Page 143 - The Secrets Of Vinegar

Apple Cider Vinegar
To start the vinegar-making process, apple cider is produced from fresh apple juice. The juice is placed in barrels; yeast or alcoholic ferment, found naturally in apple seeds or spores when they are picked, is then added. The yeast feeds on the juice’s naturally occurring sugars and converts it into alcohol and carbon dioxide (the main components of cider), resulting in an alcohol percentage of 10% to 12%. The hard cider is then placed in a new barrel.
The process of making cider vinegar begins as soon as the cider is put into oak or pine barrels. A viscous substance called mother of vinegar forms on the surface and initiates fermentation. No filtration or pasteurization is required. After fermenting for several weeks, the liquid is poured into bottles made of opaque glass, which blocks light and prevents oxidation. The mother of vinegar remains in the barrel when the vinegar is bottled, but it can gradually reform at the bottom of the bottles once they are stored. This is completely natural and signals that the vinegar is high quality and 100% pure. Mother of vinegar can be consumed and is highly nutritious.
Unfiltered, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar has many health benefits. It is fortified with approximately 30 essential nutrients, about a dozen minerals, over half a dozen vitamins and amino acids, several enzymes, and a healthy amount of pectin. It is extremely rich in potassium and trace elements such as phosphorus, sulfur, iron, fluoride, calcium, magnesium, silicon, boron, and so on. Cider vinegar is also used for pickling and in stocks for cooking fish and seafood dishes.
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