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Fruit vinegar in a jar with two plums next to it on the counter.

31 August by Melissa Norris

How to Make Homemade Fruit Vinegar

Fermenting, Food Preservation, Food Preservation - Other, Miscellaneous, Recipes, Vintage

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Pinterest Pin for how to make fruit vinegar with an image of fruit vinegar being made.
Pinterest Pin for how to make fruit vinegar with an image of fruit vinegar being made.
Pinterest Pin for how to make fruit vinegar with an image of fruit vinegar being made.
Pinterest Pin for how to make fruit vinegar with an image of fruit vinegar being made.

Learn how to make homemade fruit vinegar with one simple ingredient, fruit juice! Read on for my easy step-by-step tutorial (with video). In just a few week's time, you can watch the wonder of fermentation as your fruit juice converts to delicious homemade fruit vinegar.

Fruit vinegar in a jar with two plums next to it on the counter.

To listen to the original podcast interview with Autumn Rose (episode #262 How to Make Fruit Vinegar at Home), you can listen above. Or, to watch me make homemade fruit vinegar, watch the video below.

Why I Love This Recipe

Even though it's been more than a decade of learning and implementing so many homesteading and old-fashioned pioneering skills, I sometimes feel like I'm just at the beginning of the rabbit hole. The more I learn, the more I realize there is to learn!

That's how I felt when I learned how to make fruit vinegar. The first kind I made was homemade apple cider vinegar, but I didn't realize you could make any fruit vinegar with just the juice from the fruit!

Even further, if you don't have fruit juice, but you have fruit from trees or bushes, you can extract the juice in a variety of ways in order to make vinegar (I'll show you how below).

Finished fruit vinegar in a sealed jar.

What is Fruit Vinegar?

Traditionally, housewives and Pioneers for centuries have taken fruit juice and let it ferment in their kitchen on the back of their counter. When it's done you have a fermented vinegar product with antioxidants and minerals, acetic acid, and good bacteria.

It's a really healthy product and if you're keeping a natural home it's a great thing to keep around. The process is really, really simple. It's essentially fermented fruit juice. It can be used in recipes, salad dressings, even cleaning!

Many people have apple cider vinegar in their home and don't even consider the fact that yes, apple cider vinegar is a fruit vinegar!

Fruit vinegar being poured over a jar of plums.

Benefits of Fruit Vinegar

White vinegar and apple cider vinegar (unless you get the kind with the mother) are not in a live culture state by the time we get them. So this is a true ferment with the live cultures intact, which we know can be really good for us.

If you look on the grocery store shelves in the vinegar aisle, you may see different kinds of fruit vinegar available. The most widely known is apple cider vinegar (aka ACV).

When buying fruit vinegar, my recommendation would be to only purchase those that say “raw” and that contain the beneficial bacteria. For apple cider vinegar, it will say “with the Mother”.

Many people love apple cider vinegar for its many uses and health benefits. But other flavors of naturally fermented homemade fruit vinegar will boast similar uses and health benefits.

Apricots on a cutting board on a table.

What Fruit Makes the Best Vinegar?

Ideally, fruit vinegar is best made from a juicy fruit. You can use whole pieces of fruit or even just the fruit juice.

Apples, plums, peaches, even certain berries or grapes are fantastic for fruit vinegar. You can also make vinegar from drier fruit like pears or apricots, but it's best to cold press the juice first.

Continue reading for more information on using different fruit extraction methods for making homemade fruit vinegar.

Do I Need a Starter?

What I love about fruit vinegar is you don't actually need a starter like when doing kombucha you start with a SCOBY. The beneficial bacteria is already within the fruit juice and is naturally occurring within the air in your home.

Your fruit juice is going to capture natural yeasts as well as bacteria. There are two fermenting phases… it just happens naturally on its own. You don't have to introduce anything to it. Pure juice will do its magic. You just let it sit there and do its thing.

Extracting Juice from Fruit

In order to make fruit vinegar, we first need fruit juice. If you don't want to go through the step of extracting the juice, I'll share my favorite technique (which is also the technique I demonstrate in the video above) for getting the fruit juice.

Cold Press

Cold pressing juice is a method most people are familiar with. In the fall, I'm sure you've seen the apple cider presses where you can go toss your apples into the press and leave with fresh apple juice.

Cold press is great for keeping your juice in a completely raw form with all of the antioxidants and vitamins. It's a great way to make really rich vinegar, as well, and one of the methods I would recommend.

This method works well with fruit that's harder to get the juices out of, so fruit like apples, pears, certain berries, etc.

Steam Juicer

A steam juicer is similar to the way women traditionally make homemade jellies. You place whole or chopped fruit in a pot and add a little bit of water, then cook it for a bit and strain the juice through a jelly bag.

This is also a great method for drier fruits like currants, apricots, plums, etc.

Water Extraction

Water extraction is the last method. It's one of my favorite methods because it's the least hands-on and you can let your ferment do its thing without much effort or hands-on time.

How to water extract fruit juice:

  1. Fill a jar about two-thirds full with fruit, and then cover it with chlorine-free water. (Chlorine can inhibit the strength of your ferment.)
  2. Place a coffee filter secured with rubber band and let sit to infuse for about three to seven days.
  3. Strain out the infused liquid.
  4. Fill another jar with more fruit, and then use the infused liquid to cover that fruit. This will strengthen your ferment since you're diluting it with water initially.

You can do a couple of infusions until you reach the desired strength of juice. The more infusions you do, the more flavorful your vinegar and end result.

Can Store-Bought Juice be used for Fruit Vinegar?

For those who might not have their own fruit sources, store-bought fruit juice that's pure juice, with no preservatives or stabilizers, can be used.

Even if it's been pasteurized you can use it, but you want to be careful to avoid additives.

It may be a surprise to you that you can use pasteurized juice, but traditionally housewives would make their own white vinegar from just sugar and water. To introduce natural yeast they would throw a handful of raisins in and that's how they made their household vinegar.

So you just need the liquid and sugar and the rest will happen.

Three jars showing the different stages of homemade apple cider vinegar.

Phases of Fruit Vinegar

There are two phases your fruit vinegar needs to go through, the fermentation phase, and the alcohol phase.

Fermentation Phase

The fermentation phase is where the natural yeast, which is found on the skin of your fruit as well as airborne in your home, will come in and start consuming the natural sugars. They start converting the sugars to alcohol.

Alcohol Phase

Acetobacter bacteria are natural airborne bacteria that take the alcohol and transform that into acetic acid, which is your vinegar product.

Fruit vinegar being poured over a jar of plums.
Fruit vinegar being strained through a metal sieve into a glass measuring bowl.
Finished fruit vinegar in a sealed jar.

Homemade Fruit Vinegar

Stage One

  1. Once you have your juice, by following one of the extraction methods above, pour it into a food-grade container (I prefer using my glass canning jars) anywhere from a quart to a gallon. I even have a five-gallon crock that I make our apple cider vinegar.
  2. Cover the container with a breathable cloth. We do this for two reasons: First, as your juice ferments, it's going to release carbon dioxide. If it were sealed pressure would build up and explode your container. The other reason is to keep out the fruit flies, you want to make sure to seal them up well so that they can't get in.
  3. Temperature is really important for fermenting. You need to keep your juice at temperatures ranging from 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (16 to 27 degrees Celsius). As long as you keep it within those temperatures, the natural yeast, which is found on the skin of your fruit (and in your extracted fruit juice) as well as airborne in your home, will come in and start consuming the natural sugars. They start converting the sugars to alcohol.
  4. It takes anywhere from three to six weeks for a half-gallon jar of juice, depending on the sugar content. You're going to see bubbles on the sides of your container during this time. It's similar to the first stage of brewing kombucha. If you can do kombucha you can do fruit vinegar.

Stage Two

After fermentation, your fruit juice will go through the alcohol phase. Once the alcohol content dies back, there is a group of bacteria that are going to come in and take over.

Acetobacter bacteria are natural airborne bacteria that take the alcohol and transform that into acetic acid, which is your vinegar product.

It will take about three to six times longer than the first phase of fermentation for you to fully finish working and transforming all the alcohol into acetic acid. But when it's done, you're done and your fruit vinegar is ready to use.

It's really as simple as that.

Fruit vinegar in a mason jar with two plums on the counter next to it.

Troubleshooting Homemade Vinegar & FAQs

How Long Does Fruit Vinegar Take?

I've had batches of apple cider vinegar that have taken almost six months before I felt it was a good, strong vinegar. Generally speaking, the more sugar there is in the fruit the longer it takes to turn to vinegar.

The more sugar there is to consume, the more alcohol for the acetic acid bacteria to work with.

My Vinegar is Taking Forever! What's Wrong?

If your vinegar is taking a really long time (like 3+ months) to turn to vinegar, you need to ask a few questions.

  1. Was my juice strong enough before I started the fermentation process?
  2. Did I put an airtight or nearly airtight lid on? (The airflow is what's bring your acetic acid bacteria in. So if you're limiting that you're really diminishing how many can be in there and actively working. By putting the lid on it slows things way down.)
  3. Is your house getting too warm or too cold?

All of these could be factors. But if you're following them all correctly, my suggestion is to simply give it more time. If it doesn't smell foul, or off-putting, then your home and or your fruit may have just had fewer bacteria to get the job done.

My Fruit Vinegar is Moldy

There are a lot of variables with mold, so if you're experiencing what you think is mold, check the following things:

  • Is there anything floating on the surface of your liquid? That's a perfect landing pad for mold spores.
  • Did you strain your fruit out at the proper time? Keeping the fruit in the jar longer isn't always better and can cause a breeding ground for bad bacteria.
  • Often if people have a lot of mold issues in their home, it will show up on the surface of the ferment. Keep your fermenting vinegar in an area with really good airflow. Don't stuff it in the back of your pantry, or the back of a cupboard. Leave it out on the kitchen counter where it has good airflow coming past it because it's way less likely to mold.

Why is my Fruit Vinegar Foamy or White?

Sometimes the combination of fruit juice that has a higher sugar content and warmer temperatures you can get a layer of bubbly scum on the surface of your vinegar.

If this happens, just skim that off. It's similar to getting kahm yeast on a ferment. It's harmless, but it can affect the flavor, so you'll want to remove it as soon as it appears (which means you should be checking on your ferment daily).

A woman holding a jar of fruit vinegar in the kitchen.

How to Store Fruit Vinegar

Once your fruit vinegar has gone through both phases and is now true vinegar, store it in a food-grade container, out of direct sunlight, at cool temperatures. I prefer storing my vinegar in glass containers, especially since vinegar is acidic.

It can be really fun to find glass flip-top bottles, old whiskey jugs, even old wine bottles and repurpose them for your vinegar. They can even double as kitchen decor!

Test Before Storing

To test your vinegar to make sure it's completed the phases, take about a cup of the vinegar seal it up in an airtight bottle (I like to use a flip-top bottle that I'd do a second ferment of kombucha in).

Put the bottle on the back of your kitchen counter for a day. The next day, break the seal (or pop the top). If there was a release of carbon dioxide (or you audibly hear a “pop”) then it's not ready to be sealed up yet and should remain on the counter for another week or so.

Do this test again in another week, once there is no pressure in your container you can bottle it up and stash it away. Then it's ready to be used how, when, and wherever you wish.

Best Temperature to Store Vinegar

Ideally, vinegar can be in a warm environment, but the warmer it is the faster the acetic acid is going to mellow out. I like to keep mine in my cold room (or root cellar) and it keeps well for a very long time.

How Long will Fruit Vinegar Last?

When I did a massive batch of apple cider vinegar I've had it last for two years and still be of great quality.

Woman drinking ginger water.

Uses for fruit vinegar

There are so many ways to use fruit vinegar. When I first started making it, I really just wanted to make more of our products than buying them from the grocery store and homemade apple cider vinegar seemed like a good option.

Vinegar is also a great substitute for lemon juice, and since many homemade condiments use lemon juice, fruit vinegar is a great substitution that adds fantastic flavor.

  • Dressings
  • Dips
  • Condiments
  • Meat tenderizer
  • Marinade
  • Baking
  • Soaking grain for better digestion
  • Switchel (grab my favorite homemade switchel recipe here)
  • Home remedies (fire cider, infused herbs, hair rinse, astringent)

Autumn's Favorite Fruit Vinegar

When I did this podcast with Autumn Rose, I asked which fruit vinegar was her favorite. Her answer?

“That is a hard question… I would probably say plum is one of my favorites. I love deep, rich, bold flavors and plum vinegar is just incredible. One of my favorite salad dressings is made with plum vinegar with basil and it is so good. I think the blue elderberry vinegar would be my other favorite just because it's such good immune support.”

This recipe was featured in 29 of the Best Elderberry Recipes.

Did you make this recipe? I want to see it! If you made this recipe I'd love for you to leave a star rating on the recipe card below, then snap a photo and tag me on social media @melissaknorris.

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Fruit vinegar in a jar with two plums next to it on the counter.
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4.80 from 5 votes

How to Make Fruit Vinegar

Turn any fruit juice into homemade fruit vinegar with these easy steps!
Prep Time5 mins
Inactive Time90 d
Total Time90 d 5 mins
Course: Condiment
Keyword: Any Fruit Vinegar, DIY Vinegar, Fruit Vinegar
Yield: 4 cups
Author: Melissa Norris

Equipment

  • Glass jar

Materials

  • 4 cups fruit juice of choice

Instructions

  • Stage One
    Pour fruit juice into a glass container (quart sized Mason jar up to a gallon).
  • Cover the container with a breathable cloth.
  • Keep your juice at temperatures ranging from 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, 16 to 27 Celsius for three to six weeks You should see bubbles on the side of the jar during this time.
  • Stage Two
    Your juice is close to going through the alcohol phase. Once that's dying back, there is a group of bacteria that come in called Acetobactor bacteria. They take the alcohol and transform that into acetic acid, which is your vinegar product.
    It will take about three to six times longer than the first phase of fermentation for you to fully finish working and transforming all the alcohol to acetic acid and to have fully formed homemade vinegar.

Video

Where to find Autumn

  • A Traditional Life Blog
  • The Beginner's Guide to Fruit Vinegar 
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

References

  • How to Heal Stomach Acid Naturally – My Story Pt. 1
  • How to Find Your Trigger Foods – Pt. 2
  • 5 Homemade Natural Cleaners that Work
  • How to Make Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

Filed Under: Fermenting, Food Preservation, Food Preservation - Other, Miscellaneous, Recipes, Vintage Tagged With: fruit vinegar, vinegar

Melissa Norris

Melissa K. Norris inspires people's faith and pioneer roots with her books, podcast, and blog. Melissa lives with her husband and two children in their own little house in the big woods in the foothills of the North Cascade Mountains. When she's not wrangling chickens and cattle, you can find her stuffing Mason jars with homegrown food and playing with flour and sugar in the kitchen.

Read more about Melissa

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Comments:

  1. Michele Faison

    3 years ago

    What an interesting post! Can’t wait to try it this fall when I have access to apples.

    Tomatoes are fruit–have you tried tomato vinegar? Perhaps it would taste too much like a rotten tomato, I don’t know. That’s the only fruit I seem to have in quantity all at once.

    How would you go about testing the acidity of the vinegar? Typical vinegar for recipes and pickling is 5%. How would I ensure that this was similar? I’ve purchased a brand of natural wine champagne vinegar and raspberry wine vinegar that are each 7% acidity. They both left sores in my mouth. (Tomatoes do that, too, if I eat too many. Have to be careful even with 5% vinegar.)

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Melissa Norris

      3 years ago

      From all my research home testing kits aren’t reliable enough to test your homemade vinegar for canning safety, so homemade vinegar isn’t recommended to use for canning. I haven’t tried tomato, I’m not sure it has enough sugars in the juice to ferment easily compared to other fruits.

      Reply
  2. Debra

    June 21, 2020 at 12:06 am

    Hi! Love this podcast! I can’t wait to make some home fruit vinegars. The drink that you talked about is called switchel or haymakers punch. 🙂 It’s an old time drink that farmers use to make.

    Reply
  3. Dixean M Grimes

    3 years ago

    I have been wanting to try this for a long time! It’s time! Melissa, I would like to know how you use the apple peels?? Can I use a food juicer to make the juice? Thanks for a great lesson gals!

    Reply
    • Melissa Norris

      3 years ago

      If using peels this is the method I use https://melissaknorris.com/how-to-make-apple-cider-vinegar-at-home/

      Reply
  4. Graham Houghton

    3 years ago

    Hi Melissa,

    I’m more a slow train than fast lane sort of person, but I like to make my vinegar fairly quickly. To do this, once the fermentation phase is over, and I get mine going with yeast I’ve had for years and which I keep in the fridge between brews, I use an aquarium aerating stone and a thirteen gallon per hour pump. Again I have a very old vinegar mother in the fridge to kick it all off. I make about a one and a half gallon batch in about twenty-eight days. Every now and again I’ll make a super strong batch which I use as a natural weedkiller and that takes a little longer. Happy homesteading.

    Reply
  5. Kathy

    3 years ago

    Could you e-mail me. I would like to talk to you about mason jars. Thanks.

    Reply
  6. Dianne Klinski

    3 years ago

    I just got done listening to my very first podcast and am hooked! However, I have a kind of a strange question, please bear with me….
    I love to make my own tomato sauce with onions and peppers. I use a steam juicer to take the water off the tomatoes and then after getting them to the right consistency, I spoon them out into a bowl and let them sit a day before making the sauce. Ok, here’s where it gets kinda strange. I was wondering if I could use the juice from my tomatoes to make vinegar. I just hate to pour the water that comes off down the drain. I can’t imagine any recipes for it really but might it make a good cleaner? Could I use my old plastic vinegar jugs to store the juice in to ferment?
    I’d sure love any ideas you might have, or if Autumn has any thoughts on the subject too.
    Thanks so much!
    Dianne

    Reply
    • Melissa Norris

      3 years ago

      Yay for a new podcast convert! Seriously, I adore podcasts. 🙂 I’ll ask Autumn as I’m not sure if tomato will have enough sugar or not.

      Reply
    • Tia

      1 year ago

      If you pressure can, you can use the tomato juice as the liquid for canning beans or meat. That’s what I use it for. Or you can just can the juice itself.

      Reply
  7. ashley lober

    2 years ago

    I loved this podcast and can’t wait to get started.
    I have 2 questions about the fruits….
    Can you mix fruits to make different flavors?
    And can you use store bought fruit (we are just months into getting our homestead up and running.) If so, should we use organic? Is there a specific process for removing the wax, or cleaning the fruit, etc…

    Reply
    • Joan

      2 years ago

      I would also like your free preserves book. TY

      Reply
  8. Cindy

    1 year ago

    I know apple cider can be used, but can other fruit ciders be used as well? I purchased some peach cider from our local orchard and would like to try making vinegar with it if possible. Thanks!

    Reply
  9. Fran

    1 year ago

    Hi Autumn, I’m new to all of this and it is fascinating! Here’s a possible dumb question: what do you or can you do with the fruit solids after you strain it (after the first fermentation)? Just throw it away? Any response is appreciated.
    Sorry if this seems basic .

    Reply
    • Melissa Norris

      1 year ago

      Hi Fran,
      Not a dumb question, they’re fine to compost or give to livestock. There’s not much flavor left so you won’t want to eat it just due to flavor being bland.

      Reply
  10. Jeanette Carolyn Davis

    1 year ago

    5 stars
    If the trees, vines etc have not been sprayed do you wash the fruit before poking and putting in jars.

    Reply
  11. Jeri

    September 6, 2021 at 1:14 am

    Ty Melissa. For sharing ur knowledge, experiences, sound recipes for consumption, ,household uses and medicinal purposes, from A-Z as was intended we utilize by our Lord Jesus.

    Reply
  12. Emilio Nier

    10 months ago

    I have a filter on my fridge and ice machine (pure source 2) and a plastic BPA free 28 oz bottle. Love it…

    Reply
  13. Debbie

    6 months ago

    Can I make vinegar with citrus? I have a calamondin tree, but don’t know if the fruit has enough sugar to ferment.

    Reply

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