Cherry vinegar is a great way to add flavor to food, and it is important to use it often to get the most benefit. These are the most common type of cherries. Chances are, if you’re buying your cherries fresh in a supermarket or grocery store, you’re buying Bing cherries. However, in rare cases where mold appears in the vinegar, despite submerging the fruit, it's best to discard the vinegar. But if you don’t have any vinegar in the house, a squeeze of lemon or lime will provide freshness and bring the other flavours of your dish to life in a similar way to vinegar. You may even enjoy the flavour differences! More Tips for Cooking with Vinegar

Fill a glass jar about ¾ full with pitted and chopped cherries. You can also add some herbs or orange peel. Don't overfill the jar because when the fermentation occurs, the liquid becomes active and bubbles up. If the jar is too full, it may overflow and create a mess. Second step: Cover the fruits with water. Here’s how you can take your fruits and turn them into a vinegar that is shelf-stable and can be used in homemade condiments, herbal remedies, refreshing summer drinks, and even in your baking.NOTE: Here are step-by-step directions for making homemade fermented gourmet raw vinegar from fresh fruits. Any kind of fruit can be used….you decide! Making your own raw fruit vinegar is an art and a science that’s useful, fun, and will save you a ton of money and increase your health because of the probiotics raw, fermented vinegars provide. To serve:add several ice cubes to a glass, fill almost to the top with sparkling water, club soda, or plain water, and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of sour cherry shrub, to taste. Stir and enjoy. While you can use fresh, perfect cherries, the great advantage of this recipe is to use cherries that may need to be better for eating fresh and turning them into gold liquid. Like, overripen cherries or sour when fresh. Cover thejar and let steepin the vinegar for at least one week in a cold place without direct sun, like your pantry. Third step: The first fermentation stage

If there was a release of carbon dioxide, it hasn’t yet finished working! Return the liquid to your fermenting container and let it sit for 2-3 more weeks. Test again.Colder temperatures slow down the fermentation process, while warmer temperatures accelerate it. Thus, refrigerating your cherry vinegar will ensure its taste will not change over time.

As a vinegar maker, all you’re doing is guiding the process, encouraging the right type of fermentation while discouraging mold. To use the cherry shrub:I like to transfer it to a clean, re-purposed squeeze bottle (like an empty syrup or condiment bottle) and keep it in the fridge, so it's easy to squirt some shrub into individual drinks whenever the fancy strikes. Kitchen Frau Notes: Cherry Shrub will keep for up to six months in the fridge in a sealed container. If you process/can the shrub in jars, it will keep for three to four years or longer. Fitting somewhere between red and white wine vinegar, it adds a softer, more rounded flavour than regular wine vinegars. These vinegars are wonderful for gifting during the holidays, using in dressings, marinating meat, vegetables, and mushrooms for grilling, and using in all kinds of cooking and recipes. That's because the taste of the fruit involved (plus the lovely colors) shine through the acidity.Because DIY fruit vinegar relies on these natural, airborne yeast and bacteria, it’s very important that you leave your juice to ferment in temperatures that are conducive to the growth of these organisms. Drain the vinegar juice off the cherries and reserve. Put the cherries into a pot and mash lightly with a potato masher to crush them. Set a colander into a large bowl. Line the colander with a net jelly bag or a clean tea towel or large square of muslin. Dump the crushed cherries into it. Lay a wooden spoon across the top of the bag or towel, and gather up two diagonal corners and tie them into a knot over the spoon handle. Repeat with the remaining two diagonal corners. Slide the bowl and colander in between two pots of equal height or set it on the floor between two chairs set about a foot apart. Lift up the wooden spoon and setthe two ends of the spoon onto the rims of the pots or the seats of the chairs so the bag drips into the bowl underneath. Remove the colander, just leaving the bowl to catch the dripping juice. (See the photos in this post for an illustration.)

Go for a slightly more expensive red wine vinegar and you’ll end up with a wonderful tasting cherry chutney. The deep red color of the red wine vinegar will also pair well with the dark red tone of the cherry. There are two fermenting phases your fruit juice must go through before it turns to vinegar. The first is referred to as the “alcohol” phase, while the second is referred to as the “acetic acid” phase. Let me walk you through them both! Phase 1: Alcohol Phase There are a few different options when it comes to adding vinegar to this recipe. Here are some of my recommendations. I also share my favorite recipes, natural remedies, and kitchen tips for putting homemade fruit vinegar to use. If you want it, you can get it here!I love using different kinds of vinegar for salads, but I really find most commercial variaties either not particularly good or – the better ones- really expensive, paying 5-6 Euros for a tiny bottle of something it just seems too decadent. Making chutney is one of life’s simple pleasures! It’s all about mixing a few select ingredients and letting them simmer away in a pot while stirring occasionally, leaving them to work their magic. Isn't it wonderful to receive an attractive bottle of something homemade? Well, your fruit vinegar is perfect for bottling into fancy bottles and giving as gifts! Last year I gave away bottles of Homemade Vanilla Extract---they were a hit! 3) Salad Dressings, Dips, and Sauces Once frozen, remove the cap and invert the frozen liquid over a “catcher” container, i.e., a larger-mouthed jar or bottle. Since acetic acid (the stuff that makes vinegar, vinegar) freezes at a lower temperature than water, you are removing the vinegar from the water, i.e., distilling the vinegar, Allow to sit at room temperature and shortly, you will see drips from the frozen container. In time, the color of the frozen mixture will change, as if two layers: white at the top (water) darker at the bottom (vinegar).