Q: Recently, I've been fermenting my own fruit vinegars: apple, pineapple and habanero, blueberry. They taste wonderful splashed on a salad or over a piece of fish. However, I'm looking for more ways to highlight the unique taste of these vinegars. How can I use them as more than a background note?
What kinds of preparations will preserve the health benefits of the probiotic "mother?"
Sent by Carolyn
Editor: Carolyn, how about making a shrub? These old-fashioned vinegar drinks are making a comeback, as they are both healthy and refreshing.
→ How to Make a Shrub Syrup
→ Drink Recipe: Elderberry Shrub
Readers, do you have any suggestions for how to use homemade fruit vinegars?
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Related: Fruit Vinegar: The Easiest Way to Preserve Summer Fruit
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How about a gastrique? I bet an apple gastrique would be yummy on some pork.
I am a big fan of shrubs too; the reason why we got our Soda Stream. I purchased some flavored vinegars from a spice store in Des Moines, IA, that carries a great variety. My fav is their blackberry ginger balsamic. They also have recipes for the vinegars on their website, http://allspiceonline.com/recipes-by-ingredient/, scroll down to the bottom of the page. They've used the vinegars in ice cream, sorbets, pickles, baking, etc. Lots of fun ideas.
If you have any balsamic fruit vinegars they are WONDERFUL over ice cream, especially if you reduce them to a syrup.
Thanks for the ideas! I've been tempted by shrubs, but I hesitate because I can't "check the label" to make sure I'm working with 5% acidity. When food preservation is on the line, I hate to assume... Is there an easy way to determine acidity in a homemade vinegar?
I've got a grapefruit rosemary shrub steeping in my fridge right now and I'm SUPER excited to taste it!
Use them to deglaze the pan when making a pan sauce.
@jeffncarolyn The 5% acidity is important if you're using the vinegar to preserve foods. However, if you're already making fruit vinegars, you can skip the fruit infusion process and go straight to Step 6 in the How to Make a Shrub Syrup tutorial. Or simply mix individual drinks with fizzy water, a splash of your vinegar, and simple syrup to taste.
If you do want to test the acidity of your homemade vinegar, here's a relatively inexpensive vinegar acid test kit. You could also get a winemaking acid titration kit, but the process is a little different from vinegar (here's an article that explains in detail).
I like to make raspberry vinegar, then pickle a bunch of red onions in it. They're sweet and tangy and GREAT on salads or sandwiches!