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Making Vinegar
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Making Vinegar
I wanted to use some pineapple scraps to try making vinegar. I’ve never done it before so I found some instructions online that said add filtered water and sugar to the fruit scraps, then add a dash of Bragg’s or other vinegar with culture 🧐
So I did that. Stirred it about once a day. It’s almost 2 weeks old and bubbling a little and the top keeps forming this white stuff.
Is this proceeding as normal? When should I strain out the fruit?
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33 Replies
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all my wine eventually turned to vinegar
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Was that a good thing or a bad thing 😂
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It will do that if it continues to be exposed to air. It’s the natural fermentation progression. You have to seal it off to keep it from happening.
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I’ve made vinegar from pineapple scraps. Bubbling is normal. I think what you’re seeing on top is kahm yeast. It’s harmless. I just skimmed it off of mine, stirred and let it continue fermenting.
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I came across this video today that will probably answer your questions plus provide other valuable information. I’ve learned so much from Heidi!
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Cool, thanks, I will give it a watch this week!
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Excellent! Sounds like you’re having fun making them. I’ve made pineapple, banana, orange, mixed citrus, sweet potato, and cedar. Surprisingly, cedar is the best tasting of those.
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I used sweet potato peels (cleaned the potatoes before peeling) and added sugar. I made the cedar vinegar using clean cedar foliage and sugar. If I remember correctly, cedar has a good bit of vitamin C, so I would think that its vinegar should as well. I just take about a shot glass every now and then.
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I don’t think I have seen any cedar trees around here (coastal south TX), but I could try sweet potato peels. After watching those videos you linked, I was surprised to see that you can kinda vinegar anything, even that’s not inherently sugary.
My first batch of pineapple was strained this week and the second quart is a week or two behind. I want to get some PH strips to test its strength.
After thinking about it some more, I decided I probably won’t use these pineapple batches for cooking, because I used peel scraps from the pineapple and I have no idea what junk might have been on those peels that a simple rinse wouldn’t have removed. So I will maybe use these for cleaning. I’ll have to try making some stuff without possibly-chemical-coated peels next to actually use for foods.
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Maybe you can try pine needles if you don’t have cedar? Pine needles are high in vitamin C (you can extract it by making a tea from them) and would probably make a good dual purpose vinegar, good for cleaning or food usage.
I’ve mostly used my homemade vinegars in the rinse cycle of my washing machine as a softener/disinfectant.
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There aren’t pines around here, either… Mesquite, live oak, crepe myrtle, tallow, palm…
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Well, my first quart of pineapple scraps vinegar is done! I got some pH strips to test and it looks to be between 3 and 4, so I think that’s right on target.
Maybe this is just beginner stuff, but hey it worked!
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Excellent! Congratulations! That’s a great start. Success on the first vinegar gives a person a lot more confidence to try to make it with different bases.
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I have some apple vinegar and some pear vinegar brewing, both about 8 days old. Two gallons of each.
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This reply was modified 2 years ago by Bluesky63.
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That’s great! Please let us know how they turn out.
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This reply was modified 2 years ago by
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Drying apples here, so guess what I am making for the chicks and co.
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Thanks, I’ll keep an eye on it and look for the bubbles to stop.
It doesn’t smell bad. It just smells fermenty, kinda like my kombucha.
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I actually use my banana vinegar and just pour it from the jar into the washing machine softener dispenser. I filtered the vinegar through a fine mesh strainer and then through a cotton bandana before storing it in a jar. It’s fairly clear.
I’ve used my citrus vinegar the same way.
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I envy your dilemma of having too much basil and persimmon!! lol
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No. My cedar vinegar didn’t get thick. It looked something like Braggs apple cider vinegar, except for the color. Can you upload a picture? I’m curious to see what it looks like.
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That’s interesting. Thanks for the information, and please post an update if you find out anything more or if the vinegar continues to change.
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Looks nice! Did you pasteurize them? I don’t remember the details but I recall reading something about “live” vinegar going bad if not stored a certain way. At the very least, my most recent batch is really determined to grow a mother on top even with a lid on it
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No, I have not. And I will try some in the laundry this weekend!
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