Making Vinegar

[Oreganought]

I find that it goes beyond being vinegar ( Aceto) to being ACETONE.. with a nailpolish smell!

So when that happens you need to hsake the bottle again, give it air.. leave it open again for three days and then recork it.

Very interesting. Can you elaborate, please? Do you mean this happens when you let it ferment for a long time with the mother in the vinegar/wine? Or does it only happen if you cork it and store it with no mohter in it?

Elie

People will use different methods,but it pretty much universal that the container

be open to the air.

I use a large crock style pot with the spigot at the bottom so I can remove

some vinegar when I want and feed with more wine at the top.The mother will grow and you can cut some off and start a new batch,or just give to friends.

If you leave some vinegar out exposed to the air...like a wine vinegar,not

the white stuff it's more than likely it will start to develop a scum and develop into

a mother...not every time though.You might try a few different brands at a time.

Bad vinegar has an acetaldehyde taste, smelling like thinner. This is not wanted for good and high quality vinegar products.

The occurrence of acetaldehyde shows, that the vinegar is not yet ready. It is also an reliable method to determine, if the conversion from alcohol to vinegar was done.

Edited June 16, 2004 by Oreganought (log)

[Comfort Me]

Googling "Vinegar Mother" came up with numerous hits for purchasing vinegar mothers, including this one. My wife loves vinegar -- she will dress a salad with just vinegar, no oil -- so I'm going to order a red and a white.

[balmagowry]

Googling "Vinegar Mother" came up with numerous hits for purchasing vinegar mothers, including this one. My wife loves vinegar -- she will dress a salad with just vinegar, no oil -- so I'm going to order a red and a white.

I gave up on my white a few years back - just wasn't happy with the flavor. But I've got a long-established (about 30 years) kick-ass red if anyone's interested - these things keep reproducing, and mine is just about ready to eat Babylon.

And I still want to know if you ever made the chess pie of your dreams!

[Abra]

I use what oreganought does, a large crock with a spigot near the bottom, called a vinaigrier, that I brought back from a trip to France. The thing is, you need a large container, not like a quart jar, because the mother will keep growing (as Balmagowry so vividly described) and you need to keep adding wine.

Start out with your little baby mother and add 1/2 cup of wine. In a week or two, add another 1/2 cup. When you see that the mother is coming together and forming a mat over the top, be sure that as you add wine you do so gently, disturbing the mother as little as possible. That's why it helps to have a crock from which you can remove vinegar at the bottom and add wine at the top. Keep adding small amounts of wine over the first 6 months, or the mother will starve. You can also use the vinegar before 6 months, but I found when starting mine that it didn't really get a wonderful taste until then. After that, you remove and add in a continuous cycle.

As far as I know, the mother is specific to the color of wine it lives in. I don't think you can take a red wine mother and convert it to making white wine vinegar. I do, however, add small amounts of white wine, and even sometimes a few drops of leftover dessert wines, with no trouble. The more kinds of wine that go into the pot, the richer and more complex will be the resulting vinegar.

[fifi]

I am late to this party. I have always wanted to make the pineapple vinegar that I have had in southern Mexico. Does anyone know how to do that?

I need to find a vinegar jar.

(Elie... The I-can't-remember-the name-of-to-save-me home brew shop, on Bissonnet I think, has vinegar mothers. Is that how you say that? )

[ExtraMSG]

Does the white stuff look like this:

http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/eels.htm

[hathor]

Does the white stuff look like this:

http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/eels.htm

Is this about some sort of real 'eel'...or is he using the word eel instead of mother??

[Toliver]

I am late to this party. I have always wanted to make the pineapple vinegar that I have had in southern Mexico. Does anyone know how to do that?

I need to find a vinegar jar.

(Elie... The I-can't-remember-the name-of-to-save-me home brew shop, on Bissonnet I think, has vinegar mothers. Is that how you say that? )

Google is your friend:

Diana Kennedy's Pineapple Vinegar (on Epicurious.com)

Food Network's Pineapple Vinegar: This recipe is very different from Diana's version. I found this recipe on another site that attributed it to the "Too Hot Tamales" show when it was on the Food Network (why they would remove the credit is a mystery ).

Here was a previous eGullet discussion of an endless bottle of vinegar

[FoodMan]

(Elie... The I-can't-remember-the name-of-to-save-me home brew shop, on Bissonnet I think, has vinegar mothers. Is that how you say that?  )

Fifi-

Do u remeber where on Bissonet St. the shop is? They might have those jars with spigots that Abra and Oreganought mentioned.

Elie

[Comfort Me]

(Elie... The I-can't-remember-the name-of-to-save-me home brew shop, on Bissonnet I think, has vinegar mothers. Is that how you say that?  )

Fifi-

Do u remeber where on Bissonet St. the shop is? They might have those jars with spigots that Abra and Oreganought mentioned.

Elie

Does your town have a Pier 1 Imports? If so, they carry several different containers with a spigot. You can use any of them, just keep the lid off and cover with cheesecloth.

[FoodMan]

(Elie... The I-can't-remember-the name-of-to-save-me home brew shop, on Bissonnet I think, has vinegar mothers. Is that how you say that?  )

Fifi-

Do u remeber where on Bissonet St. the shop is? They might have those jars with spigots that Abra and Oreganought mentioned.

Elie

Does your town have a Pier 1 Imports? If so, they carry several different containers with a spigot. You can use any of them, just keep the lid off and cover with cheesecloth.

We do have a Pier1. I will check it out.

Maybe a sun tea jar would work as well, probably cheaper than the Pier 1 stuff and I'm pretty sure it has a spigot in the bottom.

Elie

[russ parsons]

i use a sun tea jar and it works great. in fact, i have two of them. one of them filled with vinegar that has already turned, the other with wine that is still in the process.

as far as the acetone smell, i've had problems with that, too, so i asked a friend who is a very good winemaker and he said that was a result of too-high temperatures producing way too many acetobacters (as i remember it). he suggested cutting the vinegar with water and letting it stand for a a couple of days. worked like a charm.

(by the way, you'll almost always want to cut wine vinegars with water at some point in the process ... alcohol converts to acidity almost on par, so a 13% alcohol wine will become a 13% acid vinegar. most vinegars are in the 5-7 range ... i find i like it at what i estimate is about 7-9. in practice, i just add water until it tastes right.)

[Toliver]

Hmmm...perhaps someone should suggest a "Make Your Own Vinegar at Home" eGCI class.

[phaelon56]

Will one of you kind wine and vinegar savvy folks suggest a red, a white and a champagne wine to use? I'd liek to try this but I dont' drink alcohol. The only wine I ever have around is Sutter Home Merlot, Chardonnay or the like in 8 oz screwcap bottles that is used for cooking. How important is the quality of the wine in the finished vinegar? Can a cheap wine make a great vinegar?

[hathor]

Will one of you kind wine and vinegar savvy folks suggest a red, a white and a champagne wine to use? I'd liek to try this but I dont' drink alcohol. The only wine I ever have around is Sutter Home Merlot, Chardonnay or the like in 8 oz screwcap bottles that is used for cooking. How important is the quality of the wine in the finished vinegar? Can a cheap wine make a great vinegar?

From what I've read upthread, and in the links, left over screw top wine would probably be just fine.

I'm going to try the 3 spaghettis in a glass jar with wine method this weekend. I'll let you know how it works. I'm planning on using whatever wine is around. But, not mixing white with red, as that seems to matter.

[fifi]

Ah Ha! My brain woke up.

The shop I was thinking of in Houston is DeFalco's and it is on Stella Link. (Well... that is at least in a 10 mile radius of where I thought they were. ) They do mail order.

[FoodMan]

Ah Ha! My brain woke up.

The shop I was thinking of in Houston is DeFalco's and it is on Stella Link. (Well... that is at least in a 10 mile radius of where I thought they were. ) They do mail order.

Fifi-

Thank you for remembering and posting the address for this place. Sounds like a neat place to visit and maybe finally start making my own beer like I keep saying.

I guess, according to Russ, the sun tea jar idea should work. I'll pick up a jar next time I see one.

Elie

[russ parsons]

sun tea jar will work (does work; is working) just fine. as for wine, i prefer to use fruity but well-made reds. i see no point in putting anything good in there (unless there's dregs at the end of a bottle). i have not had much luck with white wines, because they oxidize so badly. maybe someone else has a secret.

[andiesenji]

i have not had much luck with white wines, because they oxidize so badly. maybe someone else has a secret.

I was told some years ago that adding a little fortified wine to a white wine would keep it stable and stop it from oxidizing when using it to make vinegar. I add 1/4 cup sherry to a quart of white. Have had good results.

[ExtraMSG]

Does the white stuff look like this:

http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/eels.htm

Is this about some sort of real 'eel'...or is he using the word eel instead of mother??

Vinegar eels are nematodes, little worm-like creatures. We used to grow them in middle school and high school honors biology.

[hathor]

I also read that if you don't have a mother, you can make one.

Italian mamma wisdom..

take 3 dry spaghetti.. and put them in a large jar with your wine.

Let them dissolve.. and this will create you MOTHER!

Mamma Mia!

If you have some homemade vinegar, that can be used to make vinegar...

Anyone coming to Florence I have tons!

Judy

I'm following this method to see if I can create a mother.

Its been about 5 days now, the pasta has melted away and is non existent. There is no scum or gathering mother bits. The wine has developed a really lush fragrance. Anyone know how long before the mother appears?

[formerly grueldelux]

I use what oreganought does, a large crock with a spigot near the bottom, called a vinaigrier, that I brought back from a trip to France. 

Very interesting. Here's a picture of one from the googler. Does anyone know of any US retail or online sources? Of course you don't need a specific vessel, but they look sort of cool.

[hathor]

I use what oreganought does, a large crock with a spigot near the bottom, called a vinaigrier, that I brought back from a trip to France. 

Very interesting. Here's a picture of one from the googler. Does anyone know of any US retail or online sources? Of course you don't need a specific vessel, but they look sort of cool.

Someone mentioned Pier 1...I got a very cool jar there this weekend ($30), not a crock, but a green tinted glass with a good spigot.

[russ parsons]

it might be a good idea to give it a test with a limited amount of vinegar first. i had a friend who bought something similar years ago only to find that the adhesive that sealed the spigot to the jar was not impermiable to vinegar. or at least that's what he suspects since he was greeted at breakfast by a floor covered in vinegar with a popped spigot in the center.

[fifi]

Hmmm... russ makes a good point. That clear jar may be intended for serving lemonade, iced tea, or agua frescas. In that case, the sealant may not be suitable for long term exposure to acetic acid.

Is there also a reason that vinegar jars are traditionally made of pottery? I am wondering if exposure to light has anything to do with it.