Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-01-11
MAKING OF VINEGAR,
sour Condiment Manufactured from a va
ftety of Materials, Including Wood.

Sour condiment Manufactured from q va
fety or Materials, Including Wood.
While vinegar is used in the daily
meal, yet it passes as something never
Questioned and little known about. 1t
is a condiment upon which much of
the oelcate havoring of food depends.
It's mere "acidity," however. is not the
oniv requisite to good quality.
originally vinegar, as its name implies,
was made only from wine. 1t was the
only acid known to the ancients. In
lo4O, Glauber, a celebrated alchemist,
speaks of a product obtained by the
dry distillation of wood in a way
which shows his appreciation of its
identity with vinegar, and states that
by rectification it can be made as good
as wine vinegar.
1t is very difficult, in modern manu-
facture, to give precise definition of
this product. The so-called viuepars
OF commerce may be chemically diyid-
ed into two classes; those which are
the consecutive alcoholic and acetous
lamentations, and those which are
not Under the tirst-class come those
made from, first, wine; second, spirits:
third. malt-wort or beer; fourth. fer
mented fruit juices other than wine,
and fifth, sugar beets. Under the sec
ond class, vinegar manufactured from
the destructive distillation of wood
forms the chief variety.
The wines used are both red and
white, of inferior quality, or considered
unfit for drinking New wines are not
good for this purpose, as they are apt
to undergo putrid or ropy fermenta-
ton. In addition to acetic acid, the
wine vinegar contains various acids, but
especially tartaric and succinic,
the latter imparting the peculiarly
agreeable flavor and odor. The spirits
used are chiefly the potato brandy of
Germany and whisky in this country.
This makes really an artificial wine
vinegar containing only water, acetic
acid and IA small quantity of acetic
ether. Cider and perry are about the
only fruit juices beside wine ferrnented
for the production of vinegar Malic
acid is its characteristic flavoring ele-
ment- Beer, grain or malt-wort vine
gar contains eXtractive matters, as
deXtrine, heterogeneous substances and
pho sphoric acid. Sugar-beets.are used
somewhat in France. Artificial glu-
cose, cane sugar and molasses vinegars
have been, used in England to adulter-
ate the molt vinegar. The above
named constitute the true or genuine
vinegars. All others are not viregars.
In any proper sense, and should be sold
under some brand indicating their
source or nature of manufacture.
At the present time the Society of
Public Analysis of London is investi-
eating the manufacture of vinegar.
They do not enter upon Il hygienic ex-
animation, but urge the necessity of
government inspection and proper Ia
bcling: the same point that has so fire.
quently been urged in the bulletins of
the United States agricultural depart
ment- The fictitious vinegars are most
1y pyroligneous acids, with acetic ether
added as f1avoring. Fusil oil, oil of
cloves, and butyric ether are added to
times found in cheap vinegars, it's pur-
poses being more to prevent putrefac
ton than as an adulteration.
Briefly, the history of the manufac-
ture of vinegar is this: All oxidizing
agents convert alcohol first into aide
hyde and then into acetic acid. Fer
mented liquors, when exposed to the
air. soon become sour. This depends
upon the fact that they contain nitro
genous compounds, which act as car
riers of atmospheric oxygen. This,
however, can only take place when the
percentage of alcohol does not ex-
coed a certain limit. 1t is for this rea-
son that strong wine. such as port or
sherry, does not become sour on expo
sure to air. This oxygen-carrying
body is the acetic ferment. This fer
ment is always floating in the air, and
when it falls into conditions suitable
for it's development it very rapidly null
tiplies. These ferments grow on the
surface of the liquid where the oxygen
is, forming n gelatine skin, which by
its increasing weight falls to the bot
tom. Another skin forms, and this
process goes on till the liquid is ex-
hausted of it's assimilata BILE material.
The skin, called the mother of vine
gar" consists of a multitude of the
minute ferments. One hundred pounds
of alcohol require three hundred
pounds of air to convert it into acetie