Apple Scrap Recipe
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.
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.