Apple cider vinegar also known as ACV is one of those things I would never be without in my kitchen. Good apple cider vinegar can be quite expensive but using left over apples or scraps means you only pay for the sugar!
In addition to the great flavour, apple cider vinegar is a natural preservative and disinfectant. You can use it to pickle vegetables, as well as clean your house!
For me, making your own has an added bonus. I add 2% of ACV to my chickens drinking water weekly to aid their digestion and as a great all round tonic. It also reduces algae growth in their drinkers, another added benefit.
The best news of all is that apple cider vinegar is quite simple to make at home. I use whole apples, but you can also make ACV using apple scraps too. One very common method is to save up used apple skins and cores over time, storing them in the freezer, before starting a batch of ACV.
What are the best apple varieties to make apple cider vinegar?
The best-tasting apple cider vinegar will result from using a variety of different apple types, if possible. Using a combination of sweet and tart apples creates a well-balanced finished flavour. A good goal is to use about two-thirds sweet apple varieties like Gala or Fuji and one-third tart, such as Granny Smith. Pink Lady would fall somewhere in between.
Remember to Sterilise Your Jars
Although ACV is made using natural yeasts to ferment the apples, we don’t want to introduce any unwanted bugs so I always sterilise my jars first. To properly sterilise your jars have a look here.
How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar
Ingredients
- Cores and peels from 6 to 8 apples
- Sugar 1 tbsp per 250ml of water
- Water to cover Filtered or bottled
Instructions
- Wash and chop the apples into chunks, or gather collected apple scraps (which can be saved in the freezer over time) and add them to your jar or other large fermenting vessel until it filled about halfway full.
- Pour lukewarm filtered water over the apples into the container until it is almost full, but measure/note the total amount of water added.
- Stir in sugar in ratios of 1 tablespoon of sugar per 250ml of water added.
- Optional: Add a splash of finished organic apple cider vinegar (e.g. store-bought) to inoculate the culture and encourage fermenting.
- Stir combined ingredients until thoroughly mixed, and cover with breathable material.
- Store in a dark location around 21 to 24 degrees C for two weeks to ferment, and stir everyday to prevent mold from forming on top. If needed, add another layer of material like a dark towel on top of the container to block light.
- After two weeks, strain and reserve the liquid into a similar sized container and cover again. Compost the spent fruit.
- Move the covered container of liquid to a location that is out of the way to continue long term fermentation. Maintain dark. A cooler “room temperature” at this stage is okay, but do not refrigerate yet.
- After one month, sample the vinegar to see if it is finished fermenting and tart to your liking. If needed, allow it to continue to ferment for a total of two to three months.
- Once it is fermented to your desired flavor, transfer the apple cider vinegar into bottles with lids (or swing top bottles). Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator, and enjoy!
- Properly fermented apple cider vinegar should “stay good” for over a year – as long as it does not have visible mold, or a strong and unusual flavor or appearance.
Notes
You may also like one of my other recipes …
