What is an infused vinegar?
An infused vinegar is essentially steeping plant material in vinegar for a period of time, an ideal amount of time is 4 weeks. The reason behind infusing a vinegar may be to flavour vinegar, to preserve plant material (unfermented pickling), or to extract medicinal properties from plants. Infused vinegars can be stored out of the fridge, but will last longer in the fridge. The shelf life is variable depending on what is used to make an infused vinegar and can range from several months to over a year. The best thing to do is use your sense of smell and taste to determine if a vinegar is still worth using. Any appearance of mould would be a sure sign that a vinegar is no longer safe to consume.
Flavoured vinegar
Flavouring vinegar can be a great addition to salad dressing and cooking. Aromatic herbs and spices from your garden such as garlic, fennel seed, celery seed, dill seed and mustard seed are all possibilities. I also enjoy experimenting with wild plants in the carrot family, cow parsnip seeds, Heracleum maximum (also known as Heracleum lanatum), is one of my favourites.
Preserving plant material (pickles)
Traditional pickles (using any vegetable or fruit) are lactofermented, however, most commercial pickles available today are just made from synthetic acetic acid (vinegar), which acts as an excellent preservative (minus the probiotic benefits of lactofermentation of course!). An Anglo-American chutney is a sweetened preserve using vinegar as a preservative, which often contains aromatic spices. Making chutney can bring an added layer of fun to your plant preserving experiments.
Herbal vinegar
Traditional herbal medicine wisdom says that the acid vinegar medium is ideal for extracting minerals and alkaloids from plants. Vinegar can therefore be used a medium to extract certain medicinal properties from plants. Vinegar can be used a substitute for alcohol in some herbal extractions, but cannot always replace alcohol effectively. I aim to make nutritious vinegar tonics when crafting infused vinegar. Any nutritious medicinal plants such as dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), clover (Trifolium spp.), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), nettle (Urtica dioica) and dock (Rumex spp.) would be great candidates.
Apple cider vinegar
I use unfiltered, unpasteurized, organic apple cider vinegar because it is alive, containing acetic acid bacteria. It also has some mineral nutrients, sugars and organic acids. Malic acid, for example, has been shown to affect mucosal cells for the treatment of dry mouth and diarrhea. It is also super accessible and easy to make at home with excess crab apples or pears.
Recipe
Here is my recipe showing my recent experiments with infused vinegar. I would like to emphasize that you can use any leaves, fruits, shoots and roots to make a vinegar.
STEP ONE
Fill a jar with plant material of choice. Below I have used nettle leaf, dandelion leaf, wild strawberry (Fragraria virginana) leaf and fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) shoots.
STEP TWO
Cover plant material with apple cider vinegar. Note that if you use a jar with a metal lid, if the vinegar comes into contact with the metal it may corrode the lid. Use wax paper or plastic to create a barrier.
STEP THREE
Allow vinegar to steep for 4 weeks. Strain plant material using a cheese cloth, or fine mesh metal sieve. Store remaining vinegar in the fridge for a longer shelf life. The left over plant material can be discarded in the compost or used to make a salad dressing, condiment or chutney.
DAILY DOSE OF VINEGAR
I enjoy adding a dropper full (~1 mL) of mineral rich vinegar to a cup of water as a daily nutrient tonic. Carbonated water is particularly enjoyable. You may add more or less vinegar to taste, or add sweetener to reduce the acid flavour. You can also include infused vinegar in cooking and salad dressings, feel free to experiment and let your imagination go wild. I am currently experimenting with more aromatic plants to provide a delicious, mineral rich, digestive tonic.