Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 220, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 September 1918 — MAKING VINEGAR ON SMALL SCALE Important for Housewife to Prepare Her Own Supply for Use This Year. USE SOUND AND RIPE FRUIT [ARTICLE]

MAKING VINEGAR ON SMALL SCALE Important for Housewife to Prepare Her Own Supply for Use This Year.

USE SOUND AND RIPE FRUIT

Contain More Sugar Than When Green or Underripe and Consequently Produce Stronger Article— Kegs Should Be Clean. Since war industries are using great quantities of acetic acid, the acid present in vinegar, in the* manufacture of airplane wings, and in many other ways in munitions of\war, the demand on the commercial vinegar plants renders the making of vinegar in the home more important than ever before. The directions given below are for making vinegar on a small scale for household use. While the principle is the same/fn manufacturing on a com-' ''mercial /Seale, different methods are employed in handling large quantities. The fruit used for making vinegar shouldlbe sound and fully ripe. Partially atecayed fruit is no better for vinegar making than for eating and should not be used. Fruits, when ripe, contain more sugar than when green or underripe and consequently produde a stronger vinegar. Cider Mill or Food Chopper. For these reasons select sound, ripe fruit. Wash thoroughly and remove all decayed portions. Crush either in a machine made for this purpose, such, as a cider mill, or, for small .quantities, run through a food chopper. Squeeze out the juice in a press and put into a clean barrel, keg or crock for fermentation. If press is not available, allow the mass to ferment for two or three days and then squeeze by hand through cheesecloth. More juice is obtained in this way. Great care should be taken to have all the utensils thoroughly clean 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 alcoholic fermentation and possibly spoil the product. After the juice has been squeezed out, add a fresh compressed yeast cake to every five gallons of the juice.

Work the yeast up thoroughly In about one-half cup of the juice and add to the expressed juice, stirring it thoroughly. • Cover with a cloth to keep Insects away and allow to ferment. The best temperature for fermentation is between 80 and 90 degrees F. Do not put in a cold cellar, as is the custom in many localities, or tlfe fermentation will be too slow. At 80 to 90 degrees F. alcoholic fermentation will usually be complete in from three' to four days to a week. In other words, it will stop “wording,” as indicated by the cessation of bubbling. It is now ready for the acetic acid fermentation, during which the alcohol is changed into acetic acid. Add Some Strong Vinegar. After the active alcoholic fermentation (bubbling) stops, it will be found advantageous to add some good, strong, fresh vinegar in the proportion of one gallon of vinegar to three gallons of fermented juice. Instead of the; vinegar one can adda good quantity of the so-called “mother.** If “mother” is used, however, one should use only that growing on the surface of the vinegar, and not that which has gone to the bottom. Vinegar mother' which has fatten to the bottom.is no longer producing acetic add. . , After adding the vinegar, cover with a cloth and keep in a dark place be-

tween 70 and 80 degrees F., preferably at 80 to 85 degrees F. Do not disturb the film that forms, for this is the true mother, the acetic acid bacteria which turn the fermented juice to vinegar. Do not exclude the air. The acetic acid bacteria must' have air for growth. Tastethe juice every week, and when it is sour, as it will become—that is, doesn’t Increase in acid, or when it is as sour as desired — syphon off and store in kegs, jugs or bottles, filled full and stoppered tight. If this is not done after reaching the maximum acidity, the acid will gradually disappear and the vinegar will “turn to water.” If stored in wellstoppered, full receptacles, this cannot happen, for the absence of air prevents this change. If the directions are followed, especially as regards temperature, the process will usually be completed in six weeks to two months in cases where only a few gallons of juice are used. Apple vinegar may clarify itself spontaneously, but if it should remain cloudy and turbid, must be clarified to make a nlce-appearing product. A common method is to store the vinegar in barrels, undisturbed for a considerable time, and then “rack offthat is, draw off carefully, so as not to disturb the sediment. This is repeated several times, hnd Usually gives a fairly clear product.