DIY ACV: How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar at Home – 9 Easy Steps
Apple cider vinegar (ACV) has SO many healthful purposes, its head spinning. You can use this super food liquid to treat the common cold, get rid of yeast infections, condition your hair, ease digestive woes, reduce swelling, lower blood sugar, get rid of lactic acid build up, increase energy, and even get rid of warts, among other things. What’s more, while you can purchase organic Apple cider vinegar from health food stores that contain ‘the mother,’ you can also make apple cider vinegar quite easily yourself. Learn how to make apple cider vinegar below.
Apple cider vinegar (and almost all vinegars) is usually made with a broad two-step process, very similar to how alcohol is made.
To make ACV, just start with organic apples of any variety. You’ll want to place these in sealable jars or bowls that have tight-fitting lids. The apples will be crushed or diced and exposed to yeast, which helps the sugars that naturally occur in the apples to turn into alcohol.
You can even add the peels and cores. If you stopped at this step, you would have, simply, apple cider. You could add cinnamon and nutmeg and other flavors and have a delicious holiday cocktail, however, ACV requires another step. In France, the word vinegar means ‘sour wine.’
Next, healthy bacteria are added to the alcohol solution, which then further ferments the liquid and turns it into acetic acid – one of the active compounds in ACV that makes it so healthful and healing. While the ACV is ‘cooking,’ though it doesn’t ever meet heat, you will simply cover your jars or bowls with cheesecloth so no debris or pests get into the mixture. Add three parts water to every part ‘apples,’ as well as a few tablespoons of honey and ½ teaspoon of active dry yeast.
Read: 24 Apple Cider Vinegar Cures
ACV brews best when you place the jars or bowls in a warm, dark place to allow the fermentation process to occur.
In order to make ACV that mimics organic, unfiltered Bragg’s or other brands of apple cider vinegar on the market, there will also be strands of proteins and enzymes along with the friendly bacteria that are called ‘the mother.’ It looks like little spider webs floating in the mixture, and will make your vinegar look a little murky. If you don’t like the murkiness, you can simply strain it through a coffee filter.
Once you’ve tasted your ACV after several weeks and it seems strong enough, you can remove the apple cores, skins, and other fragments. Cover your end product in air-tight jars and put in your refrigerator, or store on a shelf in a cool place, and enjoy daily for ACV’s numerous benefits.
To make your ACV really powerful, you’ll want to ferment it twice (not once like alcohol). Though this adds another step, it is worth it to get the most out of your apples.
Materials and Ingredients:
- A large bowl or a jar with a wide mouth/opening
- Apple scraps (the cores and peels from organic apples are perfect)
- A piece of cheesecloth that you will use to cover up the jar so no debris or flies can get inside
- 3 parts water
- 1 part sweetener (sugar, honey, etc)
How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar – 9 Steps
- 1. Cut organic apples into quarters and allow them to rest for a few minutes
- 2. Place the apples in a wide-mouthed jar
- 3. Pour water in the jar so that the apples are covered
- 4. Add one cake of yeast per quart of cider (optional)
- 5. Cover the jar with cheesecloth
- 6. Put the jars in a warm, dark place for 6 months, stirring once per week.
- 7. Filter the liquid into another jar
- 8. Cover the new jar with cheesecloth for 4-6 weeks
- 9. Drink! Or transfer into tightly sealed containers
If you need more help or information, check out the below links to read other posts on how to make apple cider vinegar from your home.
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