Anny Middon wrote:
> "Bob (this one)" > wrote
>
>>They don't become rancid. They will lose flavor and acidity over time, but
>>it's a long time. Vinegar doesn't spoil, as such.
>>
>>Pastorio
>
> Which reminds me about something odd that happened recently. I had some
> balsamic vinegar I'd decanted into a pouring bottle that developed a mother.
> I set it aside with the idea of using the mother to make some red wine
> vinegar and promptly forgot about it. I came across it a few weeks ago and
> there was a layer of mold across the top.
>
> The mother had gotten big enough that the top of it was no longer covered
> with liquid. Is the mother not as acidic as the rest of the vinegar? Or
> did my vinegar get contaminated with something that allowed mold to grow?
> Or does balsamic vinegar (at least the cheapo grocery store stuff like this)
> contain enough extra ingredients that mold can form?

It wasn't mother. It was mold. Commercial balsamic doesn't have a high
enough sugar content for it to act as a preservative, but it can have
enough to support molds.

A true mother is a colony of acetobacters. This wasn't that.

Pastorio