Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar
You won’t believe how easy homemade apple cider vinegar is to make. This sustainable recipe uses apple peels and cores, so it can also save you money!
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This recipe was first published in September 2019. It was updated in April 2023 with additional information and helpful recipe tips.
If you’re like me, you look forward to the apple-picking season! There are so many ways I love using apples in recipes!
You can make canned apple pie filling for desserts like apple strudel, cobblers, and pies. For breakfast, make a stack of apple pancakes (or a sourdough Dutch baby pancake), scones, or muffins.
And of course, I always save a few for snacking. Whatever you do with your apples, it’s likely that you’ll wind up with a pile of apple cores and peels. If you want to make use of every last apple peel, core, and scrap, then you will love this homemade apple cider vinegar recipe!
Ingredients and substitutions
Because I’m typically short on time (and slightly impatient), this recipe includes just a little bit of prepared apple cider vinegar. I find that it speeds up the fermentation process. You’ll also need:
- apple scraps: peels, cores, and even small bits of apple flesh are fine to use.
- water: be sure to use filtered, unchlorinated water
- sugar: I use coconut sugar, but any white granulated sugar or cup-for-cup sugar substitute will work.
- apple cider vinegar: Similar to how feeding a sourdough starter speeds up the bread-making process, using a tiny bit of an ACV mother speeds up the fermentation process.
What is an apple cider vinegar mother?
A “mother” is essentially raw vinegar. Visually, it is darker in color than filtered vinegar, and often, there are stringy pieces floating in it.
Collecting scraps for homemade apple cider vinegar
Whenever I make something with apples, I place all the scraps into a freezer-safe Ziploc bag or covered container and store it in my freezer.
Now, for making apple cider vinegar, be sure to toss out any moldy or mushy parts. But everything else is good to use.
For this recipe, I am using about two good handfuls of peels and cores. Don’t worry if they turn brown!
Helpful kitchen tools and equipment
While none of these tools are required, I use them when I make this vinegar recipe.
- a quart-size mason jar or any other jar big enough to hold your apple cores and peels. You can get them here)
- fermentation weights to keep the apple scrapps submerged
- freezer-safe food storage bags
- one coffee filter (or small dish towel) to cover the jar
- a rubber band
How to make apple cider vinegar
This is a summary of the steps involved. For the complete instructions, please scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
1. Place the apple scraps in a large mason jar
Fill the jar 3/4 full with peels and cores to leave room for the other ingredients.
2. Add the raw apple cider vinegar to the jar
To hold the scraps down, you may want to place a sterilized rock or some fermenting weights into the jar.
3. Make sugar water
Dissolve sugar in hot water in a saucepan. Let it cool down and add it to the apple scrapps mixture.
π Important: Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature before pouring it into the jar. Adding hot water directly to your apples can kill the natural yeasts needed for fermentation!
4. Cover the jar
Place a paper coffee filter or small cotton towel over the jar to keep critters out; secure it with a rubber band.
Fermenting Time for Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar
Set your jar in a somewhat dark spot. You can shake it gently every so often. After about 2 weeks (you can check earlier), taste your vinegar.
If it is still sweeter than pleasantly sour, let it ferment longer. Once your apple cider vinegar has the flavor you want, you can strain out the scraps.
I like to store my homemade apple cider vinegar in a pretty bottle, but any glass or ceramic jar with a tight-fitting lid is fine.
Helpful Recipe Tips
- Keep in mind that vinegar is acidic. You must keep it in a non-reactive container. Otherwise, the acid will begin to pit and slowly damage your container.
- Using apple cider vinegar to make apple cider vinegar is optional. It just speeds up fermentation. If you’re a patient person, you don’t have to use it to make this recipe.
Uses for apple cider vinegar
Aside from apple cider vinegar’s health benefits, there are so many ways you can use it in your kitchen.
- A healthy drink: In an effort to add more probiotics to your diet, you can add a good splash of ACV to a glass of water and add any or no sweetener (I often use stevia, but regular sugar works, too).
- Use it in homemade dressings and sauces. When I make bone broth, I often include 2 tablespoons of ACV, as it helps to draw the minerals out of the bones.
- Include it in your skincare routine.
- Use it as a substitute for other cooking vinegars.
Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar or white granulated sugar
- 2 cups water
- ΒΌ cup apple cider vinegar optional; fermentation will take longer without this ingredient
- 1-2 handfuls apple peels and cores
Instructions
- Place apple scraps in a quart size mason jar (or similar).
- Add ΒΌ cup of apple cider vinegar to speed up the process.
- Dissolving the sugar in water over medium-high heat; pour the liquid over the apple scraps.
- Cover the jar with a coffee filter or cloth to keep anything from getting in.
- Leave in a dark spot for about 14 days. After that, check for taste. If you like it more sour, leave it for another 7-14 days.
Notes
- the apple cider vinegar is optional
- be sure to let the sugar water cool down before pouring it over the apples and raw apple cider
- you can freeze apple scraps in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag until you are ready to use them.
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Oh I so want to try this! Thanks for sharing.
Sounds great! Let me know how it turns out!
I have been making my own vinegars for around 6 years now, and apple cider is still number one around our home. However, I recently made a pomegranate and cranberry vinegar and the taste is amazing although it’s only one month old. I use litmus paper to check my PH levels, and I also have The Mother now, and take care of it like a baby. Some of The Mother came from a bottle of plain white vinegar I bought in the local supermarket – I guess it was on the shelf for a long time, but I was not unhappy to find more Mother!
That sounds delicious! Thank you so much for sharing ~ Anja
Like!! Thank you for publishing this awesome article.
Thank you!
How do you determine the percentage of acidity of homemade vinegar? I’d love to make homeade to use in my canning but would be concerned that the acid content is not high enough.
Thank you for your comment! I have never determined the acidity of my homemade ACV. You can go here for more information: https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/kombucha/testing-acidity-strength-vinegar/
Thank you so much!!
Of course! I hope it works for you!!
I love the idea of using an apple cider with the mother already. I think my process was much longer when I made apple cider a few years back. I need to try it out again and I’ll use this recipe. Thanks
Yes, adding the mother makes it a quicker process. I hope it turns out better this time!
I canβt wait to try this!
π Have fun!
I had no idea how you made apple cider vinegar! I love that you don’t waste any part of the apple!!
Zero-waste for the kitchen … Thanks for the comment π!!
You have done an excellent job! Thank you so much. Itβs always fun to collaborate.
Thank you – love collaborating with you, too!!
I love this idea so much! I love using every scrap I possibly can to make something new. I canβt wait to try this out!