Discard Apple Cider Vinegar
Discard Apple Cider Vinegar
There is nothing quite like eating an apple fresh from the tree, even eating the core is a joy. However, no matter how hard we try, getting the kids to eat an apple whole is somewhat of a challenge, as they prefer their apples peeled, cored and cut into wedges. As you can imagine this leaves a good deal of apple left over that is not to appealing as a snack on its own, and we used to put the leftovers into the compost until we discovered how easy it is to make discard apple cider vinegar.
You can make apple cider vinegar from any apples and can of course use them fresh from the tree, however, if like us your children leave you with a good deal of clean-cut apple cores and skin you can use this too great effect. This one really is easy to do and all it takes is a bit of time, water, honey and a few bits of apple to make a delicious cider vinegar that you can use for dressing salads, cooking, soap bar ingredient, on your chips and even as an adjunct in a cheeky cocktail tipple.
Recipe:
If your using fresh apples, cut 10 medium sized apples into 3-5cm cubes (including the core) and put these into a 1.5 litre clip top jar with the rubber seal removed. Add to the jar roughly 80 grams of honey and 1 litre of filtered water at room temperature. Stir it all together to dissolve the honey and close the lid over to stop the flies getting in. Place the jar on a plate in a warm room and gently stir daily. In a couple of days, you should start to see bubbles forming in the mixture and after about two weeks the mixture should have nearly finished bubbling and some of the apples will have sunk to the bottom and the water gone cloudy. Give the liquid a smell and if it smells alcoholic the strain the liquid through a cloth lined sieve into a clean 1.5ltr mason jar (seal removed) and close the lid. Leave this out of the sun in an out of the way corner of a room for a further 1-month when you can start to taste it. If it is too your liking, then strain through a cloth lined sieve into jars and seal and store for when you need it, it is not tart enough leave it a little longer until it is to your liking.
Discard variation: If you are using discarded apple bits, start with your 1.5 litre jar filled with 1 litre of filtered water. Add your apple cores and skin to the water every day until you have about 4 apples worth of cores and skins (this only take 2 days in our house and I wouldn’t leave it like this for more than 3 days). Once you have your 4 apples worth of discarded apple bits, add the honey and stir until it is dissolved. At this point, start the count for the first 2 weeks, as above, but everyday add you apple discards until the water rises to within 3 cm’s of the rim. Once the first 2 weeks of the ferment is up, use your judgement to decide if it need a couple more days of fermenting (does it smell alcoholic, have some of the apple pieces sunk) or is it ready? If you happy, proceed as above by staining and leaving for a month before the tasting can begin.