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Vinegar, Pickles, and Pickling: Bore

Bore, around the outside of the barrel an inch below the false bottom, a row of inch auger holes slanting downward from without 2 or 3 inches apart. These are necessary to admit the air. Fill the barrel from the false bottom to within 4 or 5 inches of the top with maple, beech, or basswood chips previously soaked for three or four days in first-class vinegar.

Methods of Making Vinegar.

There are two principal ways of making vinegar - the slow and the quick process. In the former the al- - Now cut another cask of somewhat smaller size in halves. Bore the bottom of one half barrel full of gimlet holes the size of a goose quill or about inch in diameter. Cover this with cotton batting or yarn, and place it on top of the barrel resting on cross slats or upon the chips.

Insert a spigot into the cask below the false bottom, slanting downward to the bottom of the cask but having HOLES YARN WOOD CHIPS AIR CURI PERFORATED BOTTOM SAND -CLOTH VINEGAR "Vinegar by the Quick or German Process" its opening just below the level of the row of air holes, and place be-' neath the spigot the other half barrel, protected by a wooden cover from dust and dirt.

The alcoholic liquor poured into the upper half barrel causes the yarn or cotton in the bottom to swell and fill the gimlet holes, whence the liquor drops through upon the chips. The process of fermentation produces heat, which causes a current of air to rise through the openings for that purpose below the false bottom, and to meet the alcoholic liquor as it percolates drop by drop through the chips. The air current escapes between the bottom of the upper half barrel and the top edges of the large cask. Thus the action of the oxygen in the air in turning the alcohol into acetic acid is made very rapid.

The vinegar, after passing through the sand and flannel strainer, and the false bottom, accumulates in the bottom of the barrel but cannot escape through the spigot until it reaches the level of its mouth, or a depth of 8 or 10 inches. It is then first drawn from the bottom where its strength is greatest. And the strong vinegar thus accumulated assists in the process of fermentation. To use this apparatus, pour in about 4 gallons of alcoholic liquor or "wash" every hour with the addition of 1 quart to make up for the waste.

And withdraw every hour about 4 gallons of vinegar from the bottom.

The first product must be ladled back into the upper half barrel, run through again and again, when it will be converted into vinegar in three or four days. It must then be poured into a clean tank or cask, and one or two quarts of molasses added to it each day, until the molasses settles in a bed 3 or 4 inches thick. This improves the flavor of the vinegar and gives it a fine color. This process is the quickest and most satisfactory that has ever been devised. And as the apparatus is inexpensive, and the product is more salable than ordinary vinegar, there would seem to be no reason why it could not be utilized by grocers and other dealers in vinegar, or by private families or individuals either for domestic use or for sale.

Water for Vinegar.-Pure soft or distilled water ought to be used for the manufacture of good vinegar, and if the water is not pure it should be purified by filtering through charcoal.

Wash or Liquors for Vinegar.- The commonest alcoholic liquor used for commercial vinegar in this country consists of about 3 gallons of corn whisky, 4 gallons of good commercial vinegar, and 33 gallons of pure water.

Or 50 gallons of 60 per cent whisky and 37 gallons of beer or maltwort.

Or 2 gallons of brandy, 4 gallons of vinegar, and 12 gallons of water, VINEGAR, PICKLES, AND PICKLING with the addition, to promote fermentation, of about 1 gallon of an infusion of equal parts bran and rye meal. Or use 1½ pounds of sugar to each gallon of pure water.

Or gallon of water to 2 gallons of cider. Add to the above in all cases 2 quarts of yeast to every barrel of the liquor. To Ferment Vinegar. The process of making vinegar requires the presence of the minute vegetable organisms called yeast, and is greatly hastened by conditions favorable to their growth. This is the reason that vinegar is made more rapidly in hot than in cold weather, and that the temperature of 75° to 80° F. hastens the process. The germs of yeast are, of course, present in large numbers in the lees and mother of old vinegar and also in the vinegar which is soaked into the fiber of the cask.

Hence old vinegar barrel, if sound, is preferable to a new one.

The germs of yeast are also present in ordinary vinegar, and if 1 gallon of sound vinegar can be added to each 3 or 5 gallons of cider or other alcoholic liquor or "wash" from which vinegar is to be made, no other yeast will be necessary. an Or good brewers' yeast may be added to the alcoholic liquor at the rate of about of a pint to each 12 gallons.

Or homemade hop yeast at the rate of 1½ pints to 12 gallons. The "wash" should be at a temperature of about 75° or 80° F. when the yeast is added, and should be kept at or near that temperature while the vinegar is being made. Yeast must not be scalded as a temperature above 140° F. kills it. When old vinegar darrels are employed, or ordinary vinegar is put into new casks to hasten fermentation, care must be taken that the vinegar formerly made in the casks, or used for this purpose, is of the same kind and of at least equally good quality to the desired product. That is, if a fine quality of cider vinegar is desired, only casks that have been used in making pure cider vinegar, or the best grade of cider vinegar itself should be used in the process.

Or boil until tender 1½ pints of shelled corn to each gallon of the "wash" and add this in place of yeast to promote fermentation. When the vinegar is sour enough, strain it through cheese cloth to remove the corn and let stand another week to clarify.

Money in Vinegar. -Grocers and other merchants who sell vinegar at retail should make their own vinegar.

They can thus, by employing only the best materials, guarantee a pure article. They can also materially increase their profits. In fact, any person living in the country or small town, can profitably manufacture vinegar for family use and also, if desired, by producing a pure and genuine article can build up a neighborhood trade. To do this it is only necessary to leave samples, with price attached, at the neighboring houses and keep always on hand a sufficient quantity of first-class vinegar. The commercial article is so often adulterated with injurious acids that most persons will prefer to buy homemade vinegar at the market rates or better and a satisfactory profit will be assured.

Cheap Molasses Vinegar. To make vinegar by the slow process, fill a large jug, keg, or cask with a mixture consisting of 1 quart of best New Orleans molasses, 1 pint of yeast to each 3 gallons of warm rain water. Tie a piece of cheese cloth over the bung to keep out dust and insects, but to admit the air. Place the receptacle out of doors in the sun during hot weather. Or in cold weather let it stand near the kitchen stove. It will be converted into vinegar in from three weeks to a month. When it gets low, draw off a supply for family use, leaving more or less old vinegar with the mother and lees in the bottom of the cask. Fill up with new liquid in the same proportions, and let stand until converted into vinegar as before.

Or dissolve a pound of lightbrown "A" or coffee sugar in 2 gallons of soft warm water. Add 3 pints of homemade hop yeast or 1½ pints of good brewers' yeast to each 12 gallons. Pour al into a suitable keg or cask.