To maximize the benefit of each spoonful of vinegar, gently shake the vinegar bottle to distribute the mother, so there will be a bit of it in every serving. I did find the topic addressed by Elizabeth Andress Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in the Making Apple Cider fact sheet. Wikipedia describes vinegar mother as “A substance composed of a form of cellulose and acetic acid bacteria that develops on fermenting alcoholic liquids, which turns alcohol into acetic acid with the help of oxygen from the air.”. The vinegar was largely kept within the region, and highly prized within it. The fully formed “Mother” is actually a rather disgusting looking thing and looks more like something you ought to throw away and wash your hands after touching it. A vinegar mother is a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast that work together to make yummy vinegar happen. This may seem obvious, however, it was not until the early 19th century before anyone made the connection between the mother of vinegar and a living organism. Think of it as a vinegar starter, which can be added to wine or other alcoholic liquids in order to produce vinegar. Photo by Tim Nauman. According to Michael Harlan Turkell, author of the excellent and authoritative book Acid Trip: Travels in the World of Vinegar, balsamic was a crucial part of a young woman's dowry in the 19th century. The mother contains good bacteria for the gut, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. Some bacteria and yeast do poorly with oxygen exposure, like when making sauerkraut or wine. The idea behind the detox is that raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar still has “the mother” in it. During the fermentation process, the sugar in the apples becomes organic acids, producing an array of enzymes, minerals, pectin and probiotics referred to as “the mom.” The “mother” shows up as cloudy strings in the bottom of the bottle. A vinegar mother is technically a scoby too as she is formed of the same stuff; good bacteria and yeast. way. Strain your newly-made vinegar and reserve the mother of vinegar to use in the next batch. Put the affordable, low-calorie flavor-booster to terrific use in these sweet and savory apple cider vinegar recipes to get your dose in a healthy and delicious (and tooth-friendly!) How do I save "vinegar mother"? When buying raw and organic apple cider vinegar, the “mother” will settle to the bottom. A kind of bacteria in the mother, known as acetobacter, attack the alcohol and sour it into vinegar, a word that comes from the French vin aiger, or soured wine. 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