Yes! You Can Make Vinegar From Banana Peels

Rather than throwing your banana peelings in the trash or tossing them into a compost bin, you can use them to make sweet vinegar. Banana-peel vinegar has a sour, bitter flavor with an underlying sugary taste.

You can use the banana-peel vinegar to top salads, to flavor water and tea or in any recipe that calls for vinegar. You will need approximately two months to make vinegar from banana peelings. This recipe yields 8 cups of banana-peel vinegar.

1. Combine the banana peels and half of the water in a large pot.
2. Place the pot over high heat and bring the water to a boil.
3. Remove the pot from the heat.
4. Allow the pot's contents to cool for 30 minutes.
5. Remove the banana peels from the large pot and place them onto a sheet of cheesecloth.
6. Wrap the cheesecloth around the peels and squeeze them, allowing liquid to drip into the pot.
7. Continue squeezing the peels until no liquid comes out. Discard the banana peels and cheesecloth.
8. Add the remaining water and the sugar to the pot.
9. Place the pot back over high heat for 15 minutes, stirring every five minutes.
10. Pour the liquid from the pot into the sterilized canning jar and add the baker's yeast.
11. Seal the canning jar and leave it in a cool place, undisturbed, for 7 days.
12. Open the jar and add the vinegar starter.
13. Replace the lid and leave the jar in a cool place for three weeks.
14. Open the jar and pour the liquid within into the large pot.
15. Place a sheet of cheesecloth over the mouth of the jar.
16. Pour the liquid from the pot back into the jar through the cheesecloth, to filter out any sediment or dead yeast.
17. Replace the jar's lid.
18. Leave the jar to age for 4 weeks in a cool place.
19. Open the lid and pour the liquid into the large pot.
20. Place the large pot over high heat for 10 minutes. While the vinegar pasteurizes, wash and sterilize the jar.
21. Remove the pot from the heat and pour the banana-peel vinegar back into the jar.
22. Seal the jar with the lid and store the banana-peel vinegar in a cool, dark place.