A few vinegars. L to R: wild plum, wild grape/serviceberry/blueberry/maple.
If you harvest your own fruit–any kind of fruit–you know how many leftover skins, seeds, pits, cooked stuff, raw stuff, and all kinds of other things are leftover from processing. So much scrap, from so much good fruit. If you’re anything like me, you may have wondered if there’s anything you can do with it. There is: fruit scrap vinegar.
I first started messing around with fruit scraps in nice restaurants I worked in where we would have all kinds of amazing fruit come in. After the processing, sometimes there would be things leftover, pits, skins, seeds–things I knew had really delicious solutes still hanging out in them, but I didn’t know what to do with. The first thing I started doing was infusing vinegar with spent grape pits and seeds–and it was shocking. The flavor was concentrated, pure, delicious. If you want to know more about that, see my post on fruit-infused vinegar here–it’s a great way to use fruit, especially berries.
This though, this is the older, more mature cousin to the infusion recipe. This is a straight-up, naturally fermented vinegar made from skins, seeds, pits, pulp, and just about anything else you can throw at it. I’ve made it with frozen fruit, dried, rehydrated fruit, fruit juice, skins–all kinds of stuff.
The Secret: Adding Live Vinegar and Grain Alcohol
The basic recipe is a hybrid of two of my favorites: one from the Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz, and the other by Rene Redzepi in the Noma Guide to Fermentation. The Sandor Katz recipe is the most basic, and it’s a great introduction–you just take fruit and sugar water, and let it ferment–it takes a long time, but it works. Rene’s recipe hastens the fermentation process by adding live vinegar, along with some grain alcohol to increase ABV, ensuring an acidic result, as if there isn’t enough sugar in the beginning product, you won’t have the amount of alcohol you need to get a good tart, tangy vinegar. That being said, I made the recipe for years before I started adding a bit of vodka to it, so know that it’s optional, and if you don’t have any, it’ll still work just fine.
What kind of fruit makes the best vinegar?
Berries. Well, berries, grapes and plums, at least from my experience. Typically I look for the deepest, darkest fruit I can find, but you can make it with other things, too–the sky is really the limit: pinneaples, mango skins–whatever. I will say that there’s something about a dark fruit vinegar I love though, so generally I use grapes, plums, or other dark colored berries. At the end of the day, you’re the scientist, so use whatever fruit you want and make a fun blend.
Update
Since some of you have been whining about the recipe seemingly complicated, I added a simple, classic fruit scrap vinegar to live alongside the accelerated one. Pick a method you like, and enjoy your new pet!
Fruit Scrap Vinegar
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 lb fruit scrap from juicing, etc skins, seeds, etc
- 2 Tablespoons living vinegar such as apple cider, or vinegar from a previous batch
- 2 qts water
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients and put into a container, such as a plastic food tub, gallon water jug, bucket, etc.
- Cover the lid with cheesecloth, secure with twine or a rubber band, and leave out at room temperature.
- After 1 month, strain out the solids, then pour the mixture into a half-gallon mason jar. Cover with cheesecloth and continue fermenting for another month or so, until the vinegar is good and strong. When it tastes sour like regular vinegar, screw a lid on the jar and store.
Fruit Scrap Vinegar
Ingredients
- 750 grams 3 ¼ cups water
- 172 grams 3/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon previous fruit vinegar, or apple cider vinegar with live cultures
- 184 grams 3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons 80 proof vodka
- 1 lb 2 packed cups fruit scrap from cooking, juicing, etc
- 50 grams 1/4 cup sugar
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a 2 quart sized container, cover with cheesecloth, and allow to ferment for 2 weeks at room temperature, stirring as often as you can remember (I use a wooden spoon).
- After two weeks, strain the vinegar and allow to continue fermenting, still covered with cloth, until you like the flavor, a month or two.
- When you're pleased with the flavor, and you can't taste any sweetness in the vinegar anymore, put it into jars and seal, then store in a cool dark place.
Hi! Just came across your website as I would like to make some fruit scrap vinegar. Is it ok to use fruit scraps that are previously frozen? And do I need to defrost it to room temperature when I’m making it? Thank you for your help!
Antonia
Yeah that’s fine, since you’re adding living vinegar here as an innoculant you can use anything: cooked fruit, frozen fruit, whatever.
I’d like to use dried fruit. What ratio of added sugar, water and dried fruit would you recommend?
Hey Jeffrey,
So this can work, and you can do it in any number of ways. What I would suggest is to take 1/2 cup of dried fruit (I’m assuming this is commercially dried fruit) and puree it with 4 cups of filtered water, along with a splash of living apple cider vinegar and 1/4 cup sugar. Leave it on the counter covered with cheesecloth and it will do what you want it to do.
I am in the process of making blackberry vinegar from scratch using the long process. I strained out the solids a couple weeks ago and now allowing the alcohol to ferment into vinegar. I tasted it recently and it has a very bitter flavor. My thoughts on what went wrong? Did I squeeze out the berries too much?
This is my third batch previous being Hawthorne, rose hip and Oregon grape. All of them turned out nicely without any bitterness.
Susanne, I’ve never had a problem with bitterness in any version I’ve done. I would let it keep fermenting and see what happens.
Hello Alan,
Thanks for all the wonderful information you share on your website!
I started a batch of goumi berry vinegar a few days ago and noticed today that there were little fruit maggots in it.
Gross yes, but I didn’t want to waste it so I strained out the fruit and critters. Will the resulting liquid still turn into vinegar?
Do I now stir that for a week or two before leaving it alone for a month? I did not add any grain alcohol but am wondering if that would help it along. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks!
Thanks Jeannie. As far as your question re: safety, it’s very safe. Bugs, unlike molds, are completely harmless in something like vinegar, and, as they carry natural yeast on their bodies, they will likely speed up the fermentation process. No need to add any alcohol, just leave the container ajar or covered with cheesecloth and you’re good to go. Larvae in fruit is a big problem though. I’ve been patiently watching my blackcap raspberries, raspberries and blackberries so I can harvest them the moment they’re ripe, even if I get them at their peak though, the spotted wing Drophosila fruit fly will probably have laid eggs in them. They’re an invasive pest that has been reeking havoc on all of the Rubus in my area. Sour cherries around here suffer from a similar larvae. Even the most infested fruits will still make an excellent vinegar though, and the lowering of the pH during the fermentation process is a sterilization method in itself, so there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. Let me know how it turns out for you, I’ve never had goumi berries!
I’ve made some vinegar from strawberries, and it turned out really nice, so recently I bought some more strawberries and left them in the fridge for too long, and some of them got mold on them, some of them got soft spots, so I took them out, trimmed them up, and washed them off. I then cooked them lightly because I didn’t want any mold spores sneaking in. I’ve never used any cooked fruit to make wine or vinegar, what’s your take on that? Using those older strawberries, and then cooking them a little bit really brought out a wonderful Aroma, I’m hoping it will carry over into the vinegar
Just remember that cooking things will destroy the natural yeast on them, so you may want to jump start it with a dash of whey, fermented brine, or sauerkraut juice.
You mention that mold isn’t good. I live in the Virgin Islands and I’m not sure whether what looks like mold on my vinegar is the “mother” or something I should be worried about. Can you tell me how to know? Thank you for your recipes. I’ve been using Sandor Katz’ book for several years and it’s nice to see the addition of vinegar and vodka. I’ll try it.
Shirley, what you have is likely Kahm yeast. It is not harmful, but it is pesky. Strain the liquid through a coffee filter.
This looks wonderful, thanks for sharing! Do you think I can replace vodka with gin? Since that’s what I have in the cupboard? Otherwise I have a light Japanese rum.
Use the rum
Thank you!