- 6 cups chopped lightly roasted pumpkin
- 255 grams of organic cane sugar
- Water
- 3 tablespoons raw vinegar with the mother*
- 1-gallon glass jar
- cloth covering
- rubber band
- Please read the recipe notes.
- Lightly roast the pumpkin: cut the pumpkin in half, place on a parchment paper lined pan, and roast at 425° F for 25 minutes. Do NOT use oil; dry roast the pumpkin.
- Chop the pumpkin into chunks.
- Add the sugar and pumpkin (with the skin) to a 1-gallon glass jar.
- Add water to the jar until full.
- Add in a few tablespoons of raw vinegar with the mother. This helps establish a good microbial community (see notes below)
- Stir the mixture until all the sugar is dissolved.
- Place a tight-weave cloth lid on the jar and secure with a rubber band.
- Stir the mixture once or twice a day and allow to ferment at room temperature for three weeks. Don’t forget to stir it. I like to just do it first thing in the morning each day. You can expect the pumpkin to disintegrate and fall apart the more you stir.
- You should notice the mixture bubble within one week. It will also become very cloudy.
- After three weeks of fermentation, strain out all the pumpkin pieces, replace the cloth lid and allow the mixture to ferment for 6 more weeks. Once it is strained you do not need to stir it.
- You will notice a vinegar mother form on the surface (it looks like a kombucha SCOBY but is very light in color). You can keep this to start your next batch of vinegar.
- After fermentation, bottle the vinegar and seal it with a solid lid. Store at room temperature in your pantry.
