we canned the pears so now how to make pear vinegar with the cores and peels?

We've mostly been dehydrating them but had a last asian pear picking and I thought I'd can a few quarts.

So set it up on the porch with my grandma's apple peeler that works equally well for asian pears....brought back memories of past pear harvests where we made pear butter and fought off the yellow jackets

Canning is done but I want to try making some vinegar with the peels and cores.

Has anyone made some?  
They are pretty sweet.

i love love love your peeler!!!

i can't imagine it will be any different than making vinegar from apples. Try to keep the fruitflies out of it, and let it bubble!! I bet they will make amazing vinegar.

Tereza Okava wrote:i love love love your peeler!!!

i can't imagine it will be any different than making vinegar from apples. Try to keep the fruitflies out of it, and let it bubble!! I bet they will make amazing vinegar.

thanks!
I forgot to say I've never made vinegar before.

Judith Browning wrote:

Tereza Okava wrote:i love love love your peeler!!!

i can't imagine it will be any different than making vinegar from apples. Try to keep the fruitflies out of it, and let it bubble!! I bet they will make amazing vinegar.

thanks!
I forgot to say I've never made vinegar before.

It's not rocket science. I've only done it a dozen or so times, enough to get vinegar fever!! and now I make it out of whatever I have (right now using some great wine vinegar made from... leftover wine!).
I don't have a specific recipe I love, you can certainly just google "making vinegar with apple peels and cores" (or search here) and find something that works.  airborne bacteria and time will do all the work. it's totally worth it!

thanks for the encouragement
I got it started ...

I used sandor katz recommendation for 1/2 cup sugar to a quart of water to cover the scraps.
Then stir every day, once active strain and add some live vinegar (a little braggs?)

I was going to tell you a cup of sugar per gallon, taken from Wild Fermentation. :-)

Keep it covered in cheesecloth, strain out the scraps after a week or two, let it age until it's sour.

ETA: Also, people who get into vinegar should check out this book for some extra fun: https://www.amazon.com/Wildcrafted-Vinegars-Ferments-Dressings-Mustards/dp/1645021149/

do you add live vinegar as he suggests?
I didn't see an amount so maybe just a splash to be sure it's going the right direction?

I'm not sure why I never tried making it before.....

Judith Browning wrote:do you add live vinegar as he suggests?

Yeah. I have several jugs of live vinegar, so I just backslop a "glug" of whatever's handy into the new bucket. But honestly, you can also just let fruit flies get at it and they'll drop acetobacter in. It's hard to prevent lightly alcoholic sugar-juice from becoming vinegar! Nature has your back on this one.

ETA: Also, I don't always have a 'mother' form, but the solution always sours, so it's all good.

Just a thought - those peels and cores look good to eat.  I've made vinegar before when I had apple and pear bits that were wormy or otherwise not good to eat.  But if I had bits like yours in good looking condition, I'd rather dry and eat them than make vinegar.

That said of course make what you want!  

Philip McGarvey wrote:Just a thought - those peels and cores look good to eat.  I've made vinegar before when I had apple and pear bits that were wormy or otherwise not good to eat.  But if I had bits like yours in good looking condition, I'd rather dry and eat them than make vinegar.

That said of course make what you want!  

That's exactly what I would do in a normal fruit year!
I've made delicious jam from muscadine skins and I never peel the peaches.
We don't peel any of the pears either except for these that I've been canning and I thought I would try a batch of vinegar for something different.

We've been eating the culls every day peel and all.
The cores on those have been pretty bad although I hadn't been thinking vinegar at the time.

When I dehydrate I cut the pear or apple in half and cut slices core, peel and all .
Most of the seeds fall out and the inner bits are easy to chew along with the dried fruit.

strained at 9 days...had stopped bubbling and tastes like it's going in the right direction although just very slightly bitter.

added a glug of Braggs ACV.

I've poured it off once after it settled and the taste is ok and maybe not so bitter now.

I've been skimming off a thin white layer from the top every few days...like when I make some fermented vegetables.   Should that be happening?

It's still cloudy but settling more and more.

When I've had that, if it didn't seem like a mother/SCOBY was forming, I just stirred it in each day and it went away.

thanks!
I guess I don't know what the mother will look like?
What I'm skimming off is very thin and white.

Seems like my Braggs ACV has some dark sediment settled in the bottom of the bottle but no discernable mother?

and now this morning, when I go to take a picture there's nothing on the surface but I can see the residue from skimming on the edge of one jar and the other jar is still settling pear mash.

Judith Browning wrote:
I've been skimming off a thin white layer from the top every few days...like when I make some fermented vegetables.   Should that be happening?

I would imagine that's kahm yeast.
The Oracle (bot) says:
Kahm yeast is a harmless, thin, white or creamy film that forms on the surface of fermented foods and beverages like sauerkraut, pickles, or kombucha, typically due to the presence of oxygen and warmer temperatures. While not harmful to consume, it can affect the flavor and texture of the ferment, so it's often skimmed off the top. To prevent kahm yeast, maintain a consistent, cooler temperature, ensure the food remains submerged, and use clean equipment to create a less hospitable environment for its growth.
What is Kahm Yeast?
A harmless surface film:
Kahm yeast is a type of wild yeast that appears as a thin, often powdery or crinkled, white or cream-colored layer on the surface of ferments.
A natural occurrence:
It is a natural phenomenon that occurs when wild yeast, present in the air and on fresh ingredients, grows on the surface of a ferment where there is contact with oxygen.
Conditions for growth:
It thrives in warmer temperatures (above 70°F/21°C) and prefers an oxygen-rich environment, which is why it forms on the surface, unlike molds or beneficial bacteria that may be submerged.
Why it forms
Oxygen exposure:
The presence of oxygen is key for kahm yeast to develop and form a pellicle, similar to a SCOBY in kombucha.
Temperature:
Warmer air temperatures accelerate its growth, while cooler conditions slow it down.
Fermentation dynamics:
In a dynamic fermentation process, lactic acid bacteria consume sugars and produce lactic acid, creating an acidic environment that inhibits harmful bacteria but allows kahm yeast to grow.