Vinegar is a commonly used thing in most of the recipes in all most all cuisines. It is used to give a typical flavor to a dish. This vinegar is available in the market very easily. But any thing made with our hands gives some satisfaction. So why don’t you make your own vinegar to flavor your dishes. Its a very interesting thing to do with a little set up of wine barrel in your home. If you put little effort and can wait for few months you can really enjoy the aroma of home made vinegar.
All you require to prepare a home made vinegar is, a small wine barrel which can hold 4-5 liters and some wine and a vinegar starter. You can use the left over wines after the parties for making vinegar. Since this process needs few days and the solution should not be disturbed, the barrel should be fixed at a particular location. Fix a wooden spigot to it by drilling a hole at its side, to drain the vinegar and drill two more holes on the sides which allows air flow.
Before using it clean the barrel by leaving some hot water whole night and by rinsing it the next morning. With the help of funnel add nearly one bottle of wine to the barrel and some vinegar starter through the bung hole. Set this to ferment at a temperature of 70-85 degree F, and don’t disturb it. It starts forming a layer of bacteria which floats on the wine and is used to convert wine in to vinegar. After 8-10 days add more wine and continue adding larger amounts every 10 days, for few months. The longer the fermenting period the higher will be aroma and taste of the vinegar.
After few months it is better to boil the vinegar so that any water content or the alcohol will get evaporated to make a concentrated vinegar. After it is cooled filter it in cheese cloth and store in clean dry bottles.
This is how you can make your homemade vinegar with wine barrel.