Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar Recipe
Every fall, my family and I go to the Ellijay Apple Festival in North Georgia! It’s such a fun time of the year. We enjoy watching the clogging performances, eating all the fall treats, and checking out handmade local crafts and art. Of course, we always come home with heaps of farm fresh apples to enjoy. My favorite way to enjoy these tasty fruits is to eat the apples raw with a spoonful of peanut butter. Sometimes I make homemade apple sauce with them, which by the way is really simple to make. However, there are times when I just can’t eat all of the apples before they start going bad. Instead of tossing them into the compost bin, I like to make homemade apple cider vinegar!
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Before realizing how terribly easy it was to prepare ACV at home, I used to purchase apple cider vinegar at the grocery store regularly. Now that I can make it at home, I can simply reuse the same glass bottle over and over again. This truly is a zero waste recipe in that way! What’s also really cool about making ACV at home is that you can use whatever variety of apples you have on hand and can even mix them together when preparing. I usually use honey crisp or fuji apples when making it, but that’s just because those are more two favorite varieties of apple.
Oh, also, I try to avoid food waste often — not just with my in season apples, haha! Check out this post for other tips for reducing food waste!
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Get 10% off your first zero waste order and all the latest Tiny Yellow Bungalow news!Benefits of Using Apple Cider Vinegar
Maybe you are unfamiliar with apple cider vinegar?? It’s often abbreviated to ACV, and this stuff has SO many uses in your home and for personal health. Just to name a few benefits:
- ACV has antibacterial properties and can be used in lots of DIY cleaning recipes. Check out this post here for other zero waste cleaning hacks!
- You can use it as a simple DIY produce rinse as well.
- It can make your hair shinier by balancing the pH of your hair which is often altered by the use of shampoo.
- It’s great for oral health. It can remove stains on your teeth and kill bacteria in the mouth.
- ACV is useful for digestion and preventing heartburn.
- Also, it just tastes great in homemade salad dressings!
These are only a few of the many benefits of ACV. I’ve attached a couple of links if you want to read about more uses for ACV at home!
6 Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar
50+ Uses for Apple Cider Vinegar
15 Reasons to Use Apple Cider Vinegar Every Day
How to Make Homemade ACV
Ingredients and Equipment you’ll need to make homemade apple cider vinegar
2 clean mason jars
Filtered water
2 coffee filters
2 rubber bands
3 organic apples chopped (I used the peel and core)
2 tbsp raw, local honey (You could also make this recipe with organic cane sugar, if you don’t want to use honey)
Recipe for Homemade ACV
- Be sure your mason jars are CLEAN. This is important. You don’t want mold to grow in your ACV.
- Rinse and chop the organic apples, then throw them in a glass jar (I used two regular sized mason jars)
- Fill the jar(s) with filtered water, just to the top of the apples.
- Add honey and stir until dissolved.
- Cover jar with a paper coffee filter and secure it with a rubber band. This is also important, because fruit flies are attracted to ACV. You don’t want them getting in your jars.
- Let it sit in a cool, dark place.
- Stir every few days for about two weeks.
- Your ACV will probably have some bubbles on top, but there should NOT BE MOLD on top. If there is, you need to throw it out and start over fresh.
- Use a strainer to separate the vinegar from the apple bits and throw those apple pieces in your compost bin.
- Continue to let your ACV sit for about 2-4 weeks to more. (Mine was perfectly ready at six weeks) Now your ACV is ready to use. If your ACV doesn’t have a strong, tart vinegar flavor it might not be quite ready. Let it sit longer.
This post was originally published in 2015 (when I was a blogging baby). However, I’ve updated it now in August of 2020 for my newest readers to enjoy! Be sure to bookmark or pin this post for apple season which is just around the corner.
Do you use apple cider vinegar in your home? Have you ever made homemade apple cider vinegar? Do you have any tips for someone wanting to try it out?
This is great to read! I am in the process of making some. My instructions said to remove the apples after 2 weeks and let sit for another 2 months… But after reading this I will check to see if it is done sooner. I am using a Pickler jar, hoping it works!
How’s yours coming along?! Oh yeah, I should add that in there… I took the apples out at the end!! Next time I want to make a bigger batch. I just used three apples I had that were going bad and it didn’t really make that much. When will yours be ready??
Quick point of clarification, you mentioned that your ACV was “perfectly ready at 6 weeks.” Was that the combined time of the 2 weeks with the apples floating in the water and the 4 weeks of letting the strained liquid sitting on the counter? Thanks!
Yes! Six weeks including the 2 weeks with apples in the water and 4 without!