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Blackberry vinegar is my number one favourite, and it began as an end of summer holiday family ritual when I was growing up .For us Blackberry picking always began on the last Sunday of the annual school summer holiday. The resulting Blackberry harvest provided our family for several months to come with; jams, pies, syrups, cordials and vinegars, etc. It was a tradition that I continued with my children, becoming a much looked forward to, end of summer ritual.
My Mother and Grandmother both swore by Blackberry vinegar as a cure all for coughs, colds, sore throats and the flu. No doubt this is because of the amounts of vinegar and Blackberries used; I have read somewhere that Blackberries are one of the few fruits that do not experience the destruction of vitamin C when they are cooked.
You can use virtually any soft fruit or berries to make a fruit vinegar, and other favourites of mine are; Blackcurrant, Blueberry, Logan Berry, Raspberry and Strawberry. Although in the past I have also used Apples, Pears, Peaches, Damsons and Plums
Here is a link to the alternative method that iI also use to make fruit Vinegars: http://www.instructables.com/id/Fruit-Vinegars-Alternative-Method/
Normally I would pick the berries when they are in season, However, it is the middle of December and so I have cheated a little, by purchasing 1 Kg of frozen Black Forest fruits from one of the major supermarkets. This fruit and Berry mix consists of; Blackberries, Raspberries, Blackcurrants, Black Cherries, Black Grapes and Strawberries.
The other ingredients for this fruit vinegar are; 2 litres of Malt vinegar, and 2 Kg of white granulated sugar. Note; if you pay attention you will notice that I was not fully prepared, and only had a little over 1.5 kg of sugar available and so I was reduced to ad-libbing, by utilising 425g of clear honey (keep your eyes on the sugar jar behind the kettle in the photos). You can make a fruit vinegar with Honey, but that is usually in a 50-50 ratio with the sugar. I have made this batch of fruit vinegar in the ratio of 3 parts sugar, and 1 part Honey. Normally I would make fruit vinegar in the ratio of; 1 kg fruit, 1 kg Sugar, and 1 Litre of Vinegar.
My Mother and Grandmother both swore by Blackberry vinegar as a cure all for coughs, colds, sore throats and the flu. No doubt this is because of the amounts of vinegar and Blackberries used; I have read somewhere that Blackberries are one of the few fruits that do not experience the destruction of vitamin C when they are cooked.
You can use virtually any soft fruit or berries to make a fruit vinegar, and other favourites of mine are; Blackcurrant, Blueberry, Logan Berry, Raspberry and Strawberry. Although in the past I have also used Apples, Pears, Peaches, Damsons and Plums
Here is a link to the alternative method that iI also use to make fruit Vinegars: http://www.instructables.com/id/Fruit-Vinegars-Alternative-Method/
Normally I would pick the berries when they are in season, However, it is the middle of December and so I have cheated a little, by purchasing 1 Kg of frozen Black Forest fruits from one of the major supermarkets. This fruit and Berry mix consists of; Blackberries, Raspberries, Blackcurrants, Black Cherries, Black Grapes and Strawberries.
The other ingredients for this fruit vinegar are; 2 litres of Malt vinegar, and 2 Kg of white granulated sugar. Note; if you pay attention you will notice that I was not fully prepared, and only had a little over 1.5 kg of sugar available and so I was reduced to ad-libbing, by utilising 425g of clear honey (keep your eyes on the sugar jar behind the kettle in the photos). You can make a fruit vinegar with Honey, but that is usually in a 50-50 ratio with the sugar. I have made this batch of fruit vinegar in the ratio of 3 parts sugar, and 1 part Honey. Normally I would make fruit vinegar in the ratio of; 1 kg fruit, 1 kg Sugar, and 1 Litre of Vinegar.
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Signing UpStep 1The preperation:
First let the pack of fruit thaw out. Obviously if you have picked the fruit and berries yourself, you will not have to go through this stage.
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I would love just the text version as well, as I don't want to print out all the photos!
This makes me want to take some blackberries out of the freezer right now!
Can I substitute Cider vinegar for the Malt vinegar?
Thank you for the comments: I have no idea what happened to the text and why it is missing, but I'll bring it back up to date when I find the main files on my PC.
Cider vinegar is also very good to use, so is white wine vinegar, and spirit vinegar.
A couple comments/questions! First, do you have to use malt vinegar? Or can any vinegar work? I ask because malt is not the kind I usually buy for other uses anyway, I usually use apple cider.
Second; I know you have a lot of great photos for the hot work step, but for those of us who are text-based people (especially when I'm cooking), could you add some text to this step? Thanks! :D
My preference is for the sharp sour taste of fruit vinegars. But Apple, Cider, Rice, Wine, etc, vinegars can be used, and many of my friends use these to make supurb Fruit Vinegars. However, I restrict the fruit vinegars that I enter into shows to be based on either malt or cider vinegars, having found that the judges prefer that "Sweet & Sour" smack during the tasting sessions. I also find that these sharper vinegars provide an excellent base for cooking Meats and Fish with.
Regarding the second comment (and me being new to instructable posting), is the text that I have added to each photo in the little yellow boxes insufficent?
I thought it would be much better to use a directly relevent sentence or two for each step rather than rambling and possibly confusing paragraphs.
As for the second step text, I can view it easily on a computer, but for example if someone was going to download the PDF to cook from (as I sometimes do) or if you're viewing this on a phone...it's hard to view the text in the image notes easily.
A couple sentences at least would be helpful, that way when I'm trying to do this with my phone out it's easier. XD It's purely a laziness issue, but it does save some time not having to blow up and click on each photo.
TUA