Vinegar, does it go bad?

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giggler

Sous Chef
Joined
Dec 4, 2007
Messages
715
Location
Austin, TX.
My "white vinegars" like Pickling, white wine, apple cider..do fine,

but my Red wine, Malt, and Balsamic..

seem to turn dark and cloudy over time, with even a dark "sediment" in the red wine type..

Is this normal, do I just not use it up fast enough?

Thanks, Eric, Austin Tx.
 
Vinegars do go bad over time. They should be treated like a wine where it is kept out of direct sunlight and hopefully kept in a well sealed bottle. Unless you go through a lot of vinegar I suggest to get small enough bottles that you can go through in a period of 4-6 months at max.
 
If you get a strange sediment or growth in some wine vinegars it is called "Mother" and is not harmful and does not effect the taste or use of the vinegar.
 
I've had some of my vinegars for years & have never had any go bad. And as Mcnerd pointed out, any sediment that develops is harmless & is frequently used to "start" more vinegar.
 
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