Oh the left over bottle of red wine! It feels like a loss even though you can’t in good conscience drink entire bottles by yourself…even in a pandemic. So there they sit on my counter, week after week, until I have enough to make a giant batch of vinegar.
Making vinegar is very easy if you have a mother. A mother is the term given to a starter for bread, cheese, and wine among other fermented foods. It’s a floppy, gelatinous disk that gets placed in the bottom of your vinegar-making jar and can be reused for decades to come. You can pick one up on Amazon or Etsy for a little as $6 and then you’ll be ready to go.
The concoction needs a cool, dark place to do its thing…so a basement or closet is perfect. In 6-8 weeks you should have nice vinegar that you can use for all of your obvious (salad dressings, sauces, and marinades) and less obvious (soups, desserts, and pickling) dishes.
Below is a tried and true recipe from The New York Times that will work well if this is your first attempt at making vinegar. This may not save you a bundle, but even a savings of $25/year is well worth the 10 minute effort.
Homemade Red Wine Vinegar
Serving:
Makes however much wine you have available minus an inch or so of evaporation.
You’ll need:
Leftover wine
1 Mother
1C. Water
A piece of cheese cloth
A Rubber band
Mason Jar
Directions:
Place the mother in the bottom of a large jar. Add the wine.
Close lid and gently shake.
Open lid. Add water.
Cover with cheesecloth and secure with rubber band.
Check occasionally to be sure no mold is forming.
It’s ready for use when it makes your mouth pucker.
Save the mother in an airtight container, at room temperature, immersed in vinegar.
Use for the next calendar year.
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Incidentally, according to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, “vinegar syndrome” is term used to describe the chemical reaction that goes on during the deterioration of cellulose triacetate film support.
When cellulose triacetate begins to decompose, ‘deacetylation’ occurs and the acetate ion reacts with moisture to form acetic acid, producing a vinegar odour when the can is opened.
The presence of the odour does not mean the film has degraded, but rather that the reaction is taking place. However, the reaction is continuous, and once started, it cannot be stopped or reversed. In fact, the reaction is autocatalytic, which means it feeds on itself and speeds up over time. The acid produced can also react with the dyes in colour films, causing dye fading and damage to both the image as well as the base.
And brazenly enough, there is a film distribution company called Vinegar Syndrome out of Bridgeport, Connecticut that dedicates itself to the preservation and restoration of genre film. To stay completely on brand, Paul’s Fish and Chips in Bridgeport is supposed to be the very best.
Go forth armed with this new vinegar knowledge and multiply.