[ryang]

My wife let me buy some future vinegar crocks while shopping for a wedding shower at bed bath beyond...



One will be cider vingear and the other will be red wine vinegar.  Now just gotta get some hard cider and wine in there.  They are one gallon in volume.

[morticaixavier]

Eventually I'll decant some off, dilute it to 4-5% acidity, and use it.

Unless you break out the acid tester I wouldn't use it for preservation over the long haul (Pickles and such) unless you know the actual % acid it can be dangerous (botulism etc.) other than that sounds yum.

[tschmidlin]

My wife let me buy some future vinegar crocks while shopping for a wedding shower at bed bath beyond...

Those look great, and a good size too.  Nice grab.

Unless you break out the acid tester I wouldn't use it for preservation over the long haul (Pickles and such) unless you know the actual % acid it can be dangerous (botulism etc.) other than that sounds yum.

I just plan on using it for marinades and salad dressing and stuff.

[ryang]

I just plan on using it for marinades and salad dressing and stuff.

Same, and maybe throwing some in flip top bottles to give away to friends/family for the same purpose.

[corkybstewart]

I've got a batch of crabapple cider brewing right now.  When it's done I'll buy some WalMart apple juice, pour it onto the yeast cake and then turn it into cider vinegar. 

[ryang]

so here's a thought I just had for the cider vinegar.

say I ferment in my jars I just got, then pitch the vinegar 'mother' and everything turns nicely.  Is the yeast in there from initial fermentation any good?  Reason being, I'm wondering if you could then just add plain apple juice to top things up and still get fermentation and then conversion to acetic acid.

 

[corkybstewart]

I don't think that would work at all but maybe somebody else will tell you it will work. 

[tschmidlin]

It probably depends on how long it's been sitting.  Chronological aging of yeast (which is its ability to re-enter the cell cycle after a period of no-growth) is affected to a large extent by pH and specifically acetic acid.  Some friends of mine proved it quite nicely.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19305133

Keep in mind, the concentration of acetic acid in their experiments is much lower than you'll find in your vinegar.  They didn't do any tests at that level of acidity, or in cider, or with wild yeasts, so their finding may not apply to your case.

[ryang]

interesting.  thanks for the blurb on that tom.  Based on that, I would have to believe that it wouldn't work.  Acidity would probably be around 5.5%.  That probably wouldn't bode well for the little critters.