1735. How to Pack a Vinegar Generator

1735. How to Pack a Vinegar Generator. Having made the generator, the next part of the process of making vinegar consists in packing or charging it; this is done in the following manner: Take pieces of beech board about 18 inches in length (maple or basswood boards will do, but not as well as beech), and plane thick, heavy shavings from the edge; the shavings should curl and roll up, or they must be rolled up and tied. Next cut clean corn-cobs into pieces 14 or 2 inches long. The shavings and corn-cobs must be thoroughly soaked in water; or, what is still better, boiled in vinegar. Fill the tub half full with the corn-cobs, and let the cobs remain in the tub just as they are thrown there, without further arrangement. Then fill up the balance of the generator with the beech shavings and arrange them so that those which touch the upper false bottom are more strongly pressed than the rest, as the degree of pressure should increase as you pack from the bottom to the top of the generator. The generator being filled, the false bottom must be fitted in and rest level upon the shavings, and great care must be taken not to have the air-tubes stopped up, or the cobs packed too solid in the vicinity of the slanting holes. The shavings or cobs may be loosened at the thermometer and ventilating-holes, by means of a stick thrust therein. The generator may also be entirely packed with beech shavings or entirely with cobs; the latter, however, are inferior, as they soon rot and become worthless. Beech chips are preferred to shavings by some vinegar manufacturers.

1736. Mode of Acetifying Shavings

1736.    Mode of Acetifying Shavings. The next step in the process of manufacturing vinegar consists in acetifying the shavings and cobs; and this is accomplished in the following manner: Preserve a temperature of between 75° and 85c Fahr., and pour over the shavings and cobs, every hour, a mixture of 2 gallons vinegar and 1/4 gallon common whiskey (this liquid should first be heated, to hasten fermentation), until there are 10 gallons in the generator above the faucet, but not more. Muspratt recommends a standard liquor, both for the acetification of the shavings and for generating of vinegar. It consists of 50 gallons 60 per cent, whiskey, and 37 gallons beer or malt wort. A mixture of 5 gallons of the above mixtures with 40 or 50 of weak vinegar, acetifies still quicker than the standard mixture used alone. Draw off from the generator every hour 2 gallons, and add it again at the top; continue this until the fermentation commences; this usually begins at the top of the generator in the course of 4 or 5 days. The contact of the air with the minutely divided liquid promotes the acetification, which consists essentially in the oxidation of the alcohol. As the oxygen is absorbed, the temperature of the liquor rises to 100° or 105°, and when the thermometer indicates that temperature when placed through the opening in the cover, the generator is ready, and in proper condition for the manufacturer. Pay special attention to the fermentation, for that is the principal point to be observed. It is scarcely necessary to say that the vinegar used for acetifying the shavings should be pure, or at all events free from the mineral acids. It is well known that essential oils, or a mere trace of wood-vinegar, arrest acetification; consequently the vinegar must also be free from pyroligneous acid. After the acetification occurs, proceed as follows: