Apple Cider Vinegar

OMG, People, OMG, I made Apple Cider Vinegar, I really did. I kind of thought I would fail at this like I did the Pectin, but I didn't. I really actually made ACV. From scrap stuff I've always been throwing away before, the peels, cores, and seeds. I can't believe it. Why isn't everyone doing this?

I didn't really follow any one particular set of instructions...there's so many different ways of doing something it seems, I just pick the easy parts of the different ones and see what I can make of it.
If you are interested in trying ACV for yourself, I have several helpful sites Pinned on my Apple Pinterest Board.

The jars on the left are from the first batch I started about a week or so before the second batch.
I had filled the large pickle jars with apple scraps, then filled with a 1/4-cup-of-sugar-to-1-quart-water mixture (it ended up taking me 3 quarts of water and 3/4 cup sugar).

I put the jars in my diningroom which is warm and mostly dark, but I sat a cardboard box opened at both ends (actually an un-taped Priority mail box) around the jar to make sure it was a dark enough.

I checked them and stirred them every so often. After a couple of weeks I strained the liquid from the apple scraps of the first batch and re-covered the jar with cheesecloth to allow it to ferment longer.

The second batch didn't look ready yet so I let it keep fermenting with the fruit scraps.

Today I strained the first batch through cheesecloth and into the glass jars.
I put canning lids and rings on to keep the ACV clean and from evaporating, but they aren't "canned".

I strained the liquid from the apple scraps of the second batch and covered with cheesecloth and will let it ferment a couple more weeks, then it should look like the ACV on the left.

Usually I just tear a scrap piece of paper and write the name and date of the product, but here lately I've been all about Labels. Nothing fancy, just not so plain as my torn scraps. Found this one on the internet, erased out the parts I didn't want in Paint, and added the Date.

Sorry for being so excited about this, I'm just so amazed that one can make a useful product out of what I had just always thought was waste. It's like magic to me.

(Dang, with those labels, no one's going to believe I really made this by myself.)

Now, to figure out what to do with it.
I'm pretty sure I won't be eating a spoonful of it a day with my breakfast. Not unless I decide I need to puke my guts out or something.
And despite all the assurances, I'm still pretty iffy about this stuff being a cleaning product.  It still seems like you'd be wiping sticky crud on your windows or floor or whatever. Guess I'll have to give it a try and see how that goes.