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Apple cider vinegar (ocet) is used in cooking as a seasoning and preservative, in cosmetology to create anti-aging masks, in folk medicine for certain ailments. You can buy it in the store, but to be sure of the quality, it is better to make apple cider vinegar at home according to a simple recipe. We will consider the classic technology that gives the most useful product.
Theory
The preparation of apple cider vinegar consists of three main steps:
- fermentation – the processing by yeast of sugar (natural in fruits and introduced) into alcohol without air access, as a result, young wine is obtained, preferably with a strength of 6-10%;
- souring – the conversion of wine alcohol into vinegar under the influence of bacteria of the Acetobacteraceae family, which are activated when oxygen is available;
- filtering the finished vinegar and bottling for storage.
Vinegar can be made from homemade apple wine (preferably dry) of any aging. Store-bought analogues, such as cider, are not suitable, as they contain sulfur or other substances that prevent the development of acetic bacteria. If you have finished wine, immediately proceed to the 11th stage of the preparation technology. This will greatly simplify and speed up the process.
Attention! The authors of some apple cider vinegar recipes suggest adding pressed or dry yeast, bread, and other ingredients to the composition. The resulting drink will not be natural vinegar and will lose some of its beneficial properties, since ordinary ethyl alcohol will appear instead of wine alcohol.
Ingredients:
- apples – 10 kg;
- sugar – 50-80 grams per liter of juice (optional);
- water – 50-100 ml per liter of juice (in some cases).
apple cider vinegar recipe
1. Unwashed apples (very dirty, wipe with a dry cloth) cut into slices, remove the core and seeds. There are wild yeasts on the surface of the apples, thanks to which the juice will ferment.
2. Grind the slices with a grater, meat grinder or in another way to a puree state.
3. Put the puree together with the juice that has been released into a non-metal container with a wide neck, such as an enamel pan or a plastic bowl. Cover with gauze.
4. Put for 2-3 days in a dark place with room temperature. Stir every 8-12 hours with a clean hand or a wooden stick. When the apple mass darkens, foam, hiss and a slight smell of fermentation appear on top, proceed to the next step.
5. Squeeze the puree through cheesecloth or a press. Squeezes are no longer needed.
6. Pour the filtered fermented juice into a jar or glass bottle, filling no more than 75% of the volume.
7. Taste it. If the juice is not sweet, add sugar based on the proportions in the recipe, mix. The juice should be sweet, but not cloying (the maximum allowable sugar content is 20%). If you feel strong acidity (pinching tongue), add water.
8. Install a water seal or a medical glove with a hole in the finger on the neck of the container (made with a needle). Check the tightness of the connection between the neck and the water seal to prevent air from entering inside.
9. Transfer the bottle (jar) to a dark place with a temperature of 20-25°C for 25-40 days.
10. At the end of fermentation (the water seal does not release gas or the glove is blown off, the wine has brightened, a layer of sediment has appeared at the bottom), drain the young wine through a straw, without touching the sediment at the bottom, so that the apple cider vinegar turns out to be light without turbidity.
11. Pour the wine into a container with a wide neck. The larger the contact area of wine with air, the better. You can leave it to sour in a jar, but the cooking time will increase. Top with gauze to protect against insects. After some time, a film (a layer of Mycoderma aceti bacteria) may appear on the surface, this is normal.
12. Leave for 45-60 days in a dark place (or cover) at 18-23°C. The wine will gradually turn sour, turning into vinegar. At the end of fermentation, the characteristic pungent smell of souring will disappear.
13. Filter the finished homemade apple cider vinegar through 3-4 layers of gauze or a thick cloth, pour into bottles for storage, close tightly. When stored in a place protected from sunlight, for example, on a dark shelf in a kitchen cabinet, the shelf life is up to 3 years.
