Raw apple cider vinegar
How to make your own raw apple cider vinegar
Very short version:
Wash and chop your apples into medium sized pieces (you can use the peels and cores). Place them in a clean, rinsed and sterilised wide mouth jar. Mix the sugar with 1 cup of water and pour on top of the apples. Ferment for a week, stir once a day, then strain and let ferment until you have vinegar.
Longer version:
Ingredients for one litre: 1-2 large apples of choice with or without the scraps, filtered water, 1/2 cup raw, local honey or organic cane sugar
Equipment: 1 litre glass jar, cheesecloth/muslin/coffee filter, large rubber band
Instructions
Before you can make your raw apple cider vinegar, you must first make hard apple cider. The alcohol in the hard cider is what transforms via fermentation into acetic acid, which is the beneficial organic compound that gives apple cider vinegar its sour taste.
Wash the apples and coarsely chop into pieces no smaller than 1 inch. Cores, stems and seeds may be included.
Put the chopped apples into a glass jar. The chopped apples should at least fill half the container and maybe a bit more. Pour in room temperature filtered water until the chopped apples are completely covered and the container is just about full leaving a couple of inches at the top. Stir in the raw honey or cane sugar until fully dissolved.
Cover the top of the glass jar with cheesecloth etc. and secure with a large rubber band.
Leave on the counter for about 1 week, gently mixing once or twice a day. Bubbles will begin to form as the sugar ferments into alcohol. You will smell this happening.
When the apple scraps no longer float and sink to the bottom of the jar after approximately one week, the hard apple cider is ready.
Strain out the apple scraps and pour the hard apple cider into a fresh glass jar, cover with a fresh piece of cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band.
Leave on the counter for an additional 3-4 weeks to allow the alcohol to transform into acetic acid by the action of acetic acid bacteria (these are the good guys!). A small amount of sediment on the bottom is normal. In addition, a mother culture will form on top, similar to what happens when making kombucha.
Taste your raw apple cider vinegar to determine if it is ready starting after 3 weeks. If it has the right level of vinegar taste for you, strain it one more time and store in clean, glass jars.
Raw apple cider vinegar doesn’t go off, but if you leave it for a long time, another mother culture will likely form on top. This is fine, just strain it again if desired and dilute with a bit of water if the taste has become too strong.