Homemade White Vinegar?

[urban dreamer]

Dose anyone have any idea on how to make white vinegar? I use it for cleaning, and although it's cheap, I would like to know how to make it. Thanks!

 

[freemotion]

It is a distilled grain product, unlike other vinegars, which start with some form of wine. I don't know if it can be made at home. You can also use ACV in the same way, for cleaning, and that can be made at home.

 

[~gd]

Dose anyone have any idea on how to make white vinegar? I use it for cleaning, and although it's cheap, I would like to know how to make it. Thanks!

Well as a chemist I will tell you that it can be distilled off from apple cider vinegar. As a practical man I will tell that it is not worth the effort and danger. If pressed I would try diluting white ethanol down to a strength where the "mother" isn't killed off by the alcohol and let it ferment to white vinegar. again as a practical man I would buy the darn stuff it is usually cheaper than any other vinegar!

 

[urban dreamer]

I know it's dirt cheap. I was just wondering if it could be made at home or if anyone did make it at home. Can you use acv and white vinegar interchangeably? Like using acv for making pickles? Would the pickles taste like apples?

 

[patandchickens]

It is cheap these days because it is made mainly thru chemistry performed upon unsuspecting starches, rather than by wholly-biological processing of fruit sugars

In principle you could make your own white vinegar by making alcohol (wine, beer, whatever), then distilling it to clarify and remove the flavor-containing compnents, and then inoculating it with a vinegar mother.

In practice I can't really see why anyone would want to bother doing that at home

In England, white vinegar was actually hugely controversial when it was first introduced during the industrial revolution, and for a while was legally banned from calling itself "vinegar", had to call itself "non-brewed condiment" (along with fake malt vinegar, basically the recolored reflavored version of white vinegar).

I do not know what modern US laws are, how much biology or biological materials need to be involved in order to permit it to be sold as "white vinegar" as opposed to "acetic acid". I note that Heinz (a major producer) touts their distilled white vinegar as having come from "sun ripened grain", so clearly they are starting with grain-origin ethanol. I have seen sources claiming the FDA permits petroleum-origin ethanol to be used as the basis for acetification too, but I do not know how true this is or how much of grocery store vinegar it does/doesn't account for.

Pat

 

[patandchickens]

Can you use acv and white vinegar interchangeably? Like using acv for making pickles? Would the pickles taste like apples?

In a technical sense, you can.

In an aesthetic sense, it gives a really different result. Pickles made with ACV look a bit yellowish-odd (because of the tint of the vinegar) and taste different (not necessarily bad, but for sure *different*). White vinegar used in recipes that call for ACV tend to make it taste sharper and differently-flavored, it is a much "thinner" less-complex less-fruity taste than ACV.

It is worth experimenting with different vinegars in different recipes, IMHO, as you may decide you like something different than the original author of the recipe did; but it really DOES make a difference, especially where something as empty-flavored as white distilled vinegar is concerned.

Pat

 

[urban dreamer]

Can you use acv and white vinegar interchangeably? Like using acv for making pickles? Would the pickles taste like apples?

In a technical sense, you can.

In an aesthetic sense, it gives a really different result. Pickles made with ACV look a bit yellowish-odd (because of the tint of the vinegar) and taste different (not necessarily bad, but for sure *different*). White vinegar used in recipes that call for ACV tend to make it taste sharper and differently-flavored, it is a much "thinner" less-complex less-fruity taste than ACV.

It is worth experimenting with different vinegars in different recipes, IMHO, as you may decide you like something different than the original author of the recipe did; but it really DOES make a difference, especially where something as empty-flavored as white distilled vinegar is concerned.

Pat

Have you ever made pickels with acv?

 

[~gd]

It is cheap these days because it is made mainly thru chemistry performed upon unsuspecting starches, rather than by wholly-biological processing of fruit sugars

In principle you could make your own white vinegar by making alcohol (wine, beer, whatever), then distilling it to clarify and remove the flavor-containing compnents, and then inoculating it with a vinegar mother.

In practice I can't really see why anyone would want to bother doing that at home

In England, white vinegar was actually hugely controversial when it was first introduced during the industrial revolution, and for a while was legally banned from calling itself "vinegar", had to call itself "non-brewed condiment" (along with fake malt vinegar, basically the recolored reflavored version of white vinegar).

I do not know what modern US laws are, how much biology or biological materials need to be involved in order to permit it to be sold as "white vinegar" as opposed to "acetic acid". I note that Heinz (a major producer) touts their distilled white vinegar as having come from "sun ripened grain", so clearly they are starting with grain-origin ethanol. I have seen sources claiming the FDA permits petroleum-origin ethanol to be used as the basis for acetification too, but I do not know how true this is or how much of grocery store vinegar it does/doesn't account for.

Pat

Well I used to work at a place that made both ACV while the apple juice lasted and white vinegar the rest of the time. Just for the record it used to be the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms) that regulated, not the FDA that may have changed fairly recently with the ATF more interested in bombs and firearms than they used to be. Petroleum Alcohol (actually natural gas orgin) was much cheaper than grain alcohol and most of the white vinegar was made from it. Of course if you call it Apple cider vinegar it had to come from apples. Vinegar vs Acetic Acid? It has to be in a narrow range around 5% acid to be called vinegar because of standard of identity rules that apply to standard named foods or food ingredients.

 

[~gd]

Can you use acv and white vinegar interchangeably? Like using acv for making pickles? Would the pickles taste like apples?

In a technical sense, you can.

In an aesthetic sense, it gives a really different result. Pickles made with ACV look a bit yellowish-odd (because of the tint of the vinegar) and taste different (not necessarily bad, but for sure *different*). White vinegar used in recipes that call for ACV tend to make it taste sharper and differently-flavored, it is a much "thinner" less-complex less-fruity taste than ACV.

It is worth experimenting with different vinegars in different recipes, IMHO, as you may decide you like something different than the original author of the recipe did; but it really DOES make a difference, especially where something as empty-flavored as white distilled vinegar is concerned.

Pat

Have you ever made pickels with acv?

It is the only stuff I use for pickles. Pickles made with white vinegar taste flat harsh and metalic to my brain washed taste buds.

 

[freemotion]

Alright, people, it is high time you started fermenting! You get the vinegar taste without any vinegar....vinegar pickle recipes were mostly developed to get the taste of fermented veggies, anyways. Maybe wholly developed after fermented versions. Mass production, shipping, long-term storage, and the public's demand that storebought products always taste the same batch to batch is why we have white vinegar pickles.

Fermented foods are live foods, extremely high in nutrients. Modern canned vinegar pickles are a dead food, almost devoid of nutrients. Not to say you should never eat them, just know that you do have options.

White vinegar is cleaning fluid, not food, as far as I am concerned!

Back to our regularly scheduled program.....

Very Truly Yours,

The Fermenting Fanatic