozen. I believe it can last for years that way although feeding it a little would help. I never made vinegar but always thought it would be nice. I did not realize the quality could be so good. Next project for me. Denninmi has all the fun with these good projects. He never stops amazing me. I have to go pick some wild elderberries and make some wine then turn it into vinegar. Never knew where to get the mommie. I mean mother. |
|
| Thanks. My next little projects = I've got 25 Cornish X chickens and 6 broadbreasted bronze turkeys coming this week. Future food. On the less carnivorous side, I bought 10 pineapples a couple of weeks ago when they were on sale for $1. I processed and preserved the fruit, but I put all of the cores and rinds into a big vat, added a little sugar and some bread yeast (yeah, I know, but I didn't have wine yeast), and let it go. It's definitely pineapple hard cider now. I'm going to put it all through the juicer in another week or so, then strain it and go from there. Pineapple vinegar! |
|
- Posted by chickenwhisperer (My Page) on Tue, Oct 25, 11 at 20:18
| jxbrown, Do you make your vinegar in jars or in a wooden barrel? I'm just starting out with this, and it is very hard to find information. I have a small amount of vinegar going, but the mother keeps absorbing almost all of it. When I add more wine, she tries to sink to the bottom of the jar. I would like to make the vinegar from start to finish in the wooden barrel (it's only a 5 liter), but I'm not sure if I should make the vinegar in it, or just age the finished vinegar in it. Any info at all would be very helpful. |
|
- Posted by gardencraze 9b winter garden FL (cmcginnis3@cfl.rr.com) on Sat, Nov 5, 11 at 23:42
| Hi, I'm loving this topic. I just started to make vinegar and I've got 2 containers going, one is wine and the other apple cider. I bought these containers at a resale shop and they are supper neat cuz they have a spout and holds about 2 gallons each, so I can continualy take vinegar by the spout and add more by the top. my V is not ready yet but I am anxiously wating. I bought a book on how to make and it says not to use plastic or aluminum. should use stainless steel, wood or glass containers. I'll let you all know how it turns out. thanx for sharing. Carmen, a member in good standing since 2009 |
|
- Posted by chickenwhisperer (My Page) on Thu, Dec 8, 11 at 11:38
| Hi, gardencraze! Haven't checked lately because I thought no one was reading this thread anymore. I bought (and prepared a small oak barrel). I have a small batch of vinegar that I made in a glass jar, and it's ready to use. I don't know if I should transfer this into the barrel. Also, do you know anything about raising a batch from start to finish in a wooden barrel? I'm not sure if the wood imparts too strong a flavor if the vinegar is left too long. I seem to be growing robust mothers. In fact, they seem to slurp up most of the wine. Is that what's going on with yours? |
|
| What happens to the alcohol? Does the vinegar yeast eat it and convert it to acid? |
|
| I started some Strawberry Zin + Braggs on 10-29. As of today, not much mother, but some sediment in the bottom. Very, very mild vinegar flavor. I don't know if it isn't done or not enough Braggs to start or is it just the nature of this wine? Hmmm? It's going to make some awesome salad dressing though since it's light on the "tang" and pretty sweet. I may bottle some and give it to my daughter for Christmas! Deanna |
|
- Posted by chickenwhisperer 9 (My Page) on Fri, Dec 9, 11 at 11:58
| happyday, I think the mother does eat the alcohol, but I've read that there should be some water added so that she doesn't get so inebriated that she quits doing her job. I have had so much trouble getting any information on this topic. dgkritch, I have the opposite problem with the mother. Mine grows so rapidly and so profusely that she seems to hog most of the vinegar. I started a batch with Braggs at the end of October, and Mom is already about 1/2 inch thick. If there are any experienced vinegar-makers out there, please chime in with any and all advice you can spare. |
|
| How do you keep the fruit flies out? Carla in Sac |
|
- Posted by chickenwhisperer (My Page) on Sun, Dec 11, 11 at 10:31
| Sautesmom, I cover the jar with cheesecloth using a very large rubber band, or I will use a thin piece of fabric to cover the jar. I guess you could use string to tie the fabric onto the jar, too. |
|
| "What happens to the alcohol? Does the vinegar yeast eat it and convert it to acid?" Yes. Well, almost. The ethanol is made by yeast fermentation of sugars. The acetic acid is made by bacterial fermentation of the ethanol. The mother is a culture of bacteria, not yeast. Jim |
|
| Some mold might have gotten into one of my batches of squash wine. I might be making squash vinegar. |
|
| Not related to the vinegar, but just had an epiphany last night on covers for jars that still need air but no nasties. Paper coffee filter and canning ring (or rubberband). Voila! They're what??? A penny apiece? Recyclable. Readily available. Works for me! Deanna |
|
| Deanna, that is exactly what I used, a paper coffee filter and some bread ties. And bacteria still got in, and since I didn't use a campden tablet...looks like I'm now making squash vinegar. :( I think the filters may come with bacteria already on them, as I have also used them to line flower pots, and when I repotted, the coffee filter was loaded with fluffy white mold, which did not grow in the potting soil, just the filter. Something to think about while making your morning coffee. |
|
- Posted by chickenwhisperer 9 (My Page) on Wed, Dec 14, 11 at 10:42
| I have officially started my first oak barrel batch of red wine vinegar with a "continuous" feeding tube. I used 4 cups wine, 2 cups filtered water, 1 cup mother, 1 cup red wine vinegar (that I started in the jar). Supposedly, I can "feed" it in about 6 weeks with wine & water. Although the feeding tube will be below the new mother, I wonder it the mother will stick to the edges of the tube and then the mother will sink anyway. Any info???? |
|
| Where did you get your wine? If it is store bought with preservatives, the mother might be inhibited. |
|
- Posted by chickenwhisperer (My Page) on Wed, Dec 14, 11 at 22:18
| Happyday, I did buy the wine at a store, and it has sulfites. The vinegar I brewed in the jar was the same. The mother was actually agressive. I hope that continues in the barrel. This is almost a blind experiment for me. Still hoping some vinegar experts chime in with advice . . . |
|
| CW, I'm no expert, but I wish you luck. |
|
- Posted by chickenwhisperer (My Page) on Fri, Dec 23, 11 at 11:46
| Carmen, do you just add the wine on top of the mother or do you have a tube attached to a funnel? Does she sink when you do that? Will the mother regenerate if she sinks? |
|
- Posted by jmacdowall none (My Page) on Wed, Apr 4, 12 at 15:06
| I've just started making vinegar. I've done a ton of research on the Internet and have been trying to get it all in my blog. Check it out! Feel free to comment! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Better Done at Home
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Harvest Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.