The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-09-11

Vinegar is one of the condiments which every good cook regards as neces- sity on her pantry shelves. Used with discretion, food to which it is added will be transformed into a relish and will give zest to an otherwise nsipid meal Along with other groceries, vine gar has gone up in price since the war, until in many parts of the country 5l to 60 cents a gallon is now the retail market price. The making of vinegar at home is a simple process and not many years ago was practiced by nearly every one who could obtain the necessary fruit juice. With the present high price of vinegar there has been a revival of this old household art. Those who have set up vinegar keg or barrel, secure superior product and at the same time beat old high cost of living.
 FRUITS FOR VINEGAR
 Vinegar is usually made with apples, although grapes and oranges are also used to some extent. Certain other fruits, such as blackberries, figs, peaches. watermelons (after concentration of the juice), sorghum and cane syrup have been used with good results. Many wild fruits, such as the blackberry, elderberry and persimmon, which frequently are not completely or properly utilized, will make excellent vinegar, the United States de- partment of agriculture suggests As a matter of fact, any wholesome fruit or vegetable juice can be used for vinegar making, provided it contains sufficient sugar Some fruits, such as the guava or Kieffer pear, contain only 5 to 8 per cent of sugar, which is not sufficient to make strong satisfactory vinegar.
 Fruit used for making vinegar should be sound and fully ripe, for ripe fruit contains more sugar and consequently produces a stronger vinegar Partially decayed fruit is no better for vinegar making than for eating and should not -be used. Select sound, ripe fruit, wash thoroughly and remove all decaped por- tions. Crush either in a machine made for this purpose such as cider mill or small quantities in food chopper. Squeeze out the juice in a press and put into a clean barrel, keg or crock for fer mentation.
 Great care should be taken to have all the utensils thoroughly cleaned and to handle the fruit in a cleanly manner. If old kegs or barrels, especially old vinegar barrels, are used, they should be cleansed thoroughly and all traces of the old vinegar removed If this is not done, the old vinegar will interfere with the al coholic fermentation and possibly spoil the product.
 FERMENTATION WITH YEAST
 After the juice has been squeezed out add fresh yeast cake to every five gallons of juice. A good fermentation often results from chance inoculation with the wild yeast of the air. This is the method ordinarily followed in mak- ing cider vinegar. Experiments have shown, however, that a much stronger vinegar can be made by using yeast to start the fermentat tion. Work the yeast up thoroughly in about one-half cup of the juice and add to the expressed juice, stirring thoroughly. Cover with a cloth to keep insects from it and allow to ferment The best temperature for fermentation is between 80 and 90 de- grees. DO not put in cold cellar or the fermentation will be too slow. At 80 to 30 degrees alcoholic fermentation will usually be complete in from three to four days to a week. or when working starts, as indicated by the cessation of bubbling. The next step in the process is acetic acid fermentation, during which the alcohol is changed into acetic acid.
 After the bubbling stops it will be found advantageous to add some good, strong. fresh vinegar in the proportion of i gallon of vinegar to or gallons of fermented juice. Usually, however, no vinegar is added and the inoculation of the fermented juice with acetic acid bacteria is left to chance This chance