justusnak
Almost Self-Reliant
Am I loseing my mind?? I thought I saw a thread on makeing vinegar!?? If its out there, can someone help me find it? I have searched untill my eyes crossed....and if its NOT out there....am I loseing my mind!??
Now where did I see that?????
- Thread starter justusnak
- Start date
Tallman
Almost Self-Reliant
The only thread that I have found on here about the making of your own ACV was found on post 19 in the Natural Remedies section under the title Apple Cider Vinegar.
Here is the quote from lorihadams:
Here is the quote from lorihadams:
I purchased this little inexpensive book and found it to be well worth it.
freemotion
Food Guru
Toodle around on Bee's journal, I think that was where it was discussed in more detail....and the recent cider press thread. Bee will know.
If you find it could you add it here to your thread? Bee's journal is too big for me to attempt to find something. Actually I don't read anyone's journal except one or two of them occasionally. I like these topic threads the best. 
Beekissed
Mountain Sage
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5346.htmlsylvie said:If you find it could you add it here to your thread? Bee's journal is too big for me to attempt to find something. Actually I don't read anyone's journal except one or two of them occasionally. I like these topic threads the best.
Thanks!!!!Beekissed said:http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5346.htmlsylvie said:If you find it could you add it here to your thread? Bee's journal is too big for me to attempt to find something. Actually I don't read anyone's journal except one or two of them occasionally. I like these topic threads the best.
Interesting article, but my own experience prompts me to add a few addenda. First, temperature: my kitchen in winter is usually at 60 degrees or cooler; this doesn't seem to affect the formation of vinegar, although perhaps it takes a little longer. And second, pasteurization: though I can't find the particular referance at the moment, I have read that vinegar is the End Product - it isn't going to evolve into something else if left to itself (as wine, for instance, evolves into vinegar). Without pastueization you may find that you have an overabundance of Mother (I have never had this happen); if so you can use the extra for additional vinegar, or flush it down the toilet - supposedly it does good things to the septic system. I do not pastuerize my vinegar, as I feel the virtue of my homemade vinegar is the fact that it is alive, much as I value my homemade yogurt, kefir, or sauerkraut. I can buy the pastuerized stuff; I make it myself to benefit from it's aliveness.
If vinegar making is new to you, I recommend starting with apple cider vinegar; it is quite foolproof. Take freshly pressed, or juiced apples, or unpastuerized apple cider. Put it in a non-reactive container, and cover with cheesecloth or muslin. This way air can get in, and bugs can't. Leave it on a counter, giving it a stir every once in awhile. Over time (mine took several months) you will detect a vinegar smell. When it tastes strong enough for you, put it in a container with a lid, and close tightly, and store in a cool place, not necessarily in the 'fridge. If a Mother formed you can use it for the next batch, to help things along faster. If it did not (and in several years of vinegar making I have yet to find a Mother), no matter, it is still vinegar. And the Aceti bacteria are still there. Use your finished ACV as a starter for the next batch - add a cup to fresh apple cider to make it go faster. Or, as I did, add a cup to some red wine for red wine (+ a little apple) vinegar. Take a bit of the red wine vinegar, and add it to white wine for white wine (plus a little red, and a tiny bit of apple) vinegar (a pretty rose color). Wine needs the help from the apple, as the sulfites in wine will keep it from "turning" on its own. Once you have (for example) some red wine + apple vinegar, you can use that as the starter for the next lot of wine vinegar, and the apple will get more and more diluted until even the most sensitive tongue will no longer detect it.
As one of my books says: setting out to make vinegar is like purposefully breeding the cat - vinegar and kittens just happen! (This was written before it was common to spay cats; please make vinegar to your heart's content, but remember to spay and neuter your pets!)
If vinegar making is new to you, I recommend starting with apple cider vinegar; it is quite foolproof. Take freshly pressed, or juiced apples, or unpastuerized apple cider. Put it in a non-reactive container, and cover with cheesecloth or muslin. This way air can get in, and bugs can't. Leave it on a counter, giving it a stir every once in awhile. Over time (mine took several months) you will detect a vinegar smell. When it tastes strong enough for you, put it in a container with a lid, and close tightly, and store in a cool place, not necessarily in the 'fridge. If a Mother formed you can use it for the next batch, to help things along faster. If it did not (and in several years of vinegar making I have yet to find a Mother), no matter, it is still vinegar. And the Aceti bacteria are still there. Use your finished ACV as a starter for the next batch - add a cup to fresh apple cider to make it go faster. Or, as I did, add a cup to some red wine for red wine (+ a little apple) vinegar. Take a bit of the red wine vinegar, and add it to white wine for white wine (plus a little red, and a tiny bit of apple) vinegar (a pretty rose color). Wine needs the help from the apple, as the sulfites in wine will keep it from "turning" on its own. Once you have (for example) some red wine + apple vinegar, you can use that as the starter for the next lot of wine vinegar, and the apple will get more and more diluted until even the most sensitive tongue will no longer detect it.
As one of my books says: setting out to make vinegar is like purposefully breeding the cat - vinegar and kittens just happen! (This was written before it was common to spay cats; please make vinegar to your heart's content, but remember to spay and neuter your pets!)
Beekissed
Mountain Sage
I want mine unpasteurized, myself. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any instructions online for anything but "safe" vinegar!
I plan to make my own this year and I want the benefits of "real" vinegar for all the obvious reasons. I did, in fact, find a mother in a jug of store bought vinegar once!
ORChick, could you tell me? When I store my finished product, could it be stored in milk jugs or are they too flimsy to hold natural vinegar. I notice that commercial jugs are extremely sturdy and am wondering if this is so the acetic acid will not eat through the jugs?
I want to make several, several jugs of vinegar for my livestock usage this year but am doubting I can lay my hands on that many vinegar jugs and will have to use the milk-type grade jugs.
I plan to make my own this year and I want the benefits of "real" vinegar for all the obvious reasons. I did, in fact, find a mother in a jug of store bought vinegar once!
ORChick, could you tell me? When I store my finished product, could it be stored in milk jugs or are they too flimsy to hold natural vinegar. I notice that commercial jugs are extremely sturdy and am wondering if this is so the acetic acid will not eat through the jugs?
I want to make several, several jugs of vinegar for my livestock usage this year but am doubting I can lay my hands on that many vinegar jugs and will have to use the milk-type grade jugs.
Beekissed, I really don't know as I have never tried it. I tend to store things in glass if at all possible, and have my vinegar in some recycled apple juice jugs, and the bottles that used to hold store bought vinegar (but then, I have a serious glass-container-collecting addictionBeekissed said:I want mine unpasteurized, myself. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any instructions online for anything but "safe" vinegar!
I plan to make my own this year and I want the benefits of "real" vinegar for all the obvious reasons. I did, in fact, find a mother in a jug of store bought vinegar once!
ORChick, could you tell me? When I store my finished product, could it be stored in milk jugs or are they too flimsy to hold natural vinegar. I notice that commercial jugs are extremely sturdy and am wondering if this is so the acetic acid will not eat through the jugs?
I want to make several, several jugs of vinegar for my livestock usage this year but am doubting I can lay my hands on that many vinegar jugs and will have to use the milk-type grade jugs.
). I think I would opt for canning jars if I ran out of jugs and bottles. But you might experiment with a milk jug to see how it goes. And let the rest of us know the results . And put out the word - most people have at least one jug of vinegar in the house, and no future use for it; let people know you need them. Umm ... I wonder ... are the vinegar jugs really extra sturdy, or are the milk jugs just extra flimsy, since they are only (usually) in use until the milk is gone?
FarmerDenise
Out to pasture
Here's a recipe I found on line that sounds good to me.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4737335_homemade-apple-cider-vinegar.html
I decided to use this recipe - sort of.
I received a box of beat up apples yesterday. So I washed them real well, cut them up into little pieces, put them in a 5 gallon food grade bucket, pits, stems, brown spots and all. Added a bit of sugar, these apples were kinda dry and many of them were green apples, then added about 1/2-1 cup mother that I had saved from bought ACV. Covered the bucket with a clean piece of t-shirt (it was xx large mens) and set it in an out-of-the-way place in the kitchen.
We'll find out in three months, if it worked. insert patient smiley here
http://www.ehow.com/how_4737335_homemade-apple-cider-vinegar.html
I decided to use this recipe - sort of.
I received a box of beat up apples yesterday. So I washed them real well, cut them up into little pieces, put them in a 5 gallon food grade bucket, pits, stems, brown spots and all. Added a bit of sugar, these apples were kinda dry and many of them were green apples, then added about 1/2-1 cup mother that I had saved from bought ACV. Covered the bucket with a clean piece of t-shirt (it was xx large mens) and set it in an out-of-the-way place in the kitchen.
We'll find out in three months, if it worked. insert patient smiley here
