https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FNEZmt-OctEwnXGm4u2NCGiblzcptvdP-IQ-hiKoERk/edit?usp=sharing
Apple Cider Vinegar has many medicinal, cleaning and hygiene uses. Making things from scratch is an important skill to have when SHTF or other events occur. This will also be a superior barter item. Most people have no idea they can make vinegar from most any fruit, just follow the same directions adding in the other fruit (pear, plum, etc, anything with sugar.)..and yes you can make ‘wine’ this way too, before this fruit/water/yeast concoction turns to vinegar it turns into a fruit “wine”. As making alcohol is regulated by various governments, we will not go into it here and I do not recommend this as a method of making wine.
HOW: to make Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) from scratch.:
1) Gather various apples~ the more types/kinds the better the final product IMHO
2) rinse and cut into cubes (or save skins/cores and use when you have enough gathered)
3) place into a clean (but not bleached) glass/ceramic or stainless container. preferable not t use plastic, vinegar is an acid and you don’t want to have it leach plastic into your final product
4) Add in 4 times as much water as apples (e.g. 2 cups cut apples add 8 cups water). Guesstimate
4A) OPTIONAL: If you want to add additional sugar to give it a kick, this would be the time (1/2 cup or so). If you have a scoby from another project add it into the fruit water with some vinegar (or kombucha) from the last project…
5) place a linen cloth over the top to keep out fruit flies (or a coffee filter/paper towel etc)
6) Daily stir the apple/water mixture: the apples will float to the surface, stir them down at least once per day to keep them from molding
7) Start tasting within a week, the vinegar will go through an alcohol stage and will then turn into vinegar…if you taste every day you will get a good idea of where things are in the process.
Always use clean implements when tasting and NO DOUBLE DIPPING…if the interior or apples/water are contaminated, this is when bad molds/bacteria/fungus are introduced and wreck everything!
8) in approx 4 weeks you will have ACV. You will know when it is right, there is no mistaking the smell/taste of good vinegar
You may see an all white film develop on the top of the apples, this is usually yeast and good bacteria which are forming a scoby aka mother. Keep an eye on it. If mold appears (any color other than white…it’s usually dark grey/black) then toss the whole batch and start over… if you try and just remove the pieces that are moldy, more mold is already in the batch and will appear.
This recipe has been cobbled together by Old School Prepper. This is how I make ACV, if you attempt this recipe, OSP cannot be held responsible for any outcomes. You are an adult and should use common sense and make your own decisions.