How to make Apple Scrap Vinegar

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Over time, I have slowly been replacing our store-bought products with simple, homemade versions. This helps us save money, as well as reduce waste, since we aren’t buying packaged items over and over again. I used to purchase Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar, which was excellent quality, but a little on the pricey side. As often happens, I start to wonder… why can’t I make this myself? So I Googled until I figured it out. Here’s how I make homemade apple scrap vinegar.

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How to make Apple Scrap Vinegar

The first thing you’ll want to do, is make something yummy with apples! Apple sauce is always a delicious treat. 🙂

But really, anything you are planning to make with apples will work.

Peel and Core the Apples

The simplest way to core and peel apples, is with an apple corer, like this one.

Then simply place all of your apple scraps into a one-gallon jar, as shown below. You want a wide-mouth vessel to allow as much oxygen in as possible.

Keep filling up the jar with scraps, until it’s about 1/2-3/4 full.

Make Your Sugar and Water Solution

Now make a sugar water solution, at a ratio of 1 tbsp organic cane sugar to 1 cup water. Multiply this by as many cups as you need to fill your jar.

You will want to make sure you are using unchlorinated water, as chlorine can halt the fermentation process. (I use a Berkey water filter to remove chlorine from city tap water).

Put the solution in a pot on the stove, and gently heat and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved into the water. (If it gets too hot, let it cool before pouring it into the apple scrap jar. You don’t want it hot, just warm enough to dissolve the sugar).

Make enough of this solution to fill the jar almost all the way to the neck.

If you wish, you can add 1 Tbsp of store-bought apple cider vinegar (with the mother), to help kick-start the fermentation process.

Cover Your Jar

Cover the jar with some kind of breathable cloth (I use a cotton napkin), and place rubber bands around it tightly. You want the vinegar to breathe, but not let any fruit flies in.

Apple Scrap Vinegar, Week 1

Twice a day for a week, you will remove the cloth, and stir vigorously. This is to prevent any mold from forming, as the apple scraps will want to float to the top of the jar. It also helps to aerate the ferment (oxygen makes it ferment faster!).

Apple Scrap Vinegar, Week 2

During the 2nd week, you can stir less often, or even not at all. Continue to let it ferment.

After about 2 weeks, you can strain out the apple scraps and pour the liquid into smaller jars.

Apple Scrap Vinegar, Weeks 3 & 4

I continue to keep these covered in cloth for about another 2 weeks, just to make sure the fermentation is complete. You can cap them right away, but if they are still fermenting, you will want to ‘burp’ the jars by releasing the caps periodically.

After about 2 more weeks of letting them breathe, I go ahead and place lids on the jars. These should then be stored in a cool location. I use my cold room for this, but if you have a cool spot in your basement, that would work, too.

Go ahead and use this as you would use apple cider vinegar!

I wouldn’t recommend using it for canning, as it’s difficult to determine the amount of acidity in a homemade vinegar.

But it’s perfectly lovely for salad dressings, homemade mayo, or anything else you might use apple cider vinegar for!

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