I was doing a little research this week about storing vinegar - which by the way stores indefinately - and found out how easy it is to make your own.  This is a handy skill to have, especially in a grid-down, long-term emergency situation.

Vinegar has been used for thousands of years as a food, cleaning product and medicinal treatment.  It can clean the grease off your car wheels and is safe enough to use with children and pets.  You can even use it as a teeth and mouth cleaner - just brush or rinse weekly.  Vinegar will kill mold and gives a boost to bleach’s power.  It’s also a green way to kill weeds and pests in your garden.

Vinegar made at home will not look like the clear vinegar you’re used to buying - unless you have the means to distill it.  Vinegar can be made from almost anything that contains sugar or starch and takes place through a fermentation process.  Here are the basics you’ll need to make your own:

• A container with a wide mouth, it should be glass, enamel or stainless steel, you could use wood, but glass works great.
• Cheescloth to cover the container.
• Fresh fruit juice, cider or you can use fruit scraps.
• Starter culture (you can use some of your unpasturized vinegar, or buy some Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar.
• A dark, warm place.

Pour about 1 quart of starter into the container.

Pour 1 quart of juice into the container.

Put the mix in a warm dark place.  Check it regularly until it’s as strong as you like.  For your first time you might want to buy a testing kit - vinegar should be at least 4% acidity, but it could be slightly higher.

Strain the vinegar through a coffee filter and bottle in an airtight container.  Let this sit for at least 6 months for best results, but it can be used immediately although the taste will be quite strong.  You can also pasturize your vinegar, which will allow you to store it indefinately. 

How to pasturize vinegar:

Heat the vinegar and pour into sterilized bottles or jars.  place in a hot water bath and heat until at least 140 degrees (do not exceed 160 degrees F).  Cool containers and store in a cool dark place.

Some of vinegar’s many uses:

Dab on insect bites to stop the itching

Soothe sunburn

Use as an antiseptic on cuts and scrapes

Use as an aftershave lotion

Eliminates bad breath and whitens teeth

Kills weeds and grass

Gets rid of rust on sigots and tools

Kills slugs

Removes lime buildup

Removes some carpet stains - test first!

Kills germs on door knobs and any nonpourous surface (except marble)

Whitens clothes and can remove some stains

Kills fleas on pets