Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar Recipe
Apple scraps, the peel and core, are perfect for making this homemade apple cider vinegar recipe. An unpasteurized DIY apple cider vinegar is ideal for cooking, animal husbandry, treating body ailments, and promotes good gut health.
Homemade apple cider vinegar is extremely easy to make and quite delicious. Plus, it is a great way to utilize the entire apple in order to create a zero waste product.
During apple season it’s a shame to give the peels and cores to the chickens or pigs. This easy recipe contains 3 ingredients and a bit of patience. Roughly 2 to 4 weeks of patience.
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In need of apple scraps?
Unless you have an unlimited supply of apples on hand, the apple scraps for making apple cider vinegar are gathered from a variety of projects during the Fall season.
During September and October my time is spent working on apples. Whether I am preserving them for long-term storage or using them in baked good, we are never short of apple scraps for making this homemade apple cider vinegar recipe.
An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away!
- Canning Apples
- Apple Pull-apart Bread
- Canning Apple Juice Concentrate
- Crock-Pot Apple Butter with Canning Tips
- Canning Apple Salsa
- Apple Pie Moonshine
- Easy Applesauce Recipe with Canning Tips
- Spiced Apple Shrub
Using Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar
Once apple scraps have fermented you will have a truly delicious unpasteurized (raw) apple cider vinegar. And so you know, there are plenty of uses for this DIY apple cider vinegar.
- Cooking
- Salad dressing
- Bath and beauty aid (skin conditions and scalp issues)
- Promotes good gut health for humans and livestock
However, homemade raw apple cider vinegar is not advised to be used as an acidity booster for home canning goods. An acidity lifter needs to be at least 5% or higher. There is no testing tool which can verify the exact acidity level for a homemade ACV, making it an unreliable acidity booster in the canning world.
Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar Recipe – Ingredients
- apple scraps, skins and core
- non-chlorinated water, ideally spring or drinking water
- a starter (I prefer this one unpasteurized apple cider vinegar), (optional) a small splash of raw ACV
Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar Recipe – Equipment
- 1/2-gallon mason jar, or wide mouth quart size mason jars for smaller batches
- fermenting weight, glass or stone
- paper coffee filter
- air bubble remover
- 16-ounce swing top bottle
- fine mesh sieve
- bottle funnel
Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar Recipe – Instructions
- Fill the jar 3/4 full.
- Add non-chlorinated water of choice leaving a 1 1/4-inch headspace.
- Using an air bubble remover remove any air trapped between the apple scraps.
- Gentle added the fermented weight. Adding more water to ensure that the fruit and weight are completely submerged.
- Wipe the rim of the jar and place the paper coffee filter onto the jar. Secure the coffee filter with the ring.
- Store in a cool dark location up to 2 – 4 weeks. At this point the fermenting process will have begun, and a sweet vinegary smell is present. Depending on the temperature during the fermenting process, a mother can form.
- Strain the liquid into the swing top bottle using a fine mesh sieve and jar funnel.
- Store the young apple cider vinegar in a cool dark location. Once a tart flavor is achieved, the ACV will be ready to be consumed.
Notes
To speed up the fermentation process add a splash of unpasteurized ACV (from an existing batch or a market brand) to a new batch.
Between 2 to 4 weeks of fermenting, and depending on the temperature of your home, a mother can form. The mother can be strained along with the apple scraps, or add to the filtered liquid. It is completely safe to consume.
Cloudy white scum can form on the top of the ferment, simply remove and discard. However, if the ferment molds, discard it immediately. Mold often presents itself to be black, white, or even pink it color and will have a fuzzy texture to it.
To learn more about preserving food through canning, fermenting, curing, and storing fresh, make sure to grab a copy of my book, The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest.
Printable Recipe Card – DIY Apple Cider Vinegar using Apple Scraps
Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar Recipe
Apple scraps, the peel and core, are perfect for making this homemade apple cider vinegar recipe. An unpasteurized DIY apple cider vinegar is ideal for cooking, animal husbandry, treating body ailments, and promotes good gut health.
Ingredients
- apple scraps,, skins and core
- non-chlorinated water,, ideally spring or drinking water
- a starter (unpasteurized apple cider vinegar),, (optional) a mother or a splash of unpasteurized ACV
Instructions
- Fill the jar 3/4 full.
- Add non-chlorinated water of choice leaving a 1 1/4-inch headspace.
- Using an air bubble remover remove any air trapped between the apple scraps.
- Gentle added the fermented weight. Adding more water to ensure that the fruit and weight are completely submerged.
- Wipe the rim of the jar and place the paper coffee filter onto the jar. Secure the coffee filter with the ring.
- Store in a cool dark location up to 2 - 4 weeks. At this point the fermenting process will have begun, and a sweet vinegary smell is present. Depending on the temperature during the fermenting process, a mother can form.
- Strain the liquid into the swing top bottle using a fine mesh sieve and jar funnel.
- Store the young apple cider vinegar in a cool dark location. Once a tart flavor is achieved, the ACV will be ready to be consumed.
Notes
Equipment
1/2-gallon mason jar, or quart size mason jars for smaller batches
fermenting weight, glass or stone
paper coffee filter
Air Bubble Remover
16-ounce swing top bottle
fine mesh Sieve
bottle funnel
To speed up the fermentation process add a splash of unpasteurized ACV (from an existing batch or Mrs. Braggs) to a new batch.
Between 2 to 4 weeks of fermenting, and depending on the temperature of your home, a mother can form. The mother can be strained along with the apple scraps, or add to the filtered liquid.
Cloudy white scum can form on the top of the ferment, simply remove and discard. However, if the ferment molds, discard it immediately. Mold often presents itself to be black, white, or even pink it color and will have a fuzzy texture to it.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
I just did a batch of bread and butter pickles with my own apple cider vinegar and processed in water bath. Will these be shelf stable or should I put in the fridge.
Homemade vinegar is not an option when it comes to home canning and making items shelf stable. The reason being, there is no accurate way to test the pH balance of homemade ACV. The items canned with homemade vinegar would need to be refrigerated.