Fruit Vinegar

[AndrewD3000]

Now then, not really posted on here before so be gentle

OK so there's a lot of fruit knocking about at the moment and I had the bright idea of making a vinegar..

Anyone done this before .. Hints, Tips maybe ?

All I've found so far is equal quantities of Fruit to White wine Vinegar

 

[jennyema]

Vinegar is made from alcohol.

So you'll have to make alcohol from your fruit.

Or start with alcohol and infuse the resulting vinegar with the fruit.

 

[AndrewD3000]

Vinegar is made from alcohol.

So you'll have to make alcohol from your fruit.

Or start with alcohol and infuse the resulting vinegar with the fruit.

Was thinking of starting by infusing fruit with an existing vinegar, sorry should have been clearer

 

[Mad Cook]

No need to make alcohol with the fruit.

My grandmother's recipe for fruit vinegar:-

A pint of soft fruit (blackberries in my grandmother's case) to a pint of vinegar steeped in a china or glass bowl for 2 days (cover with a cloth or plate). Stir from time to time.

Strain overnight through muslin without squeezing (squeezing will make the resulting liquid cloudy). Gather the corners of the piece of muslin into a string and suspend over the bowl to catch the liquid.

Place liquid in a pan (enamel or stainless steel. Aluminium may react with the vinegar). Add 3 ounces of white sugar and warm through, stirring, until dissolved then boil for 10 minutes. Cool then decant into sterilised bottles and seal and label. It will keep in a cool larder for a year at least.

You can use any soft fruit eg raspberries or blackberries. My grandmother used malt vinegar because that was what was available back then in a village in Derbyshire. White wine vinegar would be better. Try and get 6% acid vinegar as this is best for preserving.

Sterilise the bottles by washing in hot water and putting the wet bottles, in a low oven to dry.

You can use it for salad dressings or diluted with hot or cold water to make a drink - very refreshing over ice on a hot day. It's also useful given neat by the teaspoonful for a child with a cough. As I can tell you from experience!

Enjoy.

 

[GotGarlic]

No need to make alcohol with the fruit.

My grandmother's recipe for fruit vinegar:-

A pint of soft fruit (blackberries in my grandmother's case) to a pint of vinegar steeped in a china or glass bowl for 2 days (cover with a cloth or plate). Stir from time to time.

Strain overnight through muslin without squeezing (squeezing will make the resulting liquid cloudy). Gather the corners of the piece of muslin into a string and suspend over the bowl to catch the liquid.

Place liquid in a pan (enamel or stainless steel. Aluminium may react with the vinegar). Add 3 ounces of white sugar and warm through, stirring, until dissolved then boil for 10 minutes. Cool then decant into sterilised bottles and seal and label. It will keep in a cool larder for a year at least.

You can use any soft fruit eg raspberries or blackberries. My grandmother used malt vinegar because that was what was available back then in a village in Derbyshire. White wine vinegar would be better. Try and get 6% acid vinegar as this is best for preserving.

Sterilise the bottles by washing in hot water and putting the wet bottles, in a low oven to dry.

You can use it for salad dressings or diluted with hot or cold water to make a drink - very refreshing over ice on a hot day. It's also useful given neat by the teaspoonful for a child with a cough. As I can tell you from experience!

Enjoy.

Sounds great. Thanks for posting that. Have you ever done something similar with herbs, like a rosemary vinegar?

 

[Mad Cook]

Sounds great. Thanks for posting that. Have you ever done something similar with herbs, like a rosemary vinegar?

Yes, but only by steeping herbs in cold wine vinegar or cider vinegar - rosemary sprigs work well, or thyme or garlic or dried chillis , but soft herbs like basil don't seem to work very well (at least, not for me).

A bit off topic, be very careful about making your own garlic oil. Raw garlic may(repeat, "may") have a soil-based toxin (clostridium botulinum) on it and if raw cloves are stored in oil at room temperature the organism can multiply because it thrives in an oxygen-free atmosphere. Commercially produced garlic oil is either heated in the manufacture or contains an acid, both of which will kill off the toxin. You can, if you want to risk it, do either of these things when you make your own but is it really worth it? Botulism poisoning is very dangerous and usually proves fatal.

 

[GotGarlic]

Yes, I knew about the risk with the oil - we've discussed it here before, and it applies to herb oils as well. But it's always good to have a reminder in a thread, for newbies

 

[Alex-Peter]

This is one of those ‘no cost’ recipes made from things that other people normally throw away. When I made applesauce, I also started making this vinegar at the same time, with all of the fruit trimmings, cores, and cut out bruises. I fermented them in jars for awhile, strained out the fruit scraps, and let the vinegar ferment longer. The result? An amazingly fragrant and abundant fruit vinegar for almost no cost. Waste not, want not!


Ingredients:


skin and core from 1 pineapple.
for pineapple vinegar only: 2 teaspoons dried oregano & 1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes–OR– for apple scrap vinegar.
apple or pear cores, trimmings and peels (bruised or overripe fruit ok, except throw out any pieces with mold on it).

To make sugar water:

1/4 cup Rapadura sugar (or honey)
1 quart filtered warm water

Preparation:

Prepare the sugar water for the amount of fruit scraps that you have with the ratio of 1 quart water to 1/4 sugar. Make sure all sugar is completely dissolved. Fill jars with coarsely chopped up fruit scraps about half full, then pour in the sugar water solution. For pineapple vinegar, add the additional spices and stir in. Cover with a towel or cheesecloth and let ferment at room temperature. Stir once/day if you can.

You will notice the liquid darken after about a week. At that point, strain out the fruit scraps and discard or compost them. Ferment the vinegar for 2 to 3 weeks longer, stirring it periodically.

I hope to enjoy