What is vinegar?: Page 2

• Fruit vinegar Apple juice is most commonly used, other fruits, such as grapes, peaches, and berries produce fine results as well. Products will have names such as, Apple cider vinegar, white or red wine vinegar. The first fermentation making the wine and the second producing the vinegar.
  
  
• Malt Vinegar This is simply the double fermentation of barley malt or similar cereals. Product names will simply be malt vinegar or white vinegar. This variety is the cheapest vinegar due to the ready availability of the ingredients.
  
  
• Sugar Vinegar This is made from the two stage fermentation of sugar or molasses syrup.
  
  
• Spirit or distilled vinegar This is made by the acetic fermentation of dilute distilled alcohol.

Vinegar has an infinite shelf life. By it�s very character, it is a preservative and in effect preserves itself. White vinegar will remain unchanged while stored for extended times. Other types of colored vinegars may become cloudy over time, or they will even produce sediment on the bottom of the jar. This is perfectly natural and can be used without any concern.

Unless otherwise stated, I use white vinegar for most of the applications within this book; for the simple reason being, it is cheap. Hunt for a good supplier yourself. You should avoid heath food stores, as they are more expensive. You will also notice that many supermarkets are now selling their own brand of vinegar, which is great, because this also brings the price down.

I hope that you learn to love the value of vinegar as you browse the tips that have been sent to me by people from all over the world. I have started to rely on vinegar, from making my dishwasher sparkling clean, to soothing the pain of my children�s sunburn. Vinegar has a very valued place in today�s society as it has for many centuries.