Apple Vinegar

Vinegar with vinegar mother floating on it!

This is undoubtably the easiest, most frugal, most useful and hence the most pleasurable substance that I have made recently. (And it is delicious) This recipe is adapted from Katz's brilliant book 'Wild Fermentation' where he calls it fruit scrap vinegar.

I use apple scraps as that is what I have the most of, however other fruit scraps will do, including banana.

When I say apple scraps, I mean the peels, the cores, the bruises, the grubs, and everything in between that is not being turned into sauce, jelly or pies. I do not use the big bruises that are obviously growing fungi though. No need to wash the apples first, as the micro-organisms present in the skin aid the vinegar making process.

Method:

• Place apple scraps in a stainless steel or plastic container
• Cover with water
• Add 4tbs of sugar per liter of water added
• Use a plate to submerge the fruit pieces
• Cover with a tea towel
• Stir occasionally, leave for a week
• After a week or so, remove fruit pieces and compost them
• Allow the liquid to ferment for a further 2 weeks, still covered with the tea towel
• Stir occasionally
• It is done when it tastes like vinegar
• Remove the mother and use it to start off the next batch or to turn a failed wine into vinegar (the mother is the white film that may develop, I got two mothers from my first batch! 
• Strain your apple vinegar into clean bottles and use for pickling, sauce making or for when you need apple cider vinegar