Once all that has dripped out (this takes a few hours), I put the cider into a glass jar with a clean cloth secured around the top with a rubber band. You can use a regular pickling crock to do this too. Just be sure to put cheese cloth or whatever over it to keep it clean from dirt and debris. The cider has to be kept at about 80 degrees, the colder it is, the longer it takes to ferment.
It can take up to 6 months to become vinegar so don't expect to get vinegar in a few days. Just change out the cloth when it becomes soiled. You can keep adding more cider to the jar or crock for up to 2 weeks also.
Pray that fruit flies aka vinegar flies will visit your cider too as this is what you need most of all to make vinegar mother which is what turns your cider into vinegar. The bacteria they carry is what makes the cider to ferment. I know it sounds gross, but that's what happens. You'll (hopefully) notice a film start to form on your vinegar top... this is ok and actually much desired to be there! This is called your vinegar mother. Once you have mother, you can make vinegar faster as you can store the vinegar mother in a clean jar in the fridge with a lid on it and then just use one sliver of it in a new batch of cider. Just leave the mother in your vinegar until it's time to strain it. Don't mess with it until the fermenting stage is done.
At the end of the fermenting stage, be sure to strain the vinegar and put it into a clean jar with a lid on it. And be sure to save and store you mother in your fridge.
Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar is far more delicious tasting than the store bought stuff. I've used it in my coleslaw, deviled eggs, and other things as well.
(The above how-to was to be printed in Carla Emery's newest edition (10th) of "Encyclopedia of Country Living" but she passed away a couple of years ago just prior to the newest edition getting in the works. She had been editing it and getting it ready for print along with my help and hundreds others. I had the privilege of meeting her in person a few months prior to her passing. She was such a sweet lady and is missed by many.)
The 1st picture is of my jar of vinegar mother that I keep in the fridge.
This is a batch of vinegar with a piece of mother in it, already formed. I need to strain this and put the mother in with the other so it's ready for another batch.
You only need one piece of mother to start a batch of vinegar and you can use raw fruit juice... apple for apple cider vinegar. The juice can not be pasteurized or it won't work. I tried making peach cider vinegar one year and the children let dirt get into because they messed with the cheesecloth I had on the crock I had it in.
I make my own apple juice from
the apple cores and peelings from the buckets of apples I buy in the
fall. I bought them last year for $1 for a 5 gallon bucket of culls at a local orchard.
Making your own apple cider vinegar not only saves you money but gives you the satisfaction of creating your own superior quality vinegar. Just look at the gorgeous amber color of the vinegar!
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