Apple cider vinegar or ACV is a common household product that has endless uses. It can be used as a health product, for cooking, cleaning, in your skincare, or even in the laundry department. Its multi-use properties deem it an essential to have in your household but buying organic ACV can be a bit expensive. It is good to know that ACV is a very simple and inexpensive product that can be made at home with minimal effort. By keeping apple peels and cores from cooking or baking, ACV is simply a by-product that can be made at no additional cost! 

 

What you need: 

  • Apple scraps
  • 1 Tablespoon of sugar (1 tablespoon of sugar to 5 cups of water)
  • Water (enough to cover all the scraps)
  • Glass jar

 

Steps: 

  1. Collect apple peels and scraps enough to fill up the jar
    A bowl full of apple peels and other scraps.
  2. Fill the jar with water making sure all the apple scraps are submerged
    A jar filled with apple scraps and water.
  3. Stir in the tablespoon of sugar.
    Pouring a spoonful of a sugar with a jar of water and apple scraps.
  4. Over the next couple of days stir the mixture 2-3 times a day, to allow the fermentation process to start taking place and so bubbling forms. When the mixture starts to bubble will depend on the temperature of your environment, so time will vary.
    An aerial view of the apple cider vinegar bubbling process.
  5.  Once the mixture begins to bubble stir it only once a day.
    A jar full of apple cider vinegar.
  6. After about a week the vinegar will begin to taste sour, this is a sign that the fermentation process is taking place and you want to open the mixture once a day to let out any carbonation that has built up.
    Two jars, one filled with apple scraps and the other filled with apple cider vinegar.
  7. After about two weeks once the bubbling has subsided, strain the fruit from the liquid and your apple cider vinegar is complete!

 

This has been one of the easiest homemade recipes that I have been able to do during quarantine and it is a great experiment to watch over time. My personal favorite use for ACV is as a substitute for hair conditioner. I dilute 1 part of ACV to 1 part of water and use it as a hair rinse in the shower, it pairs great with shampoo bars and leave’s your hair very soft and shiny! I really hope you are able to give this and have something else to keep you busy while this time at home. 

  • Pricila, Sustainability Specialist