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Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is a staple in most kitchens. It’s used for salad dressings, to brighten flavors of sauces and soups, as a food preservative, and in a ton of other recipes. It’s become more and more popular with health experts who tout its many benefits for humans and animals.
For those of you homesteading and exploring the home arts, ACV can serve many useful purposes on the farm. Did you know you can easily make it at home? It’s true.
Benefits of ACV-
Doctors and Nutritionists recommend ACV for the purpose of maintaining healthy blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Taking a dose of ACV before meals is reported to help balance the pH in your body, which is said to protect the immune system, and help you to feel full which aids in weight loss for people who tend to overeat.
ACV is also reported to benefit people with high blood pressure. A daily tonic has yielded good results in lowering the resting BP in people with Hypertension.
ACV can help people who suffer from sore throats, acid reflux and other gut issues due to its probiotic quality of. It can even help ward off seasonal allergy symptoms. Use of ACV as a skin toner and hair tonic is also popular.
ACV also works as an all-purpose cleaner and deodorizer.
Farmers and ranchers use Apple Cider Vinegar in water troughs for livestock and horses in places where the water is high in minerals like sulfur, to help mask and neutralize the taste, so that livestock will drink enough water. 4 oz. per cow per day is the recommended amount.
It’s used by people who travel with their horses to shows and rodeos and for camping, so the horses don’t become dehydrated. A little ACV in the water at home and then in water at a new location makes them more apt to consume normal healthy amounts of water because it has the “taste of home.” 5 oz per horse (graduate the size for larger water receptacles).
As you can see, the benefits of this vinegar are far-reaching, and the good news is, it’s very easy to come by and you can make it at home very inexpensively.
Cost vs. Making your own –
A brand name gallon of Apple Cider Vinegar costs about $20. Apples are plentiful all year around, but especially in Autumn.They’re usually under a dollar a pound, so it makes good sense to make your own ACV, especially if you have access to local apple trees where you can pick them fresh. It’s not a difficult process, and homemade is always better, isn’t it?
Making ACV is easy with apple scraps. Are you making a pie or a batch of applesauce? Save your skins and cores. You can save them in a bag in the freezer until you have enough for a batch (that’s enough to fill your container of choice ½ full. That’s all it takes to start the process.
If you’re using frozen apple scraps, thaw and wash them thoroughly before starting, and add some fresh apples in there as well.
Here’s the whole recipe:
Apple Cider Vinegar
- What you need is a mason jar or other airtight glass container
- Apples and apple scraps enough to fill your container halfway
- Sugar. The amount of teaspoons will equal the number of apples you use. For example, if you are using 4 apples, you will use 4 Teaspoons of sugar.
- Mix your sugar with one cup of water to dissolve it.. Then pour over the apples in the jar.
- Note: Do not use metal utensils at any point during this process
- Fill your jar with more water until your apples are completely submerged.
- Cover the mouth of the jar with cheesecloth and secure with a jar ring if you’re using a canning jar, or with a rubber band or string for other containers.
- Place in a warm, dark place for 2-3 weeks. The cheesecloth allows the process to be accessible to the air without bugs or pests getting in.
Timeframe
The next step comes after the 2-3 week interval. Here, you will strain the liquid from the apple pieces, and discard them. Put the liquid back into the jar, rinse out the cheesecloth and cover it again.
The next cycle is 4-6 weeks, during which time you will need to stir the vinegar about every 3-4 days. Don’t use metal objects, as it will interfere with fermentation.
At the end of the 6 week cycle, give it a taste test. If it tastes acidic enough, you’ve done it!. If not, you can let it continue to ferment until it tastes just right, check it every few days when you stir it. Now it’s time to transfer your vinegar into a jar with a stopper or lid and seal it up to stop the fermentation process.
This is a process that takes very little time and energy to create a beneficial supplement and food additive that will benefit your home and family in some significant ways. Give it a try!
Photos courtesy of Pexels
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