Maylin Moon

Hi Anne,

thanks for your input on the vinegar and tinctures.

Maybe I posted the question in the wrong forum. I am new so I haven't checked out everything yet.

I did end up straining the fire cider and leaving it at room temperature. I'll probably put it in the fridge. Luckily (knock on wood) my partner and I don't really get sick so it's more of a just in case thing. It is quite tasty though.

This year I made elderberry tinctures with high proof alcohol and I haven't strained it yet. Do you think that even with alcohol the tinctures should be refrigerated? Shelf-stable is always an advantage since fridge space is prime real estate.

And... I just found the Medicinal Herbs forum!

Hi, sorry maybe this has been asked before however I cannot find any posts or info thus far.

How long realistically could you leave the solid ingredients in the fire cider?
Most I've read say around 1 month, but could you leave it longer (~3 months) to extract more benefits?

Is this the general rule for all ferments made with vinegar? Or do they differ depending on ingredients?

I'm also wondering the same about tinctures (made with alcohol), but that may be a different forum.

Oh one more, do you refrigerate the Fire Cider after or is it shelf-stable?

Thanks everyone!

Just wanted to add a method I've found for easy shelling of sweet chestnut (castanea sativa) found wild in the PNW. After trying many ways, this seems to work the best - easiest and fastest for preparing the nuts for long term storage.

1. Instead of using a knife to score, use a sharp kitchen SCISSORS to cut an X on the bottom of the nut. There is more control with the knife and less accidents. Make sure you cut all the way through to the inside. I've found cutting the bottom instead of the sides makes the skins (outer and inner) much easier to peel later.

2. Have a pot of near boiling water ready. It doesn't have to be boiling, just hot.

3. Drop a few of the bottom scored chestnuts into the hot water for a few minutes. This will soften the skin, and I'm guessing it may kill any worms/parasites due to the high temperature.

4. Using a slotted spoon take each chestnut out and place into a vessel with a kitchen towel. Use the towel to scrub the outer hard shell and inner layer off of the nut. If heated long enough, the inner skin will rub right off. The kitchen towel also helps handle the hot nut. If the inner skin is still stuck, drop the nut back in the water for about a minute - this works quite well to loosen the skin and then you can rub it off. *Note: if the nut cools too long, the inner brown skin will be harder to get off. Which is why it is important to do it in batches (see next step).

5. Do this in batches of 3-5 or however many you can do before they cook too long. You want to get to that sweet spot where they are cooked long enough to get the skin off/not too long as for the nut to get mushy and break.  You'll get a rhythm of how many to drop in as others are cooking as long as you make sure you know which ones were first.

6. Let the nuts dry.

7. At this point you can roast them, but since I am storing I chop or leave whole, vacuum seal in bags, mark dates and freeze. Sources say this lasts anywhere from 9 mos-1 yr in the freezer. I've had luck with a 1 year storage all the way until next chestnut season.

I suppose you could also can them or freeze dry, but I am not familiar with those methods.

Hope this helps anyone maybe.  I call it the "path to least resistance". Chestnuts rejoice!