Most of our grandparents and great grandparents lived very efficiently with zero waste. Our ancestors relied on fermenting, dehydrating or sun/solar drying, canning, salting, freezing and other methods to preserve food. Today we can incorporate this principle into our modern kitchen in simple ways. Returning to ancestral practices and traditions that teach us to use the entire animal or plant and to not assume certain parts are waste or useless.
When chopping vegetables save all the tops and bottoms to use later for broths and stocks. I keep a ziploc in my freezer and add the tops, bottoms and some skins like onion and potato to the bag after prepping for a meal. The green leaves or beet tops can be steamed or sauteed as a side dish and the feathery leaves of carrot tops can be turned into pesto. Save those broccoli stalks too! I peel the tough skin on the broccoli stalk, cut into rounds and cook them with the florets until tender. The stalk may become your favorite part of the broccoli because it’s so tasty.
Last year when I had multiple holiday orders for apple crostatas, I started researching ways to put my apple scraps to work. I came upon an effortless apple scrap vinegar recipe. With very little effort and minimal planning, this recipe will produce four cups of tasty apple scrap vinegar. This is not the same as raw apple cider vinegar which starts with apple cider. During the fall season I start adding all my scraps to a freezer bag until I have enough to pack into a clean, wide mouthed jar. This typically takes about 8-10 large apples. Also note that the jar does not need to be sterilized, just a good washing in soapy warm water and then air dried. So far I have only experimented with apple scraps and I have found other recipes that use pears or pineapples. Feel free to experiment with your fruit scraps! One final note is that for this fermentation we are attracting acetic acid bacteria which helps turn the alcohol into vinegar so it’s important that bacteria is not locked out with a sealed lid.
Bubbles are a great sign that sugars are converting into alcohol and carbon dioxide–fermentation is happening! In about a week there will be some bubbling and in about 3-6 weeks the vinegar will be done. The longer it ferments, the more vinegary it becomes. Test the vinegar by tasting it and noticing its color. If it tastes weak and looks yellow rather than golden add another tablespoon of sugar for the yeast to feed on. Don’t worry if you see a beige or off white film at the top of the vinegar; this is called kahm yeast and it’s harmless. Skim this film off and discard. This may be an ongoing process and you may not completely remove it which is fine. The more you stir the less chance there is for the yeast to appear. You may also notice white sediment settling at the bottom of the jar, this will all be strained out when the scrap vinegar is ready.
Let’s begin our kitchen journey with the basics; a large mason jar and a recipe.
Apple Scrap Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Clean, large wide mouthed jar (quart size works)
- 1 smaller jar, ramekin, or glass fermentation weight that fits inside a larger mason jar to hold scraps. (this step is unnecessary if keeping a close eye on the jar and making sure to stir the scraps a few times a day to submerge all the scraps)
- 1 Cloth napkin, or piece of cheesecloth and a rubber band (to cover the mason jar to prevent flies or dust)
Ingredients
- About 4 cups Peels and cores from 8-10 large organic apples (should leave at least 1-2 inches of headspace at the top of the jar)
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar, sucanat, or rapadura (dissolved in 2 tbsp of warm water)
- Filtered Water (enough to just cover the apple scraps)
- 2 tbsp Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (optional: to jumpstart the fermentation process)
Instructions
- Place all the apple scraps into the jar, add all the other ingredients and give a good stir. If using a smaller jar or weight, place that into the jar to submerge all the scraps under the liquid. This step will prevent mold from forming.
- Cover the jar with a piece of cloth and leave on the counter or a place that is at room temperature (65-70 degrees Fahrenheit). I keep my jar close to my stove so I remember to stir it!
- After 3-6 weeks, strain the scrap vinegar into a clean bottle or jar and enjoy!
- Yay! You just made a beautiful batch of vinegar out of scraps that often gets composted or thrown out. This is such an important traditional method of food preparation that utilizes all parts of the fruit with zero waste.