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Archives (2001)
Making vinegar a business
venture
by Mary Charlotte O. Fresco |
July-September
2001
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Vinegar has earned its niche in any Filipino
kitchen. Almost all mouth-watering dishes need a teaspoonful
or two of vinegar. It is even an ingredient for some cakes,
souffles' and native delicacies. It is not surprising that
the simple vinegar has assumed a variety of forms in seasonings,
dressings, marinades, sauces and gravies. Vinegars with suitable
oils, herbs and spices are a chef's well-kept secret to a
gourmet feast.  Moreover,
vinegar can be more than an addition to any dish--it can be
a source of income---a promising business venture for any
Filipino who is interested in making more money at home.
The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has
packaged a fast, easy-to-follow and cost effective technology
on making vinegar. This technology produces naturally fermented
sugarcane vinegar from sugarcane juice in just two weeks.
Materials
Making vinegar provides an avenue for utilizing over-riped
fruits, sugarcane rejects, ethyl alcohol rejects and cane
by-products such as molasses, bagasse and tops.
In the Visayas, southern Tagalog areas and Central Luzon,
the most common materials used for vinegar making are nipa
palm sap, coconut palm sap, pineapple juice and sugared coconut
water. However, in sugar areas where leftover canes rejected
by mills abound, it is recommended that these materials be
utilized.
Young canes may also be used for vinegar making. If the juice
extracted is below 15-16 degrees brix, small amounts of sugar
are added. Molasses or muscovado can be used instead of sugar.
How to make vinegar
- Remove trash and wash canes.
- Crush sugarcane stalks to extract juice. To increase recovery,
make two or three passes. Collect juice in earthen jars.
- Bring filtered juice to a boil or cover the earthen jars
(w/juice) to high temperature. One day under the sun is enough
to destroy contaminants.
- Add one-half gram (1/4 of fresh cake) of yeast per liter
of juice. Reactivate yeast by hydration before addition. Stir
very well. Use only wooden or bamboo spoons. Never use metallic
spoons or containers.
- Allow suspended soil particles and other extraneous materials
to flow over for 2-3 days. Use narrow-mouthed jars during
this period of fermentation.
- You will observe that a clean amber-colored liquid will
remain after suspended dirt is removed. Clean the jars'
mouths with a damp cloth. Cover jars with katsa or
earthen jar cover. Air is not required at this stage of
fermentation.
- Let the liquid stand for another five days. Alcoholic fermentation
is a fast process, it is almost complete after 3-4 days.
- Test alcoholic fermentation with a hydrometer. If brix
is zero, proceed to acetic acid fermentation, If you have
no hydrometer, just take note of the movement of gases in
the liquid. Once there are less gases produced, proceed
to the next step.
- Transfer or siphon the liquid to wide-mouthed earthen jars.
Do not include the yeast sediments. Mix four parts of the
liquid with one part of good unpasteurized vinegar (mother
liquor).
- Stir thoroughly. Cover with a clean piece of cloth. Repeat
mixing at least twice a day. Use only wooden/bamboo ladles.
Do not fill the jars up to the brim. Leave some air space.
At this stage, oxygen is required by the fermenting organisms.
- Allow the liquid to ferment until acidity is strong enough
(4-6% acetic acid). In one to two weeks, the vinegar is ready
for bottling. Test liquid for acetic acid content in the laboratory
for quality control.
- Siphon into bottles and pasteurize at 60-70 deg. C for
20 minutes, to arrest further fermentation. Label.
- Retain 1/5 of the fermented vinegar in the wide-mouthed
jars for the second batch.
- Continue with the procedure a long as there are no contaminants.
As soon as abnormal smell or growth of other organisms is
observed, clean the jars very thoroughly and use another batch
of mother liquor. If there are only a few contaminants, boil
the fermented liquid and test it if it can be pasteurized
and used as vinegar.
(Source: Vinegar production from canes, SRA
Industrial Research and Development Office) More Articles:
Vol. 3 No. 3 July-September 2001
»»
USM recommends high-yielding rubber clones
»» GMA okays
P2B R&D Fund
»» New
sciences to produce more food
»» Five
cacao clones now ready for farmer use
»» NIRDEAP
for rubber: stretching opportunities for rubber industry
»» Rubber:
the oozing tree
»» Village
processing technologies: approach to solve low production of rubber
»» Smallholder
rubber farming system "no break" in farmers' income
»»
NIRDEAP for coffee: perking up the coffee sector
»» Clonal
propagation in coffee: a promising technology
»» How
to raise healthy cacao seedlings
»» Earning
more from canes
»» Coping
with acidic soils
»» Muscovado:
the promise of the 'other sugar'
»» Rock
candy: a 'tasteful' example of a profitable home business
»» Propagating
cacao by nodal grafting
»»
Making vinegar a business venture
»» The
Philippine coffee industry: a profile
»» Prospects
in cocoa
[More
2001 Articles]
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