How to make Chive Vinegar

Every flower and leaf is up for grabs in my garden.  And chives flowers don’t get a reprieve.  For a couple of years I have watched my chive flowers bloom wondering what I can do with them.  I did throw some in my salad but I have at least 8 Chive plants!  So last year I decided to throw them into a bunch of  huge jars of vinegar.  I am so glad I did since chive vinegar is delicious!

A Little Chive Vinegar Background

As the pink flowers withered over the month, the smell intensified in the jar.   The beautiful pink liquid smelled like a strong onion tasting dressing.

I made the mistake of exposing the jars to some sunlight so the pink color disappeared.  Learn from my mistake and put the jar in a dark place if you want that nice pink liquid color.

It’s Time to Remove the Flowers

Honestly, I totally forgot about my jars and left the flowers  to soak away.  Until one day, the jars looked at me and I looked at the jars with its gray looking flowers and I knew that I had “cooked” the flowers way to long.

And when I smelled the vinegar it cleared my nasal passages.  Boy does that vinegar smell strong.  Onion-y strong.

But I was curious.  Would people like the taste?  My lucky friends got to be the guinea pigs.  The chive vinegar received the thumbs up sign.

Watch the video below for what the vinegar looks like before I remove the flowers.  Remember, there is no beautiful pink color.

[leadplayer_vid id=”5330E413011FB”]

Here is how to make your own.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• Chive Blossoms cut below their flower head
• Distilled, White or Champagne Vinegar. You can buy organic distilled white vinegar here.  Alternatively, you can buy a large sized organic white wine vinegar here.
• Glass Jars.

Instructions:

1.  Cut the blossoms when they are in bloom right below their flower head.

2.  Wash them in cold water to remove any bugs or dirt.  Drain them well since they can hold water.  Use a salad spinner if you have one.

3.   Fill up a jar with blossoms and pour vinegar over them. You can pack the blossoms tightly.  I used distilled organic vinegar,  but I might try white wine vinegar next time.

Why use organic?   Ordinary white distilled vinegar generally comes form genetically modified corn or worse yet,  from natural gas and petroleum derivatives.   According to FDA,

” [s]ynthetic ethyl alcohol may be used as a food ingredient or in the manufacturing of vinegar or other chemicals for food use, within limitations imposed by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Alcohol Administration Act, and regulations promulgated under these acts.”

Even if vinegar is from corn,  it could be sprayed with harmful pesticides.    I grow corn and those corn earworms can destroy your corn.

4. Put a piece of parchment paper over the top of the glass jar and then screw on the lid.  You don’t want the vinegar to touch the lid.  It will cause the lid to rust.

5.  Put the container in a dark place.

6.  Wait a minimum of 2 weeks and smell.  If it smells “onion-y” enough strain the flowers and compost them. Variations of this recipe: There are a variety of chive vinegar recipes on the internet.

If you forget about the chive flowers, after a couple of months, the chives flowers are all brown. See the picture below.  It doesn’t hurt the vinegar.

Listed are a few I might try this year:

• Using Heating white wine vinegar sounds interesting.  Read David Liete’s recipe here.
• How to add the vinegar to make a dressing.  See here.
• Chive Vinegar recipe with bay leaves and other additional ingredients

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