Take two

Homemade vinegar...take two.

My first attempt at vinegar was a failure that, after producing green fuzz instead of white foam, finally ended in the compost heap.

My second attempt, however, seems to be working! Hooray!!!

For those of you that missed my first post, making vinegar is supposed to be very easy. It takes only three ingredients and time.

The recipe I followed can be found here.

The mistake I made last time was keeping it too cool... The jar that I made it in was too tall to be kept in any of my kitchen cabinets, and my "pantry" is far too cool for most fermentation to take place. (Which is kind of the idea.) Anyhow, this time I made it in a smaller jar, and kept in in the kitchen cabinet, which is dark and stays between 65-70*. And this time it worked!

Beautiful white foam, clean light colored apple scraps and the first hints of a vinegar scent. Hooray!!!

Today, I am straining the juice that is in the jar (more of a syrup actually) into a sterilized quart jar, and putting a bit of cheese cloth on it... then back into the cabinet it goes for another six weeks. 

For those who love visuals... here is a quick tutorial with some photos.

Step One:
Mix  1/4 cup sugar with 1 quart of water. Pour over apple peels and cores until apples are completely submerged. (I put a jar on top of mine to help keep them under the liquid. Place in a dark area where the temperature stays between 65-85* Leave for one week. (I put paper towels under my jar because it foamed up and over!)



 Step Two:
After one week, you should have white foam on it. Strain the juice into a sterilized quart jar.

 Step Three:
Cover with cheesecloth and label with a date  6 weeks in the future. Put it back into your cool dark spot and in 6 weeks you should have a simple homemade cider vinegar! (I'll post that picture in six weeks.)


 Meanwhile, if you have any apples, you can start again! And if you have any left over juice (I did not) You can leave it in your jar... its supposed to speed up the process a bit.

 I'll let you know how it tastes in about 6 weeks!