Subject: Re: Making vinegar

From: [email-masked] (Sylverre Polhemus)
Date: 7 Aug 1995 02:31:06 GMT

James F. Hawley ([email-masked]) wrote:
> Does anyone know anything about the making of vinegar -- homestead 
> variety. We tried a gallon of apple juice last year and got some pretty 
> good vinegar but we bottled it and it went on past vinegar and is now 
> barely usable. Should it be pasteurized when it gets to the correct 
> stage? What did we do wrong?

 Vinegar is made in two stages: fermentation and souring.  Apple juice
 should be fermented (as in cider) and then primed, using a vinegar
 mother or some unpasteurized vinegar.  You _can_ leave apple juice sitting 
 out and hope that a friendly vinegar culture will invade, but I haven't had
 much luck with it.  Also, primed vinegar does not tend to go 'past' 
 usability.  

 The easiest way to make cider vinegar is to press apples and let the
 juice  sit until it ferments.  Then, take some apple cider vinegar that
 a friend has made, or purchased, or use a 'vinegar mother'.  Put it in 
 a crock with some airspace, or in a bottle topped with cotton or cheese
 cloth.

 It can be pasteurized when finished, or stored in a cool location, in an
 airtight bottle, for a year or so safely.

 Hope this helps, [email-masked]