Winging It and Making Apple Cider Vinegar

MareLin and Runa finally get their two separate worlds — one solitary, one PNW High Priestess — to merge once again. We catch up on All the Things, pull some cards, make some Apple Cider Vinegar (recipe below).

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV):

Supplies needed:

Glass Quart Jar (cleaned and sterilized — does not need to be mason jar, can be an old pickle jar, whatever you have)

fermentation spring and lid — or an old clean tea towel or coffee filter and rubber band.

Enough apple scraps to fill 2/3 of the jar (Runa makes ACV each time she peels an apple or makes pie, etc.)

1 tsp sugar

Water (unchlorinated) ~about 1 1/3 cup.

Instructions: Fill jar with apple scraps 2/3 full. This can include skin, core, seeds, all of it. Add sugar to water and stir until mostly dissolved. Pour sugar water to 1/2″ head space of jar. Put in fermentation spring and lid or cover with clean tea towel and rubber band. Set in a warm dark place for two weeks.

You may stir it every couple of days and skim any scum that floats to the top.

Once two weeks have passed, strain the scraps from the liquid. You may feed said scraps to chickens or pigs, they love it! And the probiotic is good for them.

Set the strained liquid aside for another two to four weeks. I check for that nice vinegar tang after two weeks. Once you are happy with the taste of it, you can put a lid on it and store it in the fridge as long as you like. It will not go bad.

If by chance your vinegar develops a gelatinous blob, congrats! you’ve created a “vinegar mother” and this mother can be used to make future vinegar batches. You can store in your vinegar and just remove it when you want to make a new batch of ACV.

Use your DIY ACV for cooking, cleaning and everything in between, except canning. Do not use your DIY ACV for canning, unless you are a chemist and can test your ACV for its acetic acid level of 5 percent.

Comment below if you’ve used this recipe and how it turned out!