Buzz
Every year, it seems everyone around me becomes a farmer for a day. They plan, pack a lunch, throw on a hat, and head to a farm to pick strawberries. Flats quickly fill with the sweet berries we don't consume while picking, and after spending the day bent over, people gain a deeper respect for farmworkers. We all return home with grand plans for berries, but mostly, we indulge in fresh fruit and/or make jam.
I can’t figure out who ends up consuming all the jam, and I’m not a fan of giving away jars. So, I’ve come up with plenty of alternatives, starting with my popular strawberry vinegar. I'll walk you through two methods—one for beginners and one for more experienced makers.
Tools you'll need to create your homemade vinegar are as follows:
To make vinegar from scratch, you'll need a Supreme Red Wine Mother of Vinegar.
A large carboy with an airlock is essential: FastRack 1-gallon Jug with Twin Bubble Airlock.
For preventing spoilage, use Campden Tablets.
Why is strawberry vinegar so fantastic? You’ll be surprised at how often you use vinegar. Beyond salad dressings and marinades, it's a versatile ingredient that can add brightness to your dishes. But high-quality flavored vinegars can be pricey, limiting their use. When you make your own, you'll have a constant supply at hand, so you can freely add a splash to soy sauce, enhance the sweetness in your gazpacho, or bring a burst of brightness to grilled vegetables, highlighting the Maillard effect. It's perfect for tangy potato salads or coleslaw as well. And when you sauté vegetables, try a splash of vinegar to lift the flavor. The best part? When you don’t worry about the cost of fancy bottles, you'll discover endless uses for flavored vinegar in your kitchen.
Quick strawberry vinegar recipe
Ingredients needed:
1 quart of apple cider vinegar
1 pint of fully ripe strawberries
1 teaspoon of sugar
Remove the stems from the strawberries and place everything in a blender. Blend for 30-45 seconds (or longer if needed) until the mixture reaches the desired consistency. Let the blend sit for 6 hours, then strain it through a sieve or strainer into a bowl. Once strained, bottle the liquid. The acidity ensures it will remain shelf stable.
This method creates a vinegar with a noticeable strawberry flavor, yet still retains the tang of the cider vinegar, which is mellowed slightly by the sugar. Essentially, we’re infusing the apple cider vinegar with strawberry flavor, not crafting true strawberry vinegar, which I’ll show you how to make below.
Making strawberry vinegar the traditional way
Ingredients required:
3 pounds of strawberries
2 pounds of honey
1 quart of water
1 package of wine yeast (You can choose any type of yeast you prefer, such as champagne yeast or sour beer yeast, but avoid bread yeast.)
1 vinegar mother
1/2 campden tablet
1 gallon carboy or jug, with an airlock
In this method, you're first making strawberry wine, which will then transform into vinegar. Begin by placing clean, de-stemmed strawberries in a heavy stockpot along with honey and water. Bring it to a boil, then let it simmer for 20 minutes, ensuring the honey is fully dissolved. The strawberries will break down but don't need to turn into a mush. Once the mixture cools to room temperature, crush your ½ campden tablet with a spoon or mortar and pestle, and stir it into the mixture. Cover it and let it sit for 24 hours.
After 24 hours, sprinkle the yeast onto the mixture. Allow it to sit for five minutes, then stir it in. Now it's time to transfer the liquid into your carboy for fermentation. Use a funnel to pour it into the clean carboy and secure the airlock on top. Place it in a cool, dark space. In a few days, you'll notice bubbling and the airlock will start to burp. This bubbling may continue for several days or up to a week. Wait until the bubbling completely stops.
If you have a refractometer or a way to measure the alcohol by volume (ABV), now is a good time to check that it’s under 10%. If not, don’t worry—it's usually in the right range even without a precise measurement.
Remove the airlock, then add your vinegar mother. Cover the jug with cheesecloth and tie it securely. This allows the wine to breathe while preventing bugs from getting inside. Let it sit for 3-4 weeks before tasting. You can let it age longer for a smoother, richer flavor. The longer it sits, the better it becomes. I typically let mine age for about three months.
At this point, you can start using the vinegar as you wish, decanting it as needed. While making vinegar from scratch involves some risks and multiple steps, it’s mostly hands-off and very rewarding when done right. If you notice green or blue mold, it has spoiled. If you see white mold, that's just Kahm yeast, which isn't harmful but tastes unpleasant. In that case, strain, boil, and restart from that point (boiling kills all yeast, so you’d need to add more). If done properly, the result will be a smooth, delicious homemade vinegar.
Let’s face it, you were never truly committed to making strawberry ice cream in the first place.
