Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar
Making apple cider vinegar is one of those preparations that reminds me how much we can do with things we might otherwise throw away.
Apple scraps, skins, and cores that would normally end up in the compost can become the beginning of a naturally fermented vinegar. All it takes is apples, water, sugar, a little patience, and time.
The process happens in stages. First, the sugars ferment, and then the resulting alcohol is converted into acetic acid. Over time, the sweet apple mixture becomes the tart vinegar we recognize.
Ingredients
Apple chunks or apple scraps—skins and cores work beautifully
Filtered water
Sugar
You’ll need enough apples or scraps to fill your chosen fermentation vessel about halfway.
For the sugar, use:
1 tablespoon sugar per 1 cup filtered water, or
1 cup sugar per 1 gallon filtered water
You can use a quart jar, half-gallon jar, gallon jar, or another appropriate fermentation vessel depending on how much you’d like to make.
Saving Your Apple Scraps
One of my favorite parts of this recipe is that you don’t need perfect apples.
If you’re making another apple recipe, save the skins and cores instead of throwing them away. You can collect scraps in a freezer-safe container and freeze them until you’ve gathered enough to make a batch.
Once you’re ready, simply thaw the scraps and use them in your vinegar.
Beginning the Fermentation
If you’re using whole apples, wash them well and cut them into chunks. If you’re using scraps, make sure they’re clean and free from any spoiled or moldy pieces.
Add the apples to your fermentation vessel until it is about halfway full.
Next, add lukewarm filtered water until the apples are nearly covered and the vessel is almost full. Keep track of how much water you add because you’ll use that measurement to calculate the amount of sugar needed.
Add 1 tablespoon of sugar for every cup of water, or 1 cup of sugar for every gallon of water.
Stir everything thoroughly so the sugar dissolves.
The apples will want to float, so keeping the fruit submerged is important. Use a suitable fermentation weight or another food-safe method to keep the apples beneath the liquid.
Cover the vessel with a breathable cloth or other appropriate fermentation covering and secure it so insects and debris can’t get inside.
The First Fermentation
Place your covered vessel somewhere dark and around 70–75°F.
For approximately the first two weeks, stir the mixture daily. This helps keep the fruit moving beneath the liquid and reduces the chance of exposed pieces developing mold.
If your vessel is in a bright location, you can place a dark towel or other covering around it to protect the fermentation from light while still allowing appropriate airflow.
Pay attention to what you’re seeing and smelling throughout the process. Fermentation should develop a pleasantly fermented, increasingly acidic aroma.
If you see fuzzy mold or anything that looks clearly spoiled, discard the entire batch rather than trying to remove the affected portion.
Straining the Apples
After about two weeks, strain the apples from the liquid.
Pour the liquid into a clean, similarly sized fermentation vessel and cover it again with your breathable material.
The apples can now be composted.
At this point, the process isn’t finished. In fact, this is where the vinegar really begins to develop.
Letting the Vinegar Develop
Move your covered liquid to a dark, out-of-the-way location where it can continue fermenting.
You don’t need to refrigerate it yet. Continue keeping it around room temperature, avoiding excessive heat.
Now comes the part that requires the most patience.
After about a month, taste a small amount of the vinegar. It should be noticeably tart and increasingly resemble vinegar rather than sweet apple water.
If it isn’t quite where you’d like it to be, give it more time.
Depending on your ingredients and fermentation conditions, the process can take two to three months or longer to develop the flavor you’re looking for.
Taste it periodically and allow the fermentation to continue until the vinegar reaches the flavor and acidity you prefer.
Bottling Your Apple Cider Vinegar
Once you’re happy with your vinegar, transfer it into clean bottles or jars with secure lids. Swing-top bottles work well, too.
You can store your finished vinegar at room temperature or refrigerate it.
You may notice sediment or a cloudy appearance, and you may even develop a mother of vinegar; a naturally occurring collection of cellulose and microorganisms associated with vinegar fermentation. These aren’t necessarily signs that something has gone wrong.
However, if you see visible mold or notice a distinctly rotten or otherwise abnormal smell or appearance, discard the vinegar.
A Note About Long-Term Storage
Commercial vinegar is produced and standardized to specific acidity levels, which is one reason it can be stored for long periods.
With homemade vinegar, the final acidity can vary depending on the apples, sugar, fermentation conditions, and length of fermentation. Unless you have tested the finished vinegar and know its acidity, I wouldn’t rely on homemade apple cider vinegar for food-preservation or canning purposes.
For the same reason, I prefer not to put an exact multi-year shelf-life on homemade vinegar. Store it properly, inspect it before use, and use your senses as part of your routine.
From Scraps to Something Useful
I love preparations like this because they change the way we look at what we have. Apple skins and cores don’t necessarily have to be waste. They can become the beginning of something new. A little water. A little sugar. A jar. And a whole lot of patience; then you wait and slowly, something sweet becomes something tart, complex, and completely different from where it began.
That’s one of the things I love most about fermentation: You don’t force the process. You create the right conditions and then let nature do what it does best.
Even stored at room temperature, homemade apple cider vinegar will stay good for up to five years! However, the quality and flavor will likely be best within the first two years.
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