Food: DIY vinegar

It feels a lot like alchemy. The transformation is remarkable. Magical even, writes food editor Kelly Brant.

In glass jars, alcohol, water, sugar and usually discarded bits of a piece of fruit — tough, spiky skin and the inedible, coarse, fibrous core — combine with time to create something sharp, flavorful, acidic.

Vinegar.

It is one of those rare instances when you can literally pull something out of the air. In this case, acetobacter bacteria, without which there could be no vinegar. The microorganisms oxidize organic compounds — fruit and sugar in this case — into acetic acid. Acetic acid is the essence of vinegar.

And you can make it at home.

For recipes, including infusing store-bought vinegar, read Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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