HOME-MADE CIDER VINEGAR TEXT

[Page 1] Bulletin 192 November, 1913 The Agricultural Experiment Station of the Colorado Agricultural College HOME-MADE CIDER VINEGAR _By_ WALTER G. SACKETT PUBLISHED BY THE EXPERIMENT STATION FORT COLLINS, COLORADO 1913 [Page 2] =The Agricultural Experiment Station= Fort Collins, Colorado =Term= =The State Board of Agriculture Expires= HON. F.E. BROOKS Colorado Springs, 1915 HON. J.S.CALKINS Westminster, 1915 HON. J.C.BELL Montrose, 1917 HON. WILLIAM HARRISON Clifton, 1917 HON. CHAS. PEARSON Durango, 1919 HON. R.W. CORWIN Pueblo, 1919 MRS. J.B. BELFORD Denver, 1921 HON. A.A. EDWARDS Fort Collins, 1921 GOVERNOR E.M. AMMONS, _Ex-Officio_ PRESIDENT CHAS. A. LORY, _Ex-Officio_ L.M. TAYLOR, SECRETARY J.S. JONES, TREASURER =EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE IN CHARGE= A.A. EDWARDS, _Chairman_ J.S.CALKINS E.M. AMMONS =STATION STAFF= W.P. HEADDEN, A.M., Ph.D. CHEMIST C.P. GILLETTE, M.S., _Entomologist_ DIRECTOR G.H. GLOVER, M.S., D.V.M. VETERINARIAN W.G. SACKETT, B.S. BACTERIOLOGIST ALVIN KEYSER, A.M. AGRONOMIST J.O. WILLIAMS, B.S.A., _U.S. expert-in-charge_ HORSE BREEDING E.P. SANDSTEN, Ph.D. HORTICULTURIST B.O. LONGYEAR, B.S. BOTANIST G.E. MORTON M.L., B.S.A. ANIMAL HUSBANDSMAN E.B. HOUSE, B.S. (E.E.), M.S. IRRIGATION ENGINEER V.M. CONE, B.S. IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS R.E. TRIMBLE, B.S. ASSISTANT IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS P.K. BLINN, B.S., ROCKY FORD ALFALFA INVESTIGATIONS EARL DOUGLASS, M.S. ASSISTANT CHEMIST S. ARTHUR JOHNSON, M.S. ASSISTANT ENTOMOLOGIST L.C. BRAGG ASSISTANT IN ENTOMOLOGY J.W. ADAMS, B.S., _Cheyenne Wells_ AGRONOMY ASSISTANT, DRY FARMING ELWOOD D. ROOD, A.B. ASSISTANT CHEMIST W.W. ROBBINS, M.A. ASSISTANT BOTANIST PAUL S. JONES, B.S. ASSISTANT IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS RALPH L. PARSHALL, B.S. ASSISTANT IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS JAMES D. BELL, B.S. ASSISTANT IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS =OFFICERS= CHAS. A. LORY, LL.D. _President_ C.P. GILLETTE, M.S. _Director_ L.M. TAYLOR _Secretary_ MARGARET MURRAY _Executive Clerk_ [Page 3] =HOME-MADE CIDER VINEGAR By Walter G. Sackett.= In driving through the fruit-growing sections of the United States, one cannot fail to be impressed with the fact that thousands of bushels of apples and other fruit are allowed to go to waste annually just because it is too much trouble to gather it up and make some use of it. This is particularly true during a season when prices are low owing to an overproduction. Such a practice would be condemned, most certainly, by any commercial firm, and rightfully so, as a most extravagant waste and far removed from any principle of scientific management. Talk with any captain of industry, and he will invariably tell you that the largest profits in his business accrue from the complete utilization of the waste products. Indifference to the needs of others and ignorance of the latent possibilities in this second grade fruit are largely responsible for the fruit grower’s short-sightedness. He is apt to forget that there are a few more than ninety-three million others in this country who are dependent upon him for orchard products such as cider, apple butter, jelly and vinegar, all of which could be made from this fruit which he permits to rot unnoticed under the trees. Could he only be shown the roll of greenbacks or catch the glitter of the gold which would represent his actual net return from the complete utilization of this unnecessary waste, rotten apples, wormy apples, green apples and everything would be cleaned up the next time we should pass by his orchard. In spite of the fact that thousands of gallons of white wine vinegar, which has never been near a wine press, are produced yearly by a purely chemical process from alcohol, there is still a market for good, old-fashioned, apple cider vinegar. The genuine article will never be entirely replaced by the artificial product. But where is the public to obtain pure apple vinegar of acceptable quality? It is not for sale at the local groceries except in sealed bottles at twenty-five cents a quart. Beside it on the shelf may be found the distilled vinegar, artificially colored with caramel, and the white pickling vinegar at fifteen cents a bottle. In bulk the distilled vinegar can be bought for forty cents the gallon with a reliable guarantee behind it for strength and quality. But you say, [Page 4] "Surely you must be mistaken about not being able to get cider vinegar from your grocer in bulk." No, gentle reader, do not be deceived by the stencil mark on the end of the barrel. If, perchance, this particular lot came from a nearby ranch, the odds are in favor of its not being worth carrying home. Do not understand me to speak thus lightly of all home-made vinegar for there is some to be found of splendid quality, but it is the exception. As a rule the storekeeper will apologize to the customer for his farm vinegar, but with that which comes from the wholesale dealer it is different. Most certainly a sad condition, when the first and best vinegar that was ever made came from the farm home! What is more, it cannot be obtained from the farmer or apple grower today for most of them are buying all of the vinegar they use. What has become of our apple vinegar industry, and why have the merchants turned their attention to the distilled article? The answer to this can be had without pursuing an extensive investigation into the economics of the question. It is simply this—the average run of farm vinegar is so inferior to the distilled product that the merchants cannot afford to handle it. The quality is so variable and the strength is so unreliable that the good housewife has learned through the repeated experience of having her pickles spoil not to ask for cider vinegar. There is no good reason why this condition of affairs should exist which has resulted in placing a boycott on the farm product, but in the light of the facts as they actually exist, is not the consumer justified in taking this stand? There is no doubt that the synthetic article has come to stay, but this does not mean that genuine apple vinegar is a thing of the past. However, until we are able to produce as good or better vinegar on the farm and in the orchard and can guarantee its quality and strength to be reasonably constant, we have no right to ask or to expect the public to buy an inferior product or to help build up the industry by its patronage. It is just as easy to make high-grade apple vinegar at home when one understands the different operations and principles involved as it is to make good butter or good bread. If the housewife knew as little about making butter and baking bread as the average farmer or orchardist knows about making vinegar, we should all forsake the staff of life and take refuge in the nearest sanitarium. [Page 5] _Selection of the Apples._ What has been said above concerning second grade fruit for cider and vinegar is not to be construed as meaning rotten, wormy, dirty, or unripe fruit. Nothing is gained by such a practice and often all is lost. In the first place, it is impossible to cover up the flavor of the spoiled apples in the vinegar, and in the second place, when decayed and dirty fruit is employed, it is practically out of the question to control the fermentations in the cider upon which the quality of the finished product depends almost entirely. There is no reason why apples which have merely been bruised should not be used, and where they are not too badly rotted, the soft portion can be cut out. Children are always glad to have a hand in cider making and this is just where their services will fit in nicely. Remember that many hands make light work and likewise clean, acceptable cider, and you will be surprised to see in how short a time the spoiled parts can be removed from the bushels of otherwise worthless apples. The importance of washing the apples thoroughly with clean water before they go to the mill to be ground cannot be overestimated. There is bound to be a quantity of soil and dust clinging to the outside, particularly where the orchards lie along a public road and are clean cultivated so that the apples fall on plowed ground. This can be carried out very conveniently in an ordinary washtub, after which the apples should be allowed to drain before they are ground. One is always astonished at the amount of mud in the water after such an operation, even when relatively clean, hand-picked fruit is employed. Let us see next whether all varieties of apples are equally well suited to cider vinegar making; whether a good cider apple is necessarily a good vinegar apple; and what constituent or constituents of the apple determine its usefulness for these different purposes. In answer to the first question, it may be said that apples differ very widely in their adaptability to cider and vinegar making; some appear to have been created for this very purpose, while others would not do at all. Concerning the second point, we find it is quite often the case that an apple which makes an excellent cider to drink would not make good vinegar. This is due to the fact that most tastes demand a cider that is not too sweet and with a slight acidity. Such [Page 6] apple juice would be very apt to make weak vinegar because of the relatively small amount of sugar present. This reference to sugar brings us to the third item, namely, the important constituents of the apple so far as cider and vinegar are concerned. Several years ago, Dr. Van Slyke of the Geneva, N. Y., Experiment Station, reported a series of analyses of apple juices representing eighty-three different American-grown varieties. He gives the average composition of these juices as follows: Solids 13.52 per cent Total sugar as invert sugar 10.91 per cent Ash .29 per cent Fixed acid (malic) .52 per cent The sugar is unquestionably the most important of these substances so far as the part which it plays in the making of cider vinegar since the degree of sourness due to the vinegar acid (acetic) is directly proportional to the fermentable sugar present; in other words, all of the acid which was not originally present in the cider as natural apple acid, or malic acid, is produced from the sugar by processes which are soon to be described. Therefore, since from a given amount of sugar just so much acid and no more can be made, we can understand quite readily that for a high grade vinegar of maximum acidity the apple juice containing the most sugar will be the most desirable. The amount of natural acid present in the juice plays an insignificant part in the final acidity of the vinegar, since the small quantity that is present in the apple juice practically all disappears during the change into vinegar. From this it is clear that it is the sugar and not the natural apple acid that is to be considered in cider for vinegar. Now, as has been stated above, cider for table use is usually more pleasant to drink when it is not too heavy and when the sugar is lower and the acid somewhat higher than the standard for vinegar cider requires. The composition of the juice of some of our common commercial varieties, especially the sugar content, may be of interest at this time in connection with what has been said with reference to the suitability of different ciders for vinegar making. The [Page 7] analyses which I am submitting are those given by Dr. Van Slyke* for eastern apples. *Van Slyke, L, L., Bulletin 258, Geneva, N, Y., Exp. Sta. "A Study of the Chemistry of Home-Made Cider Vinegar," 1904. _Table I —— Analyses of Apple Juice of Different Varieties of American Apples._ =Specific Solids. Equivalent of total Fixed= =Variety of Apple. Gravity. sugar in form of acid as= =invert sugar. malic.= =Per cent. Per cent. Per cent.= Baldwin 1.072 16.82 15.39 .67 Belleflower 1.061 14.09 12.82 .58 Ben Davis 1.052 12.77 10.60 .46 Ben Davis 1.046 10.69 6.74 .44 Gano 1.046 10.16 8.61 .41 Gano 1.056 13.92 11.32 .41 Grimes Golden 1.070 18.18 14.05 .74 Jonathan 1.056 14.62 11.60 .32 Maiden Blush 1.051 12.70 9.99 .67 Northern Spy 1.052 13.77 9.77 .69 Red Siberian Crab 1.070 17.34 11.83 .97 Rome Beauty 1.048 11.37 8.70 .37 Wealthy 1.057 15.26 11.64 .66 Whitney 1.060 14.16 11.39 .40 Winesap 1.065 16.45 13.34 .58 Yellow Transparent 1.049 11.71 9.76 .87 An examination of the above table shows us that there is a wide variation in the percentage of sugar in the apple juice of different varieties, varying from 6.74 per cent. in one sample of Ben Davis to 15.39 per cent. in the Baldwin; that the quantity of sugar in any given variety may vary as much as 4 per cent. (Ben Davis 6.74-10.60). The amount of sugar depends upon a number of factors such as soil, climate, culture, variety, and ripeness, unripe and over-ripe apples containing less sugar than ripe ones. + Browne has shown very clearly the changes that take place in the sugar content of apples at different periods of ripeness: + Browne, Annual Rept. Penn. Dept. Agr, 1899. p. 541. _Table II —— Sugar in Baldwin Apple at Different Periods._ =Equivalent of Total Sugar in= =Date Condition. Form of Invert Sugar.= Aug. 7, 1899 Very Green 8.11 Sept. 13, 1899 Green 10.72 Nov. 15, 1899 Ripe 14.87 Dec. 15, 1899 Over-ripe 14.85 The question is sometimes asked whether the so-called "sweet apples" will make as good vinegar as the tarter varieties. All things being equal, there is no reason why they should not, provided they contain as much sugar as the more acid kinds. This statement may seem somewhat paradoxical, but it should be remembered that [Page 8] it is the presence of acid rather than the absence of sugar that makes an apple taste sour. As a matter of fact, some of our very sourest sorts contain as much and more sugar than the sweetest sweet apples. Cider for vinegar should not contain less than 8.5 per cent. of sugar. _Storage of the Cider._ The most satisfactory containers for both cider and vinegar are whisky and brandy barrels. Molasses barrels and old vinegar barrels should be used only when no others are available, and then not until they have been very carefully and thoroughly cleaned. Too much stress cannot be laid upon the necessity of scalding old vinegar barrels with either live steam or boiling water to remove the last trace of the old vinegar. There is, perhaps, no one factor which is responsible for more failures in farm vinegar making than the time-honored but pernicious custom of using old vinegar barrels for sweet cider without even rinsing out the dregs of former years. Mere rinsing is not sufficient. They must be scalded to make them fit for use. If this is not done in such a manner as to kill all of the organisms in the barrel, the probability is that the sweet cider which is put in them subsequently will never make vinegar. The reason for this will be given a little later. In a recent number of a certain farm journal, the following is given under directions for making apple vinegar: "Get a barrel in which good vinegar has been made and use it, or get some of the scum off of the top of good vinegar and rinse out the new barrels with this as soon as they cool after having been thoroughly washed out with boiling water. Put fresh cider into these barrels." No procedure more absurd and dangerous to the success of apple vinegar could possibly be undertaken than is contained in this recommendation. In fact, it would be difficult to find a better recipe for vinegar failures than this. Never, under, any consideration, put either "mother" or old vinegar into sweet cider. It is never safe to use metallic containers for holding cider even for an interval of a few hours, since the acid of the juice attacks the metal, dissolving a portion of it. Such cider, because of the metal in solution, might produce metallic poisoning in the person drinking it. The sweet cider as it comes from the press may either be placed at once in barrels, which should not be filled more than two-thirds to three-fourths full, or if one has suitable wooden tubs or vats in a clean, cool place, it may be stored there for twelve to [Page 9] twenty-four hours to permit settling, after which it should be transferred to barrels. The bung should be left out and a loose stopper of cotton batting inserted in the hole to decrease evaporation and prevent dirt from falling in. The barrels should not be tightly stoppered until the vinegar contains at least 4.5 to 5.0 per cent. of acetic acid, at which time they should be filled entirely full and securely bunged. Throughout the entire period of vinegar making, the casks should be placed on their side and not on the end. This gives the cider a larger free surface exposed to the air, which is quite essential to rapid vinegar formation. It may be of some advantage in admitting air to bore a one and one-half inch hole in each end of the barrel along the upper edge. If this is done, the holes should be covered with fine wire gauze or two thicknesses of cheese cloth to exclude small vinegar flies. _The Alcoholic Fermentation._ A few days after the cider is put into the barrels, the characteristic frothing appears at the bung-hole. To use a common expression, "It is beginning to work." This indicates that the alcoholic fermentation, the first step in the vinegar making process, has begun, and the sugar of the apple juice is being converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. The first of these substances is too well known to need any further comment other than to state that it is this element of "hard" cider that gives it its intoxicating property. With carbon dioxide, many of us are not as well acquainted. It is this gas escaping from the fermenting cider that causes the frothing and likewise the foamy appearance of the bread sponge. It is this gas dissolved in the cider or in the carbonated drinks at the soda-water fountains that imparts to them the characteristic bite or tingle, and upon escaping from the stomach produces that peculiar sensation in the head and nose.