Making Apple Cider Vinegar From Scraps
Like apple juice, the best apple cider vinegars are organic, unfiltered and raw (unpasteurized). Depending on where you live it may be hard to find really good apple cider vinegar.
Fortunately, it’s easy and very inexpensive to make. It just takes some time, naturally, to ferment. This varies depending on which of the two methods below that you choose to use.
This article will show you how to make apple cider vinegar using two different methods. The first method uses the scraps – cores and apple peels. The second method uses whole apples.
Method One – Make Apple Cider Vinegar From Scraps
This method uses scraps, like the peels and cores. I like this method because I get to eat my apples and make vinegar too. It’s also faster, taking around two months to complete the process.
You’ll need:
a large bowl or wide-mouth jar
apple scraps, the cores and peels from organic apples
a piece of cheesecloth for covering the jar to keep out flies and debris
Leave the scraps to air. They’ll turn brown, which is exactly what you want. Add the apple scraps to the jar and top it up with water.
You can continue to add scraps for a few more days if you want. If you’re going to do this though, be sure don’t top the jar right up, leave some room for the new scraps.
Cover with the cheesecloth and put it in a warm, dark place. A water cylinder cupboard is perfect.
You’ll notice the contents of the jar starts to thicken after a few days and a grayish scum forms on top. When this happens, stop adding scraps and leave the jar for a month or so to ferment.
After about a month you can start taste-testing it. When it’s just strong enough for you, strain out the apple scraps and bottle the vinegar.
It’s ok if your vinegar is cloudy, there will be some sediment from the apples and what’s known as “the mother”. It’s all good. If you don’t like the cloudiness though, straining it through a paper coffee filter will remove most of the sediment.
Method Two – Make Apple Cider Vinegar From Whole Apples
This method uses whole, organic apples and takes about 7 months to ferment into vinegar.
You’ll need:
10 Whole organically-grown apples
a glass bowl, and later a larger glass bowl
a piece of cheesecloth to cover the bowls
Wash the apples and cut into quarters. You can optionally core and peel them. If you do the scraps can be used to make apple cider vinegar by method one, above.
Let the apples air and turn brown. Then put them into the smaller bowl and cover with water.
Cover the bowl with the cheesecloth and leave in a warm, dark place for 6 months. Again, a hot water cupboard is ideal.
After the 6 months is up, you’ll notice a grayish scum on the surface of the liquid. This is normal. Strain the liquid through a coffee filter into the larger bowl, and leave it for another 4-6 weeks, covered with the cheesecloth.
And there you have it, your own homemade apple cider vinegar
How to use Apple Cider Vinegar
There are lots of ways to use apple cider vinegar. It can be used diluted with water as a hair rinse (don’t worry – the smell disappears quickly), you can also mix with water or fruit juice and drink it. Find out more about the health benefits of using apple cider vinegar in our brand new eBook below:
Hi!!
I am in the process of trying the scraps method. I found the link on a Facebook page, and have been asking around there to make sure I am doing everything right. So far all sounds good. But…I am concerned about telling the difference between ‘the mother’ and mold growing on top. It’s not quite at a month yet (a few more days) I can smell apple, smells really good, but it’s just so awful looking…the stuff sitting on top of the floating apples!! I have been told that’s the mother, but I thought the mother was the cloudiness underneath!! I have not pushed anything down into the jar, leaving all alone since I put the scraps in, covered with cheesecloth. Well, except for the one jar that I knocked by mistake today; that stuff got a little dunked back into the water, and spilled a little (super clean cupboard now).
So, my biggest worry…how do you know that ick on top is normal and not mold?
Thanks
Hi Helen, you’re right the mother is usually the cloudiness underneath. Often there will be a grayish foam on top, it sounds like that might be what you are seeing, but it’s hard to know for sure without seeing it. If it’s just the gray foam, you can scoop it off before you pour off the apple cider vinegar and bottle it. At least it smells right, so that’s a good sign.
Generally you can tell the difference between mold and the foam because the foam will break up easily if you move a spoon or something through it. The mold will tend to cluster together. It forms a skin almost, so if you try to lift part of it with a spoon or something, the whole thing will come away in one piece. There can be exceptions of course, but that’s a general rule.
Thanks very much!! I did think it was a good sign that the smell was good. I will try scooping/moving it and see what happens
Mine actually has some green stuff formed on the apples on top… I am assuming that is mold so I have no clue what I have done wrong… it has only been like a week and I think it is ruined :0(
I copied/pasted my message below earlier (just in case) good thing because I don’t see it!! I think the comment from Erin on October 25th sounds like mine…but is it mold? Also I checked your pic after I wrote, and when I did mine it was way more water with scraps floating above it…I no idea how much of each to use!!
Hi!!
I am in the process of trying the scraps method. I found the link on a Facebook page, and have been asking around there to make sure I am doing everything right. So far all sounds good. But…I am concerned about telling the difference between ‘the mother’ and mold growing on top. It’s not quite at a month yet (a few more days) I can smell apple, smells really good, but it’s just so awful looking…the stuff sitting on top of the floating apples!! I have been told that’s the mother, but I thought the mother was the cloudiness underneath!! I have not pushed anything down into the jar, leaving all alone since I put the scraps in, covered with cheesecloth. Well, except for the one jar that I knocked by mistake today; that stuff got a little dunked back into the water, and spilled a little (super clean cupboard now).
So, my biggest worry…how do you know that ick on top is normal and not mold?
Thanks
Hi Helen, don’t worry the comments all come through. Because they have to be moderated (that is approved by us) they don’t show up immediately.
I’ve been harvesting our apples and making sweet and hard cider for years, but this year decided to make some vinegar as well. I’ve read your procedures, but wondering if there’s any expertise on my results. 4 or 5 gallons of sweet cider started to puff up, so I took off the caps and let them go to vinegar – my first attempt.
It’s been about 8 weeks and they smell a little vinegary, they taste tart but okay (like a light vinegar), and there is no “mother” or “slime” at all. I compared to taste to a bottle of commercial stuff I have and there is a MAJOR difference!! Extreme taste in the commercial one, just barely vinegar in mine.
So my questions, why don’t I have a scum at the top? Is this strong enough to store without spoiling? Any other tips or suggestions? Many thanks!
Update: I think the “mother” in this batch may be laying at the bottom – does that happen? The sediment layer is whitish and hard to cut, so I’m thinking it sank. When we make hard cider or drink the sweet cider, the bottom layer is simply sediment and it’s powdery and stirs easily; this is different. So it may be there after all. I saw that I was supposed to stir daily, so I tightened the caps and shook. The top of the liquid was completely clear and worthy of sipping before the shake, but afterwards the bottom sediment didn’t mix in as much as I expected, and then I realized it was a tough pancake instead of a powdery sediment layer.
But I appreciate any thoughts on these results. Is it usual to have such a mild vinegar flavor after 8 weeks? We use a variety of apples, from red delicious, granny smith, empire, gala and courtland (we think). We had a LOT of apples this year and they were very sweet, so that may influence the extremely mild vinegar, too.
I appreciate any insights for this first-time vinegar effort.
Hi I follow the recipe for apple cider vinegar from scraps and everything looks good, I keep it inside the oven at a constant 70 to 75 F due to pilot light, and its been about 1 1/2 month but mine does not smell like vinegar or taste strong like the one from the store. Do you think more time is needed? and if so about how much time.
I’m thinking mine were still in the hard cider stage when I wrote above. They were quite drinkable at the time. I’m guessing I wasn’t letting in enough air. I switched them to a wide-mouth jar and now it is smelling more vinegary. Only one had that gel pancake at the bottom, so I cut it into 4 and put a quarter in each container. I think I’ve got it going now, and a grey-ish layer is finally forming on top. (And the room smells like vinegar! Though it might be kind of chilly in there and inhibiting the growth.)
Apples have Quercetin, but do they have Resveratrol too ?