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Vinegar : I'm confused!

Vinegar : I'm confused!

Old Jun 23rd 2010, 9:15 am
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Default Vinegar : I'm confused!

With chutney and pickling time drawing near, I was hoping someone could help guide me through the maze that is Hungarian vinegar.

I know you can buy small bottles of wine and apple vinegar but when making batch loads of pickles and chutney; it can work out quite expensive.

Last year I bought the large green bottles of vinegar (ecetsav-eszencia)which say 8 or 20% on them as they are, well, large and cheap. Tasting them, they were very bitter and I should have went with my instinct and not used them but desperate times and all that. A,s you can imagine, eating my beetroot and gherkins last year was like sucking lemons.

Now, am I correct in thinking that the 8 and 20% relates to the acetic acid? Only I believed that 4-6% was the legal maximum for food and higher %'s could only be sold as agricultural products. If it is the acid content, can I safely dilute it to 4-6%? Is this what the Hungarians do or is there a well kept vinegar secret that I am not privy to? My neighbours have given me jars of pickles before and none of them taste like any of the vinegars available
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Old Jun 23rd 2010, 5:57 pm
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

hi rural

i use the 20% one. when i pickle my beetroot and gherkins i use the jar that is about 6 inches high and about 4 inches across not sure if it is a one ltr size. but i put in 4/5 desert spoons full of vinegar and top it up with water. the beetroot i cook first then just bottle but you do know you have to cook the bottles of ghurkins for 20 mins with dill in them. and do you know the hungarian way of cutting them.
when i get to my chutneys i make it in my wok as got a solid base its a big wok and i fill it 2/3 full and to that i add about 6 desert spoons of vinegar and a little more when almost cooked after tasting it. hope this helps but will go into more detail if you need it
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Old Jun 24th 2010, 10:15 pm
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

Oh my goodness, I used it neat last year! Surprised we don't all have stomach ulcers Now I know why I ended up adding twice as much sugar as I usually do to my chutney

Will make sure I dilute it this time but will aim for a dilution of 4% as I am terrified of poisoning everyone with a case of botulism

We don't cut the gherkins, instead we pick them when they are really small as the kids prefer the baby ones. How do the hungarians cut them?
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Old Jun 25th 2010, 5:54 pm
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

ok take your gherkin and top and tail it if you want.
hold it upright and at 12 o'clock make a cut down it half an inch from top and half an inch from bottom, going into the gherkin about a third of the way.
then do another cut at three o'clock the same way. the cuts should not meet and it will not fall apart.
fill jars
put diluted vinegar and water in. just cover the gherkins.
put lots of dill on top it grows wild over here so no problem getting it.
top with a square of bread.
put salt over the bread.
screw the lids loose enough for air to get out.
boil jars for 20 minsDONT PUT ON BASE OF PAN. PUT WOOD DOWN FOR THEM TO SIT ON.
once boiled allow to cool and take out the salted bread.
screw down tight and leave in the sun fof one day.
now store in cold room.

the cutting allows the vinegar dill and salt to penitrate to the center of the gherkin with out it falling to pieces.

this is the way i was taught by an 80 year old the first year we lived here i think i am up to 20 cooking lessons now on traditional hungarian cooking.
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Old Jun 29th 2010, 11:45 am
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

Wow, how fascinating. Why do they add the bread?
Wild dill? Where is the best place to find it as I can see any near me, there is a dill lookalike but it has no taste to it. We have wild sage, oregano and mint but no dill and I am getting sick of eating weeds in my quest to find more free goodies
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Old Jun 30th 2010, 9:17 am
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

from what i gather while you are cooking them the salt slowly goes through the bread and does not fall directly to the bottom. but you must take the soggy bread out after cooking.
perhaps you could ask your neighbours if you could have some seeds off their dill plants so you will have loads for next year.
i will try and collect some of mine for you.
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Old Jul 2nd 2010, 1:11 pm
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

Ah, okay I understand. I thought you left the bread in and couldn't quite imagine how that would turn out

Found a couple of stray dill plants in amongst my patty pans Any seeds are always welcome, we could have a seed swap...
Well must go, time to blanch the peas and beans. Thanks again
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Old Jul 3rd 2010, 9:07 am
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

wow you are a bit ahead of me. i finished doing my peas last week and got 30 bags of peas in the freezer not massive bags justenough in a bag for us two. but our beans are not ready yet. the french beans just starting to form and runner beans nothing yet.

swapping seeds or plants is a good idea as we get loads of seedlins left over as i plant twice as many as i need just incase i loose 50%
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Old Jul 5th 2010, 9:32 am
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

Originally Posted by hotpot
wow you are a bit ahead of me. i finished doing my peas last week and got 30 bags of peas in the freezer not massive bags justenough in a bag for us two. but our beans are not ready yet. the french beans just starting to form and runner beans nothing yet.

swapping seeds or plants is a good idea as we get loads of seedlins left over as i plant twice as many as i need just incase i loose 50%
The 20% Vinegar is great for getting the washing machine clear of hard water problems!
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Old Jul 5th 2010, 9:44 am
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

I'll need to try that one John, I use it for cleaning the oven and it's excellent. Pour it on the bottom, leave for half an hour and you don't even have to scrub!

I have done half my walnuts now Hotpot, 1/3 20% vinegar to 2/3 water - just to be on the safe side. I always have loads of seedlings spare as I always sow too many but then I feel bad about not planting them so overplant and everything gets too crowded My bottom field has gone much the same way as last year - overgrown with weeds, it's impossible to manage as either side of it is not farmed so the weeds spread and unless you spend 2-3 hours each day on it, it becomes like a jungle. Fortunately, this year, I only planted squash varieties, potatoes, peas and beans down their and they seem to be coping in amongst the weeds. Will need to rethink for next year
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Old Jul 6th 2010, 9:10 am
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

hi john
yes i use vinegar a lot for cleaning it does the kettle lovely and no aftertaste.

rural do you grow butternut squash as they make fantastic soup for the winter.
also with your walnuts. if you chop them in the food processer you can do rough to very fine and bag them up you can freeze them so you always have a supply ready for cakes or it makes great stuffing.

like you if i have seedlings i tend to put them in the ground cos i hate to see anything grow then throw it away.

i am enclosing a picture of our butternut squash crop from just 15 plants last year.

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Old Jul 8th 2010, 2:25 pm
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

Hi Hotpot, I can't imagine how much soup you had in the freezer... What a crop

Last year I grew pumpkins and /turks Turbans (which made excellent squash and lentil soup), This year I have got a bit muddled and as things are growing I am realising that I don't have any gherkins in or butternut squash or pumpkins Instead I have an over abundance of courgettes, white marrows, yellow marrows and spaghetti squash. On discovering this, a few days ago, I quickly chucked a mix of the missing seeds into a tray and will have to hope that we get a late frost. No butternut squash though and I am sure I had seeds somewhere Will have to find something to trade you for a couple.
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Old Jul 8th 2010, 5:25 pm
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

we store the squash whole and i use them up one at a time but we did have to throw a few away. not got as many in this year but i am sure we will find you something.

i am trying to get hold of some honesty seeds as want some dried to go with my flower arangements and my christmas table display.
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Old Jul 19th 2010, 12:58 pm
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

Hi Hotpot, sorry, a bit behind in replying as I have been looking after 2 baby swallows (which sadly I don't think will make it) and the storm put out our power, phoneline and fried the router. Excellent service though, T-Home came out late this morning and set up a new router, no lectures about surge protectors, no charge for the new router and they even phoned 20 minutes before their arrival to confirm we were available

Not having a cellar, I lost loads last year to the frost, lesson learnt.

Was so disappointed the other day when I discovered that the 7 "melon" plants that I have lovingly cultivated, starting to fruit and were in fact some type of squash!!! How that one happened I will never know, guess I will need to pay more attention to my labeling next year
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Old Aug 23rd 2010, 6:03 pm
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Default Re: Vinegar : I'm confused!

Hi
Thanks for writing about the vinegar... I hadn't realised and was about to pickle some beetroot!!! I am also growing butternut squash for the first time this year and discovered that they take over a huge area of garden and I only put 2 plants in to see how they grew! There will be more than enough on just these 2 plants to see me through the winter I think.
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