Prep time: 5 mins
Total time: 2-3 months
Ingredients
- 3 small apples (core and peel included, no stem)
- 3 teaspoons raw sugar (I used muscavado)
- filtered water to cover (preferably but I used boiled and cooled)
Instructions
- Wash and chop your apples into medium sized pieces (or use the peels and cores of 6-7 small apples after making a pie). Place them in a clean, rinsed and sterilized wide mouth jar
- Mix the sugar with 1 cup of water and pour on top of the apples.
- Add more water if needed to cover the apples.
- Cover the jar with a paper towel or a breathable cloth (Chux cloth or muslin) and secure it with a band. This keeps nasties away while letting the liquid breathe.
Place the jar in a warm, dark place for 2-3 weeks – I just keep it in my pantry or on the bench). - Strain out the liquid and discard the apple pieces.
- Return the liquid to the same jar and cover it again (same cloth).
- Return the jar to the same warm, dark place and leave it do its thing for roughly 4 to 6 weeks, stirring with a plastic or wooden spoon every few days or so (I didn’t do the stirring and it was still fine!) After the first 4 weeks, you can begin to taste your vinegar and once it reaches an acidity you like, you can actually transfer it to a bottle with a lid and begin using it. (I strained it again at this point as there was some residue)
When you clean and sterilize your jar, make sure you rinse the jar well to avoid having residue soaps or anything. This can spoil your brew.
If your apples tend to float to the surface in the initial few days you may need to add a weight to keep the apples submerged. (plate with a stone). If using organic apples, you can use the whole lot – core, peel, everything, as long as there are no rotten bits. If using conventional apples, discard the peel. Bubbles mark the start of the fermentation process.
The white scum that forms on top of your ferment is good. It is a natural outcome of the fermentation and it is what forms the mother in a few weeks time.
Any other scum of any other color (green, blue, grey, black) is not good. I would discard it and add the apples to my compost. I use a clean metal or plastic sieve to strain the apples and it is in contact with the ferment for a very brief time. I did not find it affects the fermentation process at all.
It is best to use a raw sugar. There are questions about honey – it works, but not as well – the process is slower and the end vinegar not as strong.
