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Apple Cider Vinegar Recipe

Homemade apple cider vinegar with the mother is so easy to make, it has many health benefits, and it's a great way to make use of apple scraps or extra apples! Let's do this!
5 from 5 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Fermentation time 45 days
Total Time 45 days 3 minutes
Course Food Preservation, Ingredient, Tonic
Servings 2 quarts

Equipment

  • A glass container - such as a Ball's half gallon mason jar.
  • Tightly woven cloth - this is primarily to keep bugs and debris out. So use something like a handkerchief, old pillowcase or a piece of Flour sack towel and a rubberband to secure it. You could also use a coffee filter or paper towel. Do not seal with a lid.
  • Optional heat mat - if it's cold and you don't have a warm spot for your vinegar to ferment, consider using a planting heat mat with a thermostat to set your jar on.
  • A fine mesh strainer - for straining out the solids. Or you can use a flour sack towel or even better, an unbleached organic flour sack towel.

Ingredients
  

  • Apple scraps - try to get unsprayed apples if possible. You can use cores and peels and any bits and pieces that are not ruined with bugs or brown spots.
  • Filtered water or well water - or use bottled water. Use chlorinated water only after letting it sit out for 24 hours without a cover so the chlorine can evaporate. I use Berkey water filter for all my drinking water.
  • 1 tbsp Sugar or honey per cup of water - I like to use organic sucanat or evaporated cane sugar as a healthy choice. Honey is another great choice.
  • ¼ cup Starter culture - Optional - if you like, you can use a mother or a splash of organic raw vinegar 'with the mother' to serve as a starter culture.

Instructions
 

  • Fill you jar a little more than half full with apple scraps
  • Measure your water when you pour it into the jar to about 2-3 inches below the edge of the jar.
  • Add the sweetener. For every cup of water that you added, add one tablespoon of sugar or honey.
  • Stir it well.

Fermentation

  • Cover - Place a cloth over the top, secure with a rubberband and keep the jar in a warm place for the next 2-3 weeks, where you can see it. Keep it out of direct sunlight. It does need to be warm! About 75 ish degrees is perfect. You can use a heat mat, place it near your wood stove or just keep it on the counter if you keep a warm temperature in your kitchen.
  • Stir it every day to keep the apples on top from growing mold, or just push the apples back under the surface. You can also place a weight on top to keep the ingredients down. Your objective is to keep the fruit submerged as good as possible and prevent undesirables to grow on the surface.
  • Strain: After 2-3 weeks, the fruit should settle to the bottom. It's time to strain the vinegar. Just pour it through a fine mesh strainer or a cheesecloth and squeeze out what you can.
    If you have a mother, or starter vinegar, you can add it now, but it is not necessary.

Acidification

  • Replace the cloth and let it acidify for another 4 weeks.
  • Taste your vinegar. It should have a pleasant vinegar smell and taste acidic. If you're happy with it, bottle it and place a tight cap on the bottle. Store it in a cool, dark place until you need it. It should keep indefinitely.

Notes

What to do with the scraps

After straining your vinegar, you'll be left with the scraps. It is great to mix into pig food if you have them. Otherwise it makes an excellent compost accelerator. 

The Mother

You might get lucky and grow yourself a vinegar mother! Congratulations! This is a very nutritious 'cake' that forms from strands of enzymes, proteins and friendly bacteria. It often accumulates at the top of the vinegar as a gelatinous disk.
This is valuable for future vinegar production, so store it in a jar with a little vinegar until you make your next batch of your homemade! Then add the mother after straining your apples out after the first fermentation. It promotes quicker acidification of the virgin wine and over time, your vinegars become more valuable and you'll be growing you own heirloom strain. 

Congratulations! You've Learned A New Skill!

And a super handy one too! But you didn't only learn how to make a very versatile vinegar, you've learned a new self-sufficiency and survival skill!
If you keep sugar stocked up or if you keep honey bees, you can turn many things into vinegar and preserve the nutrients of the fruits as well, as use it to preserve other things and make powerful herbal medicinals.
You'll have a natural antiseptic wound treatment, and you can live healthier by soaking your grains and beans before consuming them. Well done!
Keyword vinegar, apple cider vinegar, preserving foods, fermentation, fermented foods, medicinal foods, herbs, uses for food scraps, health foods