How to make natural apple cider vinegar at home

Make apple cider vinegar yourself at home it’s easy and cheap, and the results are delicious. If you make your own apple cider vinegar, you know the ingredients and you can be sure that it does not contain additives (preservative sulfites are often added) or harmful substances (residues of agricultural pesticides, for example).

If you have an apple tree, it is a very interesting way to take advantage of the entire harvest. You can also do it when apples are on sale at the local market. Of course, organic and zero kilometer apples are preferable.

On the other hand, preparing these simple preparations at home contributes to reducing the production of plastic bottles and CO2 emissions What does it mean to bring a bottle of vinegar from a distant region or from another country to your home?

Also, anything you do yourself it makes you more self-sufficient and, if it’s a food, it tastes better to you. You can get addicted to your own apple cider vinegar. In addition, it has healthy properties.

How to make homemade apple cider vinegar

Ingredients for 1 liter of apple cider vinegar:

500 g of organic apples without spots or signs of deterioration (you can also use a similar amount of apple cores or skins) 250 grams of sugar 1.5 l of natural or filtered mineral water

You should also have ready:

2 large (1.5 l) wide-mouth glass containers (Mason jar type) 4 small (250 ml) glass bottles A kitchen towel, paper napkins (or coffee filters), and rubber bands A fine-wire strainer and cheesecloth

Elaboration:

It takes a few weeks to prepare the apple cider vinegar, but it is not difficult at all. Keep in mind that the indicated times may vary depending on the temperature, the type of apple, etc.

Wash the apples well, remove the core and cut them into small cubes. Be careful not to cut or crush the seeds.Place the apple pieces in the large well cleaned or sterilized bowl and add cold water until the apples are completely covered and about 4cm under water.Sprinkle the sugar on top and stir well. Then place a small plate over the apple pieces in the bowl. That way none of them will float to the top (if they come in contact with air they could rot and spoil the fermentation). Cover the container with a kitchen towel, secure it with a rubber band, and place it in a dark place at room temperature (about of 21ºC). You should leave it there for a couple of weeks. Stir the apples once a day with a wooden spoon. After that time, the apples will have settled to the bottom, they will no longer have a tendency to float. A white foam will have formed on the surface, remove it with a wooden spoon and then pour the cider through the strainer or cheesecloth and fill the other large container, which you will have sterilized shortly before. Cover each jar with a napkin and secure it with a rubber band. Throw the apples in your organic waste or compost pile. Place the container in the same place at room temperature (temperature may now be a little higher) and leave it there for another four to five weeks. During this time it will go from being cider to becoming vinegar. Don’t be surprised when at two weeks the so-called mother of vinegar is formed, a kind of gelatinous mass that floats in the jar. Remove every two or three days. If white growths or a whitish coating appear on the surface of the water, remove them (it’s harmless mold, but you don’t want it to grow).Taste the vinegar every two to three days to see if it has reached the point of acidity and flavor you want . You can soak a test strip below the mother to measure the acidity (found in pharmacies), which should be 4-5. If the value is higher than 5, the proper acidity level has not been reached. and fermentation should continue. Whether or not you have done the test (your sense of smell may be enough), pour the vinegar through a fine strainer and cheesecloth into the small bottles, also sterilized, and close them hermetically with a metal screw cap. Save the mother to make more vinegar with the same manufacturing process, but faster. Just add the mother to the apples along with the water. Let the vinegar mature in these bottles in a cool place or in the fridge for eight to ten weeks. Then you can start using vinegar in your recipes.

Some questions you can ask yourself

The preparation of apple cider vinegar is simple but playing with the fermentation always produces respect. Beginners may ask themselves a few questions.

Why is sugar added?

To make vinegar, you first need to make an alcohol. Sugar is the best food for the yeasts found in apples to feed on and develop rapidly, giving rise to the mother of vinegar. Then those bacteria will convert the alcohol into acetic acid.

In theory, vinegar can be made without added sugar, so that bacteria multiply thanks to the sugars in the fruit itself, but the process is much slower and increases the risk of mold or pathogenic bacteria developing.

How long can homemade vinegar last?

As much as the commercial one, which is a product that does not need refrigeration and with a very long expiration date. It is normal for some mother to form on the surface or bottom. It can be removed and continue consuming the vinegar. After six months it can begin to lose quality.

Why are the jars covered with rags or napkins?

During the fermentation process we need air to enter and gases to escape. Once the fermentation has finished, during maturation and storage, we are interested in stopping the fermentation, so the bottles are hermetically covered.

What symptoms can indicate that the process has not gone well?

The presence at any time of green, gray, black or brown mold or scum above apple cider vinegar during or after fermentation indicates that contamination has occurred and you should throw it away. The molds and bacteria that have developed could be dangerous. But this can only happen if you have not been careful with hygiene or have allowed pieces of apple to float above the surface of the water.

How to make “switchel” with your apple cider vinegar

The “switchel” is a drink made of water mixed with apple cider vinegar and ginger. It is usually sweetened with molasses, honey, sugar, brown sugar, or maple syrup. This drink is native to the Caribbean and was popular in the American colonies at the end of the 17th century. If you want to make a “switchel” yourself at home, all you need is:

Ingredients:

1.5 liters of water 1 large ginger rhizome 175 ml of honey (or maple syrup) 125 ml of apple cider vinegar 100 ml of lemon juice

Elaboration:

Bring the water to a boil.Meanwhile, peel and chop the ginger into large pieces.Add the ginger to the boiling water and let it simmer for two minutes.Remove the pot from the heat and let the ginger soak and cool for 20 minutes before adding any other ingredients. Strain the ginger infusion through a strainer. You can use the ginger pieces for cooking or boil them again to make another infusion. Add the honey, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice to the switchel and stir.

You can enjoy the “switchel” hot or cold. Be careful not to heat the drink above 40 degrees, otherwise valuable ingredients will be lost.