Last year I made apple cider vinegar from our own apples. It was really easy. I just juiced the apples, strained the juice, and put in wide-mouth quart mason jars. I covered the jars with a few layers of cheesecloth secured with canning rings, and set in a warm spot for two or three weeks. This year, I'll use muslin or a dish towel to cover the jars because fruit flies did make it into a couple of the jars.
The vinegar is very tasty--not like the cider vinegar you get in plastic gallons at the store. It's sweet and fruity. Best of all, over the winter it made a mother. So this year I'm getting a little more ambitious and am trying to make raspberry vinegar from our raspberries.
The procedure with raspberries is a little more complicated. I found some instructions on the web at http://www.offthegridnews.com/2013/01/14/making-vinegar-from-scratch/. The idea is to make alcohol from the berries, and then convert the alcohol to vinegar. You steep berries in water for a day, then strain out the berries and replace them with fresh berries. Wait another day, then repeat. Strain out the third batch of berries, add sugar, put the liquid in a wide-mouth jar covered with cheesecloth (or muslin), and wait. The only thing I did differently is add the mother from the apple cider vinegar.
Wish me luck! I think the game is to hope the bacteria that converts alcohol to vinegar takes over, and the mixture doesn't fall prey to mold. It's been a week so far, and it's smelling pretty good.
The vinegar is very tasty--not like the cider vinegar you get in plastic gallons at the store. It's sweet and fruity. Best of all, over the winter it made a mother. So this year I'm getting a little more ambitious and am trying to make raspberry vinegar from our raspberries.
The procedure with raspberries is a little more complicated. I found some instructions on the web at http://www.offthegridnews.com/2013/01/14/making-vinegar-from-scratch/. The idea is to make alcohol from the berries, and then convert the alcohol to vinegar. You steep berries in water for a day, then strain out the berries and replace them with fresh berries. Wait another day, then repeat. Strain out the third batch of berries, add sugar, put the liquid in a wide-mouth jar covered with cheesecloth (or muslin), and wait. The only thing I did differently is add the mother from the apple cider vinegar.
Wish me luck! I think the game is to hope the bacteria that converts alcohol to vinegar takes over, and the mixture doesn't fall prey to mold. It's been a week so far, and it's smelling pretty good.
