This Summer we had so many apples I was giving bags of apples away and then one lady who stopped in our caravan mentioned Apple Cider Vinegar. So I looked it up and discovered how easy it was to make and also the health benefits of it.
The worst part of the process is having patience and finding lots of glass jugs. I found glass jugs easier than jam jars and coffee jars as it was easier to pour the vinegar off. This is the recipe I used https://wellnessmama.com/124169/apple-cider-vinegar/ but also I looked at other recipes as I wasn't clear on the 2nd fermentation stage. I decided to do 2 lots. One stirred every few days and the other left to it's own devices. The one that was stirred every few days was stronger and a much darker colour, no scobies. The ones left to their own devices were a much lighter colour and developed a small scoby which I collected and put in a separate jar for next year's starter.
Here are some pictures of the process:
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| Surplus Apples |
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| Roughly Chopped and put in glass containers |
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| Quite a few Scobies |
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| Finished Apple Cider Vinegar + 4 More large bottles |
The apples were left over after giving away as many as possible and were a mixture from different apple trees in our garden. As this was quite a late batch there were a lot of wasps feeding off apples on the ground, but to be honest they didn't bother me because they were soo drunk they couldn't fly. Normally I'd be running around screaming. I left quite a few of the ground fall apples for the blackbirds and other creatures, so many butterflies visited our little orchard too and fed off these. Some of the less damaged apples were used in my vinegar too. Apparently you can make it from just the cores and skins too. Some people like to take the pips out but I didn't, only if they fell out naturally.
They were chopped up and put into jars with filtered water and natural sugar. Empty glass jars were placed on top to hold the apples under and kitchen towel and elastic bands to keep any nasties out.
After stirring every couple of days (actually I just bobbed the jars up and down) it took about a week for the smell of cider to fill the kitchen and 2 week's for the cider to be ready for the next stage. There were plenty of tiny fermentation bubbles to tell me the process was underway and a few over spills as the apples soaked up the liquid and started fermenting. I strained the apples and then it actually took about 6 more week's to reach it's vinegary taste. I actually strained it twice as there was a lot of sediment in the bottom of the jars, at least an inch in some of them. There is still some sediment in the bottom but that's okay as this is the goodness in the natural vinegar. I believe this is the "mother". I have left a bit of space at the top just in case it starts to ferment again but have stored them in the cool shed, so it should be okay. I'm really pleased with how it has worked out and looking forward to making my pickled onions with it next year. Hopefully it will take less time as I now have some scobies to start the process off. I plan on sharing them between my new batch next year and using some of the vinegar to start the process off. Enjoying putting this on my chips and salads instead of store bought vinegar. It really does taste much better. I love it!
😄😍😍
