Hey everybody, if for some reason you've missed out on his channel, I don't know how, but
head over and see Blake Kirby at Daddykirb's Farm.
We're going to try something today that he says even I can do.
We're going to make our own apple cider vinegar.
I've set up everything that Blake used, except I'm going to use honey, which he says I can
use, but he used an organic sugar.
So I'm going to try using our own honey from our bees and see if I can't make our own apple cider vinegar.
Plus, the one secret ingredient that I think Blake barely mentioned in his video and I'm
going to point it out to you right here.
So, here's what Blake said would be a good rule of thumb general recipe to follow.
[Blake] Your basic recipe is going to be about a pint of chopped apples, 3 pints of water,
and a cup or two of sugar.
I prefer the organic sugar over the processed white sugar, but I don't think it really matters.
[Jared] So while we were off watching that, I took the liberty of cutting and mashing
up the apples that I'm going to use.
You know, we don't have apple trees that are producing yet.
My apple trees have put out a couple blossoms, but they have yet to fruit, so we still buy
ours from the grocery store and every week or two we buy some more to bring them into
the house and the kids eat them for snack and we happen to have about 3 different varieties
right now, so this is just a mix of, I think there's granny smith, red delicious, and some
other one, like a Fiji or something like that, or a gala, I don't remember which one, but it's a mix.
If you're interested in any of the things I'm going to be using, I'll put links to them
down in the description below so you don't have to wait for me to come back and comment
on your comment answering the question, so check that out.
Now I don't have a full size pickle jar to use but I do have this half gallon mason jar
and I think that's going to give me what I need.
We're going to follow the same proportions that Blake mentioned, which, to generalize,
it was 1 part apples to 3 parts water and then we add in the sugar to get the yeast
and things really going.
So, I've got my half gallon mason jar and if you're not good with your measurements,
you can always check on the side.
Six cups, seven cups and to the rim there is going to give us eight cups, so if we break
that down, let's add in two cups of apples and now we're going to basically fill this
up with water, but I'm going to do it in 2 stages.
I'm going to add a bit of water to this, so we'll add it to the four cup line and now
I'm going to turn around and we're going to add our honey to this.
Again, this is raw honey from our hive.
The only filtration or processing that it's had in any way, shape, or form is just a filter
coming out of the extractor to make sure we don't get any bits of wax.
So, bakers say honey is equal measurement as granulated sugar,
so this is a half of a cup of sugar.
I think we're going to put in another half a cup, just for safety sake.
With that first half a cup in there, I feel like I can eyeball this measurement a little better.
Alright, so that is going to provide the sugars that the yeast needs to really get things going.
Alright, now, one more thing before we top off the water.
Blake did give us a 50/50 chance of this working the first time, because we might make a mistake
and mishandle the apples and get some mold on to there, but he told us that if we keep
it stirred and keep the water over the top of the apples, that we should be okay, but
we could increase our likelihood of this working the first time if we added some mother in,
so I went to the store like Blake told me to and I've got this Bragg brand original
raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar with the mother just like Blake said, so I want to
get to the mother.
Blake mentioned in his video that, when the liquid gets disturbed it goes down to the
bottom and sure enough that's where we can see the actual sediment, so I don't want to
waste anything, but I want to get to the mother so we're going to pour out the vast majority
of this and get down right there, okay I can just start to see the sediment want to come out.
Get down just right there to the yeast and bacteria that's going to really make this
work, and we're going to add it in.
Now all we're going to do is top this off with water almost right to the rim.
Now I'm not going to go all the way to the rim, and I'm going to tell you why.
First off let's give this a little stir.
We want to incorporate that honey and also that mother.
Mix it all up, get all the ingredients loving each other.
It's a big old party.
Alright, now one little thing that stood out to me that Blake mentioned was trying to make
sure we keep the apples below the surface of the water to try to inhibit any kind of growth of mold.
Well, I happen to have these little glass disks that are used for fermenting inside
of mason jars, so I'm going to use this little glass weight to try to give me a bit of an advantage.
That will hold the big things down.
Now I'm still going to follow Blake's advice and come in here every two or three days,
but maybe that'll give me just a tiny edge.
So, I haven't changed anything.
What is Blake's big secret?
Well, I know what it is.
How many of you paid attention and noticed that he was using a Christmas towel?
I think that's the trick.
Every single one of us does this, right?
Christmas towels are plentiful and they always stay around the house, it doesn't matter what
time of year it is, you always end up, even if you pack away all your Christmas stuff,
you end up having a Christmas towel around the house.
Well, Blake, I don't have a snowman, but I wonder if my sweet holiday can get me some
good apple cider vinegar.
Well, you all tell me what you think.
I've never done this before, but watching Blake's video gave me the courage to give it a try.
I don't have anything to lose and I've done everything that I think I can to get off to
a good start, so I'm going to tuck this away in that corner cabinet behind me where it's
out of the sunlight but where I'll be able to see it because the cabinet's got a glass
cover on it, so it'll catch my attention every time I walk into the kitchen.
Y'all have seen my belly, I walk into the kitchen a good bit.
So y'all come back, we'll check on this throughout the next few weeks and when it starts to clearly
be a vinegar or if we hit that other 50% we don't want to talk about, I'll come back and
report to you then.
Blake was such a good sport, he agreed to let me use his video on this video, so head
over to his channel, make sure you subscribe, he's putting out some really great content
and even though I've never had an opportunity yet to meet him in person, it's an honor to
call him a friend.
So you all go over there, support his channel, watch the video he did and subscribe, but
if you haven't been here before, hit that subscribe button up there in the corner and
we'll come back and show you how this does in the future.
Thank you all so much for watching.
We'll see you next time.
Who knew you could buy a mother at the local grocery store.