Fermentation obsession is in full force at our house. For at least the last 4 or 5 months. It started with lactic acid fermented or ‘raw’ sauerkraut. Which for some reason I still haven’t posted about. I feel that’s craziness, especially as I opened our 3rd batch of sauerkraut yesterday and started our first batch of pickles last night. The sauerkraut, I’ve been making in our first ever Harsch crock. Those delicious experiments are for another day.
The idea to make my own pineapple vinegar came about after I referenced the amazing resource, Wild Fermentation by Sandoor Katz. I first checked out this book at the library along with a bazillion other books in order to soak up as much information as I possibly could about home fermentation and specifically lactic-acid fermentation. Lactic-acid or lacto-fermentation is basically what happens when your starches and sugars in your fruits and vegetables start to break down and change to lactic acid. This happens because friendly bacteria (think about the stuff in yogurt) is munching away at the sugars in your fruits/veg. This type of fermentation not only preserves the fruit but also increases its nutritional content (Vitamin C, B12, healthy flora). Very soon, I found that his book, was worthy of gracing my book shelf – it is a wonderful read – giving you inspiration to delve into all things ‘fermentable’.
I’ve done a few posts on how to cut your own pineapple. One with a pineapple corer and the simple knife route. Cutting your own pineapple is way cheaper than buying store bought and now you have a way to use the outer skin too, using all the bits, except the crown, but maybe I can think up something for that. I was working on the corer post when I came across Sandoor’s recipe for Pineapple Vinegar. Say what?
I’ll be honest I’m still not sure what I’m going to do with it, but so far I’ve used it in a very good smoothie (see below) and I’d also like to use it in a quick salad dressing, so stay tuned.
What you need:
- sharp knife
- cutting board
- skin from one organic pineapple
- a wide-mouthed jar that can hold about 8 cups of water + pineapple
- 1/4 cup sugar (I used organic evaporated cane juice sugar)
- water (preferably filtered)
- some cheese cloth or a nut milk bag you won’t need to use in the next 3 weeks
Instructions:
Please note, I think the jar I used was cute and it worked, but next time I would like to try one with a wider opening, to allow more air circulation during the fermentation process.
Start by placing 1/4 cup sugar in your jar and adding a little over 4 cups of water (about 1 quart). Swish it around until the sugar is dissolved.
Then cut the pineapple skin into small chunks (I even removed the bit around the crown). Make sure to remove any additional fruit that is along the skin, perfect for noshing on the job. I found it helpful to prop the pineapple strip upright instead of laying it down, it was far easier to cut this way. Places pieces in your jar of sugar water as you go.
Once all the pineapple has been placed in the jar, cut a piece of cheese cloth large enough to cover the opening and down the side of the jar about an inch. The cheese cloth will keep dust and bugs out of your business.
Secure with a rubber band and set in an out of the way place to ferment for the first week at room temperature. After 7-8 days the liquid should darken and that is when you will strain the fruit pieces and continue fermenting the liquid until it turns to vinegar about 3-5 weeks later.
Here’s days 1-4 and you can see the liquid darken and the bubbles grow a little more each day!
Strain the fruit pieces using a colander to drain ‘vinegar’ into a bowl. Discard/compost fruit pieces. Return ‘vinegar’ to original fermenting container and replace cheese cloth and rubber band. Continue fermenting the liquid another 2-4 weeks; stirring and agitating every once in awhile. Depending on the average temperature of your home this could be 2 weeks if it’s warm and humid or 4 weeks if it’s between 66-69F (like our house).
Wow and already 4 weeks later (38 days) from straining the fruit, the vinegar is done. The color looks like pineapple juice and I’m pretty sure it has ‘mother’ just like Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar does. Cool!
Empty into a jar and secure with a lid. I’ve been storing mine in the refrigerator.
Random Bits:
- The smell in the beginning will be ‘yeasty’, like beer. It’s pretty cool. By the end, the vinegar smelled like vinegar and a little bit beer. I think with a wider jar opening and periodic swishing the vinegar smell will be stronger.
- At the end of the 1st week, when I strained the liquid, I did not have mold growing on the fruit, but I imagine if you are in warmer climate this could happen. Just skim it off OR try to keep the jar in a cooler room of your house (about 69F).
- Just like making our sauerkraut in our crock, this was pretty uneventful. I took pictures along the way to help jog my memory and give you an idea of what it will be like but yeah this was on the easy side.
- I know I bolded organic pineapple in the ingredients but it is VERY important to use organic produce when fermenting, especially something like this, where you’re soaking fruit skin for a week. You don’t want pesticides or nastiness going into you or your ferments. That being said – with all the pesticides used on conventional fruit and veg to prevent them from turning quickly, those same monsters are going to prevent your cabbage or whatever from properly fermenting and prevent the good bacteria from doing its job. You’ll end up wasting the 4 weeks of time and produce. Buy organic for these projects.
I look forward to doing this one again or making other fruit scrap vinegar!
Cheers! xoxo
Congrats on your first vinegar. It’s so magical, isn’t it? Have you felt the mother yet? I never got a mother in my pineapple vinegar but I did get a mother in my apple cider vinegar…it’s crazy. It’s like skin, slimy skin. Your recipe looks better than mine. The one I made had oregano in it and I wasn’t a fan of the oregano in it. You can use it to make sauerkraut. There’s a South American version called cortido that uses it. That’s what I did with it. You’re creative to think of your own uses.
Thank you Tiff! Fermenting is just the most amazing thing ever. I’m glad you mentioned oregano because I don’t think I would have thought about infusing right away. I can’t wait to play around with different fruits and herbs. 🙂
Tiff,
Try Mexican Oregano it’s different. Better. I love corridor. Did you make Papusas too? Try them if your didn’t they are awesome together.
Couldn’t you just use 3 parts pure organic pineapple juice and 1 part Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar? Set out like making apple cider vinegar? Just pondering. Will try shortly.
Tim, that sounds brilliant! I would love to know how that works out.
just stick the crown in the ground and in 2 years it will produce a pineapple. they are self propagating so several shoots may travel out off of it. we would get them from the grocery store for free and just shove them in with little planting and soon we had about 17 growing. only problem is they all come in at the same time
quick question: Can you use Agave in place of sugar?
I’m not sure…but I would definitely try it myself. 🙂
Pineapple vinegar is a classic ingredient in Mexican cooking. Like lime juice it is used to balance the rich fats and proteins as well as help you digest them. For vegans try it with avocados, beans and coleslaw. I’m going to try it with vegan cheese quesadillas.
I have been thinking for awhile of how to make pineapple vinegar and today I found your instructions. We have a small place in the Samoan islands and we have about 300 pineapple plants and I was looking for a way to use the skins etc. We travel back and forth about 2 times a year especially Nov-Feb for pineapple and mango season. After I make the vinegar do you know if i could place the vinegar in coke or wine bottle and cap with a bottle caper to store the pineapple vinegar in a cool place? How long would the vinegar keep? Would I have to watch out for futher fermentation?
Thanks, Clara Aiono
Hi Clara! First of all mango and pineapples!? I’m in heaven just daydreaming about that 🙂 Yes, the vinegar will store well in any reusable glass bottle. I would store in the refrigerator and it should keep 6-12 months+ After doing a few rounds try storing it in a cool dark place like a cabinet, but I haven’t tried that yet. I’ve always thought of ferments as still being ‘alive’ even though I keep my ACV in a cabinet. It should always keep fermenting, but that slows down the colder it’s kept. Cheers!
Where in the world does one find organic pineapple?
Hi Tyra, Try the organic section of a normal large chain grocery store. I know our Safeway has them during season and if you have a health food store or co-op near you that would be a good option too!
A white layer like jelly Is it acetobactor xylinum (gluconaacetobactor Xylinus)
Hello Michelle, I have fermented Apple Cider Vinegar and Pineapple Vinegar. They have developed their own “MOTHERS”. With the ACV, I had left the MOTHER floating on the top but with the Pineapple Vinegar, I had drawn out the liquid and left the MOTHER with the pineapple chunks. Please advise me how to preserve the MOTHERS if I am not going to ferment the next batch for a while. Thank you.
I’m not exactly sure how to preserve a pineapple MOTHER, but if it’s anything like kombucha, you could try dissolving several tablespoons of sugar in spring water and placing the MOTHER in there. It will feed on the sugar and hopefully stay alive. Cover with a linen cloth held on with a rubberband. Best of luck!
Thank you Michelle.
I used a different approach to mine. I started with Organic Pineapple Juice from Whole foods, then put in a 1/4 of brewers sugar (Corn Sugar) to spike the fermentable sugar level, then inoculated the mixture with wine yeast from a brewing supply shop. Basically I made a mild pineapple wine.
Next I spoiled the wine by adding a live culture of vinegar mother from Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar. I used a known strain of vinegar mother instead of relying on a wild fermentation. The results were excellent and repeatable.
Enjoy!
Is it normal to grow scoby-like substance (its like white jelly) on top. I am still on the first week of fermentation. I still have the pineapple skins on the water with sugar. I was following the instruction of this page. Please let me know if its normal. And when I strain it, should i separate it with the juice? What should i do to that white substance?
Idk if its a mother or what*