Cook’s Tips

* If you have trouble getting your red wine vinegar to ferment, it may not be your fault. Some red wines are heavily sulfited to prevent spoilage. Since vinegar is evidence of a certain kind of spoilage, it follows that these wines won’t make very good vinegar. If things seem to be progressing too slowly (if you don’t see any changes after three weeks), you might try pouring off the wine and then aerating it by pouring it from jar to jar. In this way, you can remove much of the extra sulfites. If this doesn’t work, switch wine brands.

* Although you want to work with clean utensils to avoid contaminating the vinegar, you needn’t go overboard. Because of the amounts of alcohol and acidity present, vinegar shouldn’t harbor anything that will hurt you.

* Vinegar corrodes metal. Use glass or enameled metal to make and store it. And cap it with cork rather than a metal lid.

* Your new vinegar may taste sharp at the beginning. The longer it ages, the mellower it will get.

* To order books, active cultures or equipment, go to a wine- or beer-making supply shop or check out https://www.beer-wine.com/vinegar.html.