Vinegar

Like so many things that our great-grandparents knew how to do, vinegar making is almost a lost art.
Vinegar is a health remedy, a neutralizer, a cleaner, a condiment, and a preservative. It can kill bacteria, mold, and germs, yet it is environmentally safe
youtu.be...

The video come from Eat the weeds dot com

I cook and I've been wanting to make Vinegar on my own, from scratch... so while I was researching the process I figured to share with you all here the how too's

You will need:
• a glass jar, crock, or enamelware pot.
•a piece of cheesecloth big enough to go over the container
•a way to secure the cheesecloth to the container (kitchen twine, rubber band, etc.)
• peelings from clean, organic fruits or vegetables, (or what ever you are using to start it)
•distilled water. Chemicals in tap water will interfere with the process
•a warm, dark place to store the vinegar while it is "working"

How -to Make Vinegar


Sterilize the container by filling it with boiling water and letting it stand for 5 minutes. Pour the water out and add the peelings. Cover the peels with distilled water and cover with the cloth. Secure it carefully so that insects and dirt can't get in there.

The cloth allows the natural bacteria and wild yeast in the air to colonize in the vinegar, which in turn causes it to ferment. Stir once a day to make sure that the ferment is mixing with the rest of the liquid. After a few weeks you will start noticing a vinegary odor. Allow the vinegar to continue to ferment until you have the intensity that you want.

To ensure success, especially for your first time, before it is fermented, you can add a half a cup of organic unfiltered vinegar from the health-food store, or use a vinegar starter or "Mother" available on the Internet. After you have done that once, just reserve a cup or so of your own homemade vinegar to add to the next batch.



At this point you can strain through clean cheesecloth and bottle. Store in a cool, dark place. This homemade vinegar can be used as any other vinegar. Each ingredient you use will cause it to have a different flavor. For example we all know what apple cider vinegar tastes like, but peach vinegar has a much different taste, fruitier and more mellow. Experiment with different combinations and ingredients to see which you like the best.

Well that's how to make the base... but for me...the fun part is making flavored Vinegar and to do that you simply add fruit or herbs... and let it stew for a while...
•raspberries
•strawberries
•blueberries
•pears
•apples
•unsprayed rose petals
•hot peppers
•onion
•dill
•garlic
•oregano
•basil
•thyme
•lavender
•cilantro
•peppercorns
•citrus peel
•ginger root
•pineapple

so who's hungry???

I;m starving! LOL!

I need to get cheesecloth. I can't find it here so I am going to just order online.

Thanks for this I use vinegar in many things. I like the idea of making my own. I find the canning style jars all over at thrift stores. I will have to pick some up and make some vinegar next time.

reply to post by DaddyBare


Awesome! One more thing to add to my ever growing collection of how-to's and herbal medicinal items. I've always wondered, but never actually took the time to look up how to make my own vinegar. Vinegar is also very useful in canning and food preservation.

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
I;m starving! LOL!

I need to get cheesecloth. I can't find it here so I am going to just order online.

Thanks for this

I use vinegar in many things. I like the idea of making my own. I find the canning style jars all over at thrift stores. I will have to pick some up and make some vinegar next time.

Check your local auto parts store for cheese cloth. They use it for buffing out high end paint jobs.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


they also sell cheese cloth in the craft stores... Ive even seen it at wally world... but if you need really big sheets then yeah your better off ordering on line

One more use for vinegar is to keep ants away.
It seems they hate the taste or smell and will not cross a line of it.
While it's great to know how to make it, it is dirt cheap so there's no good reason to not have a gallon or in your pantry.

ETA - Green Dean is the man when it comes to wild edible and medicinal plants.
His YouTube channel called eattheweeds is the best online resource for learning about them.
I can't speak highly enough of the guy.

reply to post by DaddyBare


YAY!!! Thank you, DaddyBare! I have looked into making my own vinegar, but was never serious about it. This is a really easy method and I am going to start my own this weekend!!

WOOHOO!!!!



Obviously, I am easily excited and entertained......

Vinegar is also fantastic to stop mosquito bites from itching and sun burns for burning, simply apply to affected area.

Originally posted by Fox Molder
Vinegar is also fantastic to stop mosquito bites from itching and sun burns for burning, simply apply to affected area.

edit on 25-8-2011 by Fox Molder because: (no reason given)

Not just skitter bites but chigger and mite bites too...
know what else works... to get rid of the itch and swelling Absorbine Jr... yeah the back stuff...

made the same way for over a 100 years too The active ingredient in Absorbine Jr.® liniment is 1.27% natural menthol. Other ingredients include calendula extract, echinacea extract, absinthium oil, acetone, chloroxylenol, iodine, wormwood extract, potassium iodide, thymol,

It's pretty much the same process for sauerkraut too.

It's absolutely amazing the stuff you can make (and preserve) just by letting things rot.

I've been homebrewing beer and wine for a while and for my next batch I'm going to attempt to cultivate a wild yeast and use local and naturally occurring ingredients.

Should be a lot of fun.

reply to post by DaddyBare


Very cool! Thanks daddybear! Its always good to know how to make these things and so much fun too. Great for gifts as well!

MBLAH: Morning, just wanted to tell you that I get my cheesecloth from the 99cent store! Good luck with this!
S&F

Cool thread OP!

Did you know you can use cider vinegar as an egg substitute when baking cakes? Good if you are allergic or vegan.

reply to post by mblahnikluver

I need to get cheesecloth. I can't find it here so I am going to just order online.

Check a hardware store. It is used for auto polishing (also in paint stores)

Another thing to add to the collection of stuff to keep on hand is a "Bubbler used for wine and beer making. www.letsdowine.com...

Alcohol esp distilled is a good anti-microbial.


Again Vinegar is good for the heart (lowers cholesteroll) and supposedly eliminate fatigue.

One of the things I learned while working as a chemist/Quality Engineer for a company making personal care products is that the skin to stay healthy has to be acidic. Soaps, especially natural soaps are often alkaline, therefore rinsing with vinegar or lemon juice is good for the hair and skin and prevents fungal infections. Fungus HATES acids so vinegar or aspirin (willow bark tea) kills skin fungus.

www.healthdiaries.com...
www.naturodoc.com...

I have very long hair and I use just white vinegar as a rinse, it makes my hair feel soft look shinny stay feeling clean longer, detangles, smells fresh and clean..it does not leave a vinegar smell.
Wow making your own you could add lemon or balsam or some other neat things.

I also use it to kill the mold here at the coast it kills most kinds and leaves no odor after a few minuets, I use it to clean my vinyl floors.

excellent info! i have a huge garden in my backyard,and grow more food that i can use in a season. this is an excellent way to use the "excess" for a good use! thanx again!

Originally posted by reficul
excellent info! i have a huge garden in my backyard,and grow more food that i can use in a season. this is an excellent way to use the "excess" for a good use! thanx again!

I too have a huge garden and make 50 quarts or more of pickles each year. Now I will be able to make my own Vinegar for the process.

I should make a thread on me canning stuff....I do it all the time...should record it for you all here.

reply to post by tsawyer2


that be great! i've only done tomatoes(thanx to my mom,i got plenty of jars!)but i got tons of hot peppers that i can't consume before they turn! for sure,post it! i'll eat it up! (no pun intended!)

Great information. I had a general idea of how to make vinegar, but its much easier than I was imagining. Its been said that wine will turn to vinegar if its not made properly. Also to add to the list of uses for vinegar, I use it in the laundry. It works really well for getting body odors or stale musty smell out of clothing.

Hi there. I wanted to reply to you about the hot peppers. We always used banana peppers and they turn out really good this way. A few tips...wear rubber gloves and do not remove the seeds under running water because it will take your breath away. Yep, I learned that the hard way.

Cut your peppers in half lengthwise and remove all the seeds and fleshy parts inside (just like you would with a green pepper)

Mix a solution of half vinegar and half water.

Put a raw egg (uncracked) into your solution and keep adding salt until the egg floats.

Put your prepared peppers into jars and fill with solution.

Put lids on the jars and let them sit for about a month.

No cooking required

Apology for not having this come up as a direct reply to the pepper post. This is my first post here...been lurking for quite a while and still learning my way around.

Hey Daddy...when I was super sick with a chest cold from Hades last winter and was finding no relief, I looked up in my cupboard and saw a bottle of apple cider vinegar and said, "Screw it" and grabbed that bottle and slammed a shot. Why? I don't know really but let me tell ya...it stung on the way down and cut the pleghm and wouldn't ya know it but I was feeling better. So, for that purpose it did the trick and no one ever told me about it, I was just miserable and desperate I guess.