Sean (Norfolk, Va) on 02/25/2015
So I am familiar with fermentation and dabble with many of the throwback forms of preservation. I have not made Vinegar before but because I lecture on fermentation often, I had a coworker give me a gallon bottle of apple cider....it had a floating mother in it so I kept it to see what will happen.
This is a pasteurized apple cider product, and after a couple days out of the fridge it rose to the surface and began developing a white raft of mold.
The question is whether this will turn into vinegar eventually, or make me sick from attempting to consume it weeks down the line.
Has anyone ever allowed the pasteurized apple cider to do its thing without inoculating it (purposefully) with a known mother? Is it safe? worth letting it run its course naturally?
Replied By Jenn (Cobbora, Australia) on 02/25/2015
Personally I'd toss it! Or put it down an ants nest...
From buying ACV for years I know that the "mother" sits on the bottom as in a sediment, and will intergrate throughout the vinegar when shaken...
If it floats I would venture to say that it has been opened at some stage and I just would not use it. I have never heard of mold in ACV, because it is a product that literally keeps for years without refrigeration... plus even if you removed the mold, spores would still be in the vinegar thereby making it unsuitable for internal or external use.
Stay safe and buy a fresh bottle...from another supplier.
Jenn..
Replied By Jodem (Atlanta, Ga) on 04/15/2015
All the recipes for ACV here seem so complicated. I have saved some mother from a purchased bottle of vinegar that has the mother in it.
- I fill a crock with small diced apples, skin included.
- Cover the apples with filtered water and then put in the mother on top. Covering with water prevents the apples from molding which ruins the vinegar and can be tasted even if carefully removed.
- use a plate with some jars filled with water to submerge the apples below the surface. This can be removed after the mother forms on the surface and the void will fill itself in in a few weeks.
- Cover it tightly so the fruit flies do not invade.
- wait about 3-4 months and it's vinegar.
Save the mother and reuse it for the next batch. It's that simple.