Making Your Own Apple Cider Vinegar

Raw, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar with the ‘mother’ in it has the most benefits. The mother tincture is a natural concoction of yeast and live bacteria that helps balance bacteria in the intestines.

You will need:

• 5-10 apples (preferably organic), sugar, water, canning jars with lids and cheesecloth

Instructions:

• Wash, peel and core 5-10 apples. Chop into large pieces, no smaller than one inch.

• Place the peels and cores in a large glass or stoneware bowl and cover with water by an inch or so. Add 1/4 cup sugar for each quart of water and stir to mix thoroughly. Note: Make sure the apple scraps are completely submersed in the water.

• Cover the bowl with a heavy plate, then cover the bowl and plate with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to sit for a week in a cool, dark location (UV light will destroy the fermentation process) with a temperature between 65-85 degrees. The mixture will begin to bubble and foam as yeast forms.

• At one week, spoon off any black mold that forms. (This formation does not ruin the batch but may indicate the temperature was too warm.) Strain and discard the apple solids and pour the liquid into sterilized canning jars, leaving about an inch of head room. Cover each canning jar with a square of doubled cheesecloth and screw on the ring to secure. This allows the yeast to “breathe” and prevents the metal from corroding.

• Store the jars on a shelf in your pantry for about six weeks. A film should start forming on the top. The is the “mother.” You can open up the jars and stir or swirl them so the mother settles on the bottom and more will grow on top.

• After six weeks, replace the cheesecloth with the flat part of the lid and screw the ring back on. By this point the yeast will have eaten all the available sugars and the vinegar will be “shelf-stable” so, stored in a cool, dark place, the apple cider vinegar will last indefinitely. The flavor will develop and evolve over time.

Note: Save some of the mother from each batch and add it to the next batch and the vinegar will be finished more quickly.

- Learn more amazing benefits of apple cider vinegar here -