They do last forever in a fridge! And I find they nearly last just as long at room temperature (as long as they don't try out).
I couldn't agree more with you over Samhain. Whilst it's fun to have halloween spookiness, the reconnection with old customs and those who have gone before us is somewhat lacking in the modern celebrations.
If you have a small orchard you are apple rich. I give a lot of apples away, feed the neighbor's donkey and even the deer in my yard (sometimes I think this is not so wise a decision). I have been making apple scrap vinegar for years. Mostly it turns out to be very light and appley (?) in flavor. I love it! But sometimes it has a bitter flavor. This happens after I remove the apple scraps and allow it to further ferment on my counter. What am I doing wrong? I have also used my kombucha SCOBY to help my vinegar ferments. Is that a good practice? Thank you for any information on this lovely food subject.
I couldn't agree more! My best guess for your off flavour in your apple scrap vinegar issue is potentially some unseen yeast or other microbe making it's way in. Do you happen to pH test it at all? Apple scrap vinegar tends to be lighter and sometimes more heavily weighed towards lactic acid than acetic acid. Other players in the mix can produce different flavours, much like wild wine, ciders, and mead. For example, I've found my fruit scrap vinegars always develop kahm yeast for a period, which can impart a really unpleasant flavour and smell. But doing vinegar in two stage fermentation as I've written about has never had this problem. So that's my best guess. But without tasting it or seeing it for myself, I'm afraid I can't give a better answer than that. Using your kombucha SCOBY for vinegar making is a great idea! I do it all the time, as do many chefs I know in the industry. You can make all sorts of interesting vinegars like this that are otherwise not possible.
Thank you. I'll work on it. While the Arts and Sciences may run parallel they are different in approach. I am not a great observer or note taker. I'm excited by so many food experiments and this leaves me a bit helter-skelter. Sometimes I forget to label my creations.....that's no fun! I think I am a teacher's nightmare! Lol.
I know the feeling! I have to set myself reminders all the time! Some of these techniques become second nature, then there’s plenty of room for creativity as well.
Yet more of your enlightening genius Sam as well as yet another example of you being finely crafted wordsmith as well as a chef. You should write a book! 😇 (Not long now… ⏰).
Hello Sam, yes super cool recette avec toutes les informations instructives. Milles Merci, hâte la réception du Livre je si impatient de lire. Bonne journée à bientôt
At the Speciality Fine Food Show last month a South African company selling vinegar said that the plan was for the vineyard was to make wine but the wine was terrible but it made excellent vinegar! Tricky to charge as much per bottle though I suppose (though they were trying!!).
I've been fermenting my own out of organic apple peel. So far it tastes more like kombucha but I'm enjoying it!
That’s a great story! And there I am trying to persuade people that good wine makes great vinegar 😂 but I suppose bad wine has its uses! Your apple scrap vinegar is likely a more similar set of cultures than the vinegar in this article, as it ferments sugar to ethanol, then ethanol to acid at the same time. This is more similar to kombucha, but makes a different tasting product to a two stage vinegar. Both are delicious though!
Banyuls vinegar is fantastic - sadly it's not inexpensive (over $20 per bottle). I already loved various vinegars when I discovered this many years ago, and it quickly took a place near the top of my personal favorites. Homemade plum vinegar (procure ripe / local specimens if possible) is also exquisite...the list goes on and on. Cheers!
It's true, sadly the best vinegar is not cheap! But I don't mind supporting artisans when I can afford it. There is a great vinegar by Toro Albala that's £75! I've never tried it, but I've tried some of their others and they're amazing... I can only dream haha. The list is so long, and long may it continue! Cheers to you too!
I make vinegar from apple peels, water and a bit of sugar. It tastes great and I can still eat my apples ;-) I haven't tried to flavour it with herbs and spices, but I guess this will be my next step... I currently have three batches at different stages in the kitchen and more to come, as I still have a lot of apples !
Apple scrap vinegar is great! But I do often run into issues with consistency and kahm yeast. Have you found this? I find two stage fermentation more reliable for straight vinegar and use kombucha cultures for single stage like this. You must be living off apples at the moment :) We have a bounty too!
Thank you. I have been trying to make red and white wine vinegars and I have been failing. Maybe the alcohol content was too high? This gives me the courage to try again.
You're welcome Susan. Yes that sounds most likely. If you don't want to dilute the flavour of the wine or cook it, you can inoculate it with more raw vinegar and enough water to lower the ABV, then age it for a few months. The vinegar will slowly evaporate the excess water again and concentrate the flavour. Best of luck!
I have been making vinegars at home from many different products. When I made beer I made some vinegar too, rice vinegar took time but it was delicious. I never thought the result will depend on the ABV of the starting product but it does make sense now. My aim was to make something similar to balsamic vinegar. The closest to it I was when made my own wine (grapes in Poland don’t have much of the sugar I’m afraid) and made vinegar from it. When it was ready I reduced it in the pan making quite thick vinegar. It tasted amazing but more caramel taste due to little burn of the added sugar.
Do you have any recommendations how to make balsamic style vinegar at home?
I just tried the first step, cheated using a packaged wine yeast per you tuber. But the apples yielded zero juice. Very strange. It's been a week and just a jar of mush. I'm in the US and altho they were organic im wondering if they had that new wax on them that prevented the liquid from separating out. The amount of adulterated food here is ridiculous! I used a blender instead of a juicer. They were crisp and tasty as a plain apple, just no juice.
Did you press them at all? The first step is to crush/scrat the apple, then you need to press them to extract the juice. You can do this with a press or hand crank, or wrap it in a tea towel and squeeze it. There is usually a bit of juice that escapes prior to pressing, but to really get it out it needs that pressure.
Hello if home made cider organic is not available would a shop bought one work as a start for these recipes? I have a kombucha vinegar fermenting presently
Also understanding the alcohol content I find confusing ?
Hi Sheila, you can make it from any cider, especially if you have a raw vinegar mother or kombucha scoby to add. The main thing with alcohol content is to check the ABV on the bottle in the shop. As long as it's 9% or below, you are good to go! It only involves a bit of maths if you want to work with higher alcohol (ABV) drinks. I hope that helps! And thank you!
I've made vinegar from fruits and beer. Very easy to make. I store my mothers in the refrigerator; I've read they can last virtually forever!
I also love drinking vinegars, and usually just take in a good ACV, but I've tried it with cabernet, honey, and champagne vinegars. All are fantastic.
Great to see you mention the thinning veil of Samhain. This time of year is perfect for reconnecting with old customs!
They do last forever in a fridge! And I find they nearly last just as long at room temperature (as long as they don't try out).
I couldn't agree more with you over Samhain. Whilst it's fun to have halloween spookiness, the reconnection with old customs and those who have gone before us is somewhat lacking in the modern celebrations.
If you have a small orchard you are apple rich. I give a lot of apples away, feed the neighbor's donkey and even the deer in my yard (sometimes I think this is not so wise a decision). I have been making apple scrap vinegar for years. Mostly it turns out to be very light and appley (?) in flavor. I love it! But sometimes it has a bitter flavor. This happens after I remove the apple scraps and allow it to further ferment on my counter. What am I doing wrong? I have also used my kombucha SCOBY to help my vinegar ferments. Is that a good practice? Thank you for any information on this lovely food subject.
I couldn't agree more! My best guess for your off flavour in your apple scrap vinegar issue is potentially some unseen yeast or other microbe making it's way in. Do you happen to pH test it at all? Apple scrap vinegar tends to be lighter and sometimes more heavily weighed towards lactic acid than acetic acid. Other players in the mix can produce different flavours, much like wild wine, ciders, and mead. For example, I've found my fruit scrap vinegars always develop kahm yeast for a period, which can impart a really unpleasant flavour and smell. But doing vinegar in two stage fermentation as I've written about has never had this problem. So that's my best guess. But without tasting it or seeing it for myself, I'm afraid I can't give a better answer than that. Using your kombucha SCOBY for vinegar making is a great idea! I do it all the time, as do many chefs I know in the industry. You can make all sorts of interesting vinegars like this that are otherwise not possible.
Thank you. I'll work on it. While the Arts and Sciences may run parallel they are different in approach. I am not a great observer or note taker. I'm excited by so many food experiments and this leaves me a bit helter-skelter. Sometimes I forget to label my creations.....that's no fun! I think I am a teacher's nightmare! Lol.
I know the feeling! I have to set myself reminders all the time! Some of these techniques become second nature, then there’s plenty of room for creativity as well.
This is awesome!! Thank you for your generosity in sharing such a wealth of information!
You're very welcome!
Yet more of your enlightening genius Sam as well as yet another example of you being finely crafted wordsmith as well as a chef. You should write a book! 😇 (Not long now… ⏰).
Thank you Martin! I prefer the term wordsmith to author! It sounds so much cooler!
Far cooler than me… I missed out an ‘a’! 😂
As a dyslexic man myself, I wouldn't worry about it 😂
We’re all different sizes and colours of bubbles I guess? 🙃
Hello Sam, yes super cool recette avec toutes les informations instructives. Milles Merci, hâte la réception du Livre je si impatient de lire. Bonne journée à bientôt
Cordialement
Vous êtes le bienvenu ! Je suis ravi que cela vous ait plu, et j'espère que vous aimerez le livre ! À vous aussi,
Cordialement,
Sam
At the Speciality Fine Food Show last month a South African company selling vinegar said that the plan was for the vineyard was to make wine but the wine was terrible but it made excellent vinegar! Tricky to charge as much per bottle though I suppose (though they were trying!!).
I've been fermenting my own out of organic apple peel. So far it tastes more like kombucha but I'm enjoying it!
That’s a great story! And there I am trying to persuade people that good wine makes great vinegar 😂 but I suppose bad wine has its uses! Your apple scrap vinegar is likely a more similar set of cultures than the vinegar in this article, as it ferments sugar to ethanol, then ethanol to acid at the same time. This is more similar to kombucha, but makes a different tasting product to a two stage vinegar. Both are delicious though!
Banyuls vinegar is fantastic - sadly it's not inexpensive (over $20 per bottle). I already loved various vinegars when I discovered this many years ago, and it quickly took a place near the top of my personal favorites. Homemade plum vinegar (procure ripe / local specimens if possible) is also exquisite...the list goes on and on. Cheers!
It's true, sadly the best vinegar is not cheap! But I don't mind supporting artisans when I can afford it. There is a great vinegar by Toro Albala that's £75! I've never tried it, but I've tried some of their others and they're amazing... I can only dream haha. The list is so long, and long may it continue! Cheers to you too!
Apparently they sell a 50 year old balsamic for £125! https://886557.28.ekm.shop/toro-albala---gran--reserva-50-years-balsamic-vinegar-px--250ml-681-p.asp
I make vinegar from apple peels, water and a bit of sugar. It tastes great and I can still eat my apples ;-) I haven't tried to flavour it with herbs and spices, but I guess this will be my next step... I currently have three batches at different stages in the kitchen and more to come, as I still have a lot of apples !
Apple scrap vinegar is great! But I do often run into issues with consistency and kahm yeast. Have you found this? I find two stage fermentation more reliable for straight vinegar and use kombucha cultures for single stage like this. You must be living off apples at the moment :) We have a bounty too!
Thank you. I have been trying to make red and white wine vinegars and I have been failing. Maybe the alcohol content was too high? This gives me the courage to try again.
You're welcome Susan. Yes that sounds most likely. If you don't want to dilute the flavour of the wine or cook it, you can inoculate it with more raw vinegar and enough water to lower the ABV, then age it for a few months. The vinegar will slowly evaporate the excess water again and concentrate the flavour. Best of luck!
Great read- thank you!
I have been making vinegars at home from many different products. When I made beer I made some vinegar too, rice vinegar took time but it was delicious. I never thought the result will depend on the ABV of the starting product but it does make sense now. My aim was to make something similar to balsamic vinegar. The closest to it I was when made my own wine (grapes in Poland don’t have much of the sugar I’m afraid) and made vinegar from it. When it was ready I reduced it in the pan making quite thick vinegar. It tasted amazing but more caramel taste due to little burn of the added sugar.
Do you have any recommendations how to make balsamic style vinegar at home?
I just tried the first step, cheated using a packaged wine yeast per you tuber. But the apples yielded zero juice. Very strange. It's been a week and just a jar of mush. I'm in the US and altho they were organic im wondering if they had that new wax on them that prevented the liquid from separating out. The amount of adulterated food here is ridiculous! I used a blender instead of a juicer. They were crisp and tasty as a plain apple, just no juice.
Did you press them at all? The first step is to crush/scrat the apple, then you need to press them to extract the juice. You can do this with a press or hand crank, or wrap it in a tea towel and squeeze it. There is usually a bit of juice that escapes prior to pressing, but to really get it out it needs that pressure.
Hello if home made cider organic is not available would a shop bought one work as a start for these recipes? I have a kombucha vinegar fermenting presently
Also understanding the alcohol content I find confusing ?
Brilliant newsletter loved it thank you
Hi Sheila, you can make it from any cider, especially if you have a raw vinegar mother or kombucha scoby to add. The main thing with alcohol content is to check the ABV on the bottle in the shop. As long as it's 9% or below, you are good to go! It only involves a bit of maths if you want to work with higher alcohol (ABV) drinks. I hope that helps! And thank you!