How do you make your own ACV?

[TanksHill]

Can anyone tell me the preferred type of jar used for making ACV? I was thinking about purchasing some unpasteurized store bought and using the last of my Bragg ACV with it. Can I use the gallon jug with the tiny top or should I switch it to a gallon jar with a large opening?

g

 

[ORChick]

Can anyone tell me the preferred type of jar used for making ACV? I was thinking about purchasing some unpasteurized store bought and using the last of my Bragg ACV with it. Can I use the gallon jug with the tiny top or should I switch it to a gallon jar with a large opening?

g

My experience has been that a wider opening is better; and also, only fill it part way, so that there is more surface area. Once the vinegar is ready you can transfer it to another jar or bottle if you like.

 

[TanksHill]

Thanks!!!

 

[chicken stalker]

I am reviving this thread because we have about of acre of apples available to us. I would loooooovvvvveee to make ACV. I have a bunch of 5 gallon pickle buckets with lids and was wondering if I could use them? Here's what I have gathered so far from reading this and other threads.

1. Crush/juice apples
2. Pour into wide container cover and let sit.....forever.
2a. To speed up the process add some UP/ACV.
3. count your blessing and have a day of celebration if a mother develops.

Is this correct?

 

[snapshot]

The mother appeared in mine in three days! Looks pretty icky but it has til the 26th of this month to be ready. It's my first time making it - followed directions from Mariannes blog!

 

[chicken stalker]

The mother appeared in mine in three days! Looks pretty icky but it has til the 26th of this month to be ready. It's my first time making it - followed directions from Mariannes blog!

Can you post a link.

 

[Marianne]

The mother appeared in mine in three days! Looks pretty icky but it has til the 26th of this month to be ready. It's my first time making it - followed directions from Mariannes blog!

Can you post a link.

Here's that post on my blog: http://2atthefarm.blogspot.com/search/label/homemade vinegar

I had to go read what I wrote about it! I now keep mine in a cupboard with a coffee filter on the top, secured with a big rubber band. I don't do the swirl to mix it any more as I had one batch that went moldy pretty early on. I think it was more apple juice than vinegar at that point, so what was on the side just did what fruit juice does after a while. Mold. So now I stir it like I'm supposed to. It's pretty easy to start your own when you start with some Braggs or other organic apple cider vinegar with mother. If it starts smelling kind of like nail polish remover (acetone), then it needs to be stirred more often to get more oxygen into it. The smell should go away in a few days.

If you go to the sufficient kitchen part of the forum, there should be several threads related to making ACV also. Someone here on the forum said that's how they started theirs, and it sure worked for me, too!

 

[valmom]

I used the Braggs to jump start a bottle of unpasteurized apple juice. It worked- I used a quart canning jar "capped" with cheesecloth and swirled every couple days or so.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I put the organic apples I got from a friend in the blender to mash them. I had to add water to make it work. I also removed most of the pits. I let it sit fora few days and then strained it, squeezing out as much juice as possible. I gave the mash to the chickens. I also added the dregs of some unpasteurized acv I had (storebought). I did stir the mess at least once a day. Like Marianne
said, it smells like acetone at some point. I think it took about 3 months to become vinegar. I was templed early on to drink it, since it first turns into apple jack. We used to do that with the apple juice we would get as teens. It was raw apple juice and we would let it sit, til it turned

 

[Boogity]

I am reviving this thread because we have about of acre of apples available to us. I would loooooovvvvveee to make ACV. I have a bunch of 5 gallon pickle buckets with lids and was wondering if I could use them? Here's what I have gathered so far from reading this and other threads.

1. Crush/juice apples
2. Pour into wide container cover and let sit.....forever.
2a. To speed up the process add some UP/ACV.
3. count your blessing and have a day of celebration if a mother develops.

That's pretty much all there is to it. I just peel, core, and remove the seeds on about 25 lb. of mixed apples. I sort through the peelings for the best pieces and toss them back into the kettle. I don't like to have all the blemishes and scabs in there. I like to use our large cast iron rendering kettle. It's nice and heavy and stable. I use an old cut off shovel handle to smash the apples into a mush. I do this outside or in the barn as I'm kind of messy. I place a 1/4" hardware cloth screen that I made on top of one of our stainless steel pans that is 20"L x 12"W x8"D and has a loose fitting lid. It's one of several pans we have from a restaurant auction many years ago. I pour the apple mash onto the screen and pour about a gallon of water on the pile to rinse all the good stuff into the pan. I allow it to drain into the pan for an hour or so. Throw all the stuff on the screen into the chicken yard. I put the lid on the pan and set the pan in our utility room next to the water heater. About once a day (I often forget) I gently stir the liquid and taste it. After a few months I have another year's supply of ACV. This year I have a nice large mother from last year's efforts. When the ACV is finished I strain it through a cotton cloth into one gallon bottles for storage.

Doing it the way I do - in the barn, heavy kettle, big S.S. pan, screen, etc. - makes clean-up a breeze. A garden hose for 5 minutes and I'm finished.