Making your own apple cider vinegar is not difficult. I'll show you how to make a delicious vinegar from water and apples. It's very simple!
For me, there is nothing more delicious on a salad than a good dressing. My favorite is apple cider vinegar. The variants from the supermarket often tastes but only sour and have little else to offer.
That's why I figured I had to make my own apple cider vinegar.
And lo and behold, it's anything but complicated.
Today I'll show you how to make apple cider vinegar. It's so easy to turn water and apples into a delicious vinegar.
Table of contents
- Why apple cider vinegar is healthy
- Why you should make apple cider vinegar yourself
- How is apple cider vinegar made? How sugar becomes alcohol
- What ingredients you need for the vinegar
- How to make apple cider vinegar yourself
- When is the apple cider vinegar ready? The smell and taste test
- Make apple cider vinegar yourself
Why apple cider vinegar is healthy
Apple cider vinegar is healthy because it contains many minerals and nutrients. It also contains vitamins, polyphenols and antioxidants. They can curb inflammation and help with weight loss.
You can use apple cider vinegar externally to soothe skin irritations and wounds. You can also use it internally. Be sure to dilute the vinegar when you drink it, otherwise your stomach may not tolerate it.
There is some evidence that Apple cider vinegar helps lose weight, by increasing satiety and burning more fat. The pectin in apple cider vinegar can also help digestion.
By adding a teaspoon of honey to each glass of water, you will improve the taste of the apple cider vinegar.
Why you should make apple cider vinegar yourself
The apple cider vinegar you buy in the supermarket often has anything but the taste of apples. In fact, it's usually quite sour and sugary. If you make your own apple cider vinegar, you will enjoy a delicious taste with every bite.
This is my favorite part of making my own apple cider vinegar: you can decide how strong or weak you want the concentration to be. Add more sugar if you're looking for a milder flavor, less for a stronger flavor.
I like my apple cider vinegar mildly sweet with just enough tanginess to enjoy in a salad dressing or vegetable soup.
Who relies on making apple cider vinegar itself, which always has a nice little gift at hand. How many of your friends can say they make their own apple cider vinegar? Well, they're sure to make eyes at you and be delighted with a bottle of your fruit vinegar.
If you're into DIY projects, you should try this too:
How is apple cider vinegar made? How sugar becomes alcohol
For those who like to eat healthy: Apple cider vinegar ferments the sugar, so you don't have to worry about eating pure sugar. The sugar turns into alcohol during fermentation and this provides the typical vinegar taste.
Let's take a look at exactly how this works.
The apple residue or apple juice is first fermented into alcohol. If you add sugar to the mixture, the process is accelerated and more alcoholic foam is formed.
White foam on top of the fermentation batch indicates that cream yeasts (wild yeasts) are forming. This is quite normal. Cream yeasts are not harmful, at most they adulterate the taste.
To prevent this from happening, simply remove them from the surface with a clean wooden spoon. The more acid your vinegar develops, the more the yeasts retreat - they cannot survive an acidic environment.
Once alcohol has formed, your vinegar production begins. The acetic acid bacteria get to work. These are naturally present in the air and any fresh fruit. To provide the bacteria with oxygen, just cover your container with a cloth so they can continue their work undisturbed.
You may be familiar with this process if you have ever Sauerkraut you have made yourself.
The vinegar mother
A thin transparent layer can now form in your fermentation liquid. This is the first batch of your vinegar mother. Poke it very carefully down into the liquid so that the fermentation liquid gets enough oxygen.
The acetic mother is a culture of acetic acid bacteria. It can look very different.
Streaks may form in the liquid. They later condense into a jelly-like disc. However, the vinegar mother can also be in the form of crumbs at the bottom of the glass or flakes in the middle of the vinegar.
Very important: Do not throw away the vinegar mother. You can make new apple cider vinegar again. And much faster than the first time!
Making homemade apple cider vinegar doesn't take that long. What you do need to bring along, however, is a little patience. For fruit juice to become vinegar, it must ferment.
Super tasty: make kombucha yourself!
What ingredients you need for the vinegar
Let's take a look at the ingredients real quick.
The apples
For the apple cider vinegar you logically need apples. The best apples are those you have picked yourself from the garden. Make sure that the apples are ripe, so that the vinegar gets an intense flavor.
The big advantage: You can use apples that you would otherwise not eat because they are not so visually beautiful. Or you can additionally use apple peels for the mixture, which is left over from applesauce or cake.
The sugar
Use classic table sugar. It helps your vinegar to ferment faster. However, you can also omit it, the apples will start fermenting even without sugar.
I take on 1 kg of apples, about 2 tablespoons of sugar. You can also take less.
The water
In the water, the apples begin to ferment. Bactria and yeasts form and use the sugar to make vinegar from the apples.
Make sure you use enough water and that the apples are covered with water.
That's about it. Now let's make apple cider vinegar ourselves!
If you want more info about vinegar and would like to see the recipe, then I can recommend this video from YouTube. It goes into detail about everything.
How to make apple cider vinegar yourself
One way to make your own apple cider vinegar is to use the natural process of fermentation. With sugar we speed up the process a little.
If you've never made your own vinegar before, you'll find detailed step-by-step instructions here. I tell you exactly what you need to pay attention to and what matters at each step.
If you've made vinegar before and are just looking for some inspiration, you'll find a short version of the recipe at the end of the post.
Ingredients for apple cider vinegar
- 1 kg organic apples or leftovers
- 2 tablespoons sugar per
- 1 liter water
Also: clean canning jar and kitchen towel, knife, board.
1. clean the canning jar
Clean the glass very thoroughly. It must be free of bacteria and impurities. The best way to sterilize it is in the microwave or oven. How this works, you can read in this article: "This is the only way to sterilize glasses correctly“
2. prepare the apples
Wash the apples thoroughly. Use only organic apples for the vinegar.
Cut the apples into small pieces.
You can also use only peels or leftovers that are left over from boiling down applesauce. That's why making your own apple cider vinegar is such a great thing - you can use leftovers.
Put the apple pieces into the canning jar.
3. dissolve sugar in water
It is important that the sugar dissolves in the water. Therefore, I take about 1/3 of the water, heat it and stir in the sugar.
The sugar dissolves particularly well this way and no crystals remain.
Now pour cold water and pour the sugar-water mixture into the canning jar.
The apples should be completely covered with water and about 4 cm under water.
4. make apple cider vinegar yourself
Cover the glass with a clean kitchen towel to prevent contaminants from getting inside.
Store the future vinegar in the refrigerator or cellar. It should not get sun in any case and it should not be too warm.
Stir the vinegar very gently every day to increase oxygenation.
When is the apple cider vinegar ready? The smell and taste test
When you notice a subtle vinegar note forming, fermentation is almost complete. Your cider should smell fruity and with a hint of acidity.
This process usually takes between 10 and 14 days, depending on the raw fruit used, the ambient temperature and your initial pH. This time can vary slightly, so it is worth tasting at different times.
When the fruit has sunk to the bottom and a white foam forms on the surface, the raw vinegar is ready. Pour it through a clean cloth and pour it back into the preserving jar.
Now let the apple cider vinegar ferment for four to six weeks at room temperature (about 25°). Cover the jar again with a cloth.
Do not be surprised: A vinegar mother now forms, which floats as a slippery mass in the jar.
Finally, pour off the vinegar mother and fill the vinegar into a bottle. Store it in the refrigerator. Taste it again before using - if it is too sour, dilute the dressing with a little water.
And here, as promised, the short version of the recipe.
Make apple cider vinegar yourself
Ingredients
- 1 kg Apples
- 2 EL Sugar
- 1 L Water
Equipment
- Canning jar
- Kitchen towel
- Knife and board
- Later: sieve and another kitchen towel
Anleitung
- Clean the canning jar and make sure it is sterile.
- Wash the apples and cut them into small pieces.1 kg apples
- Put the apple pieces into the canning jar.
- Dissolve the sugar in the water.2 tablespoons sugar, 1 L water
- Pour the sugar-water mixture into the canning jar with the apples.
- Cover the jar with a kitchen towel. Store the vinegar mixture in the refrigerator. Stir every day.
- After 14 days, drain the apple pieces and then let the vinegar ferment for another four to six weeks at room temperature.
Our conclusion
In this article we showed you how to make your own apple cider vinegar. This is a great project that is fun, easy and inexpensive. You can use it to use up leftovers and add a personal touch to your salad.
Have fun making them!
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