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How to Make Fruit Scrap Vinegar

Discover how to easily make fruit scrap vinegar using strawberry tops.

August 11, 2018 By Mary's Nest 8 Comments

How to Make Fruit Scrap Vinegar

How to Make Fruit Scrap Vinegar with Strawberries
Watch the How to Make Fruit Scrap Vinegar Using Strawberry Tops video

Making vinegar from fruit scraps is so easy—and it basically costs you nothing.  You can make a delightful fruit scrap vinegar from items you might throw out or throw into the compost pile.

*Affiliates note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. My videos and blog posts may contain affiliate links to products and services. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission. It does not affect the price you pay.

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Fruit Scrap Vinegar and a No-Waste Kitchen

In my tutorial video and printable recipe, I’ll show you how to make fruit scrap vinegar step-by-step. It’s easy!

Mary's Nest Making Strawberry Vinegar

So next time you are cutting up some strawberries, save the scraps and make vinegar. You’ll have a tasty strawberry fruit scrap vinegar and a no-waste kitchen!

Mary's Nest Pouring Strawberry Vinegar

And a nice side benefit, the jar will look lovely sitting on your kitchen counter while it turns into vinegar!

Mary's Nest Strawberry Scraps in a Jar

Testing Your Homemade Vinegar

Your vinegar should have developed after 30 days. You can test your homemade vinegar by:

  • Smell
  • Taste
  • Using a pH strip

How to Use a pH Strip

As I show you in my recipe video, here are the steps to use a pH strip:

  1. Pull out a piece of the pH strip
  2. Dip the pH strip in your vinegar
  3. See what color the strip turns into and compare it against your pH chart

If you use a pH strip, you are looking for a pH that’s lower than 4.5.

Alternatively, you can dip your stirring chopstick into your vinegar and have a few drops fall on the pH strip if you don’t want to dip the pH strip into your vinegar.

Using Your Homemade Vinegar

Your fruit scrap vinegar is amazingly multipurpose. Here are just a few ways you can use it:

  • Cleaning
  • Hair rinse mixed with water
  • Salad dressings

Since the pH is not standardized with homemade vinegar, you should not use your vinegar for canning or pickling.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Like strawberry fruit scrap vinegar, making Apple Cider Vinegar is a lot of fun, and it’s an essential skill for traditional foods home cooks. You can use Apple Cider Vinegar in many recipes. Discover how to make this vinegar from scratch with my three-part video series that’s perfect for beginners.

How to Make Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother Video
  • How to Make Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother – DIY From Scratch Recipe for Beginners (3 Part Series)

More Recipes for a No-Waste Kitchen

Once you’ve created your strawberry fruit scrap vinegar, try these other recipes for a no-waste kitchen.

  • How to Quick Pickle Vegetable Scraps for a No Waste Kitchen
  • Cooking with Scraps – How to Make Citrus Salts and Sugars
  • Cooking with Scraps – Asparagus Stalks Recipe
  • Cooking with Scraps – Bottomless Cheese Crock Recipe

And I also show you how to regrow kitchen scraps so you can create a recurring harvest.

  • 10 Vegetables You Can Regrow from Kitchen Scraps to Create a Recurring Harvest

Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List

For an extensive list of the traditional foods you can make and purchase to stock your pantry, be sure to download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more!

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Love,
Mary ♥
Mary's Nest Making Strawberry Vinegar
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

How to Make Fruit Scrap Vinegar Using Strawberry Tops

Making vinegar from fruit scraps is so easy—and it basically costs you nothing.  You can make vinegar from items you might throw out or throw into the compost pile.  So next time you are cutting up some fruit, save the scraps and make vinegar.
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time0 mins
Fermenting Time30 d
Total Time30 d 5 mins
Course: Waste Not Want Not
Cuisine: Americana
Keyword: Fruit Scrap Vinegar, Homemade Vinegar, Vinegar
Servings: 32 ounces
Author: Mary’s Nest

Ingredients

  • 1-2 cups Strawberry tops or other fruit scraps
  • 1/2 cup Cane sugar divided
  • 8 cups Spring water

Instructions

  • Add the fruit scraps to a 1/2 gallon glass jar.
  • Add 1/4 cup sugar.
  • Fill a jar with spring water.
  • Stir well and cover the jar with a coffee filter or clean cloth and secure with a rubber band.
  • Stir the contents of the jar daily. A wooden toothpick can be useful for this purpose.
  • After a few days, add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar to the jar and stir well to incorporate.
  • Continue to stir the contents of the jar daily.
  • After 30 days, vinegar should have developed. Test by smell, taste, or using a pH strip. If you use a pH strip, you are looking for a pH lower than 4.5.
  • Once you are satisfied with the taste of the fruit scrap vinegar, strain out the fruit and decant the vinegar in a clean glass bottle with a top.

Video

Notes

This fruit scrap vinegar is multipurpose. It can be used to make salad dressing, for cleaning, or as a hair rinse mixed with water.  It is not recommended for canning or pickling purposes as the pH value is not standardized.
Find this recipe and video at https://marysnest.com/how-to-make-fruit-scrap-vinegar/
Copyright © 2018 Mary’s Nest, LLC, All Rights Reserved

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Favorite Kitchen Supplies

  • Favorite Aprons
  • Whisk
  • Silica Gel Packets (Helps keep moisture from building up in your mix)
  • Cast Iron Dutch Oven
  • 8-Quart Slow-Cooker
  • Fat Separator (Clever kitchen device to help you decant bone broth)
  • Flour Sack Towels
  • pH Strips

More Kitchen Supplies with Discount Codes

  • Mockmill Grain Grinder (for making homemade flour)

Use my Mockmill affiliate link for a special one-time 5% discount on Mockmill Stone Grain Mill products, including Ancient Grains, like Einkorn, Emmer, and Spelt. (The Mockmill discount will appear when you checkout.)

  • Masontops Fermentation Kit

Use promo code MARYSNST for a one-time 15% off Masontops and Breadsmart products on Amazon.com.

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Recommended Reading

  • Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and Diet Dictocrats
  • Deep Nutrition
  • Food Storage 101 Where do I begin? (Cookin’ With Home Storage)
  • Cooking with Scraps: Turn Your Peels, Cores, Rinds, and Stems into Delicious Meals

**Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor, a medical professional, a dietician, or a nutritionist. All content found on the MarysNest.com website, including text, images, videos, eBooks or eGuides, social media, or other formats, were created solely for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or proper nutritional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have watched in a video or read on this website. Use caution when following the recipe in this video. The creator and publisher of this video and website will not be held responsible for any adverse effects that may arise from the use of this recipe and method or any other recipe and method on this website or corresponding video channel.

Filed Under: Budget Friendly, Fermented Beverages, Vinegar, Waste Not Want Not Tagged With: Fruit Scrap Vinegar, Homemade Vinegar, Strawberry Tops Vinegar

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mercedes says

    August 10, 2020 at 7:12 am

    Hi! Thanks so much for your recipe and video. I tried it and got a great citrus vinegar. I tried again using saved strawberry scraps I collected and froze. Followed the recipe, adding a second 1/4 c sugar after 3 days. Unfortunately, the bubbling stopped. It’s been two weeks and still no vinegar smell, it just smells like sweet strawberries. There’s a white film on top like kahm yeast but no mold or anything unpleasant. How do I jump start the acetobacter?

    Reply
    • Mary's Nest says

      August 14, 2020 at 11:25 am

      Hi Mercedes, This is a great question. As I have shared with many folks, ferments of any type can be VERY persnickety! Since there is no mold, I might try continuing to stir and give it another week. I wouldn’t add any more sugar. Actually, sometimes too much sweetness can actually slow the process. Maybe the strawberries were very sweet and the bacteria is slow to eat all the natural sugar. Keep me posted – and keep giving the ferment daily stirrings – really good stirrings to incorporate a lot of air. Love, Mary

      Reply
  2. Patricia Long says

    August 30, 2020 at 3:47 pm

    Thank you for such wonderful videos. Very informative. I made strawberry and it turned to vinegar in 3 weeks. It was fantastic and everyone in my family loved it. I just started peach a week ago and it is bubbling and I smell vinegar already. If the ph drops to 4.3 or 4.5 and the bubbles stop is it done even if it’s early? Or should I make sure it’s closer to the 30 days? I remember you said in another video to slow it down put it in the refridgerator. If it turns quickly into vinegar is that a good thing or bad. Thanks again.

    Reply
    • Mary's Nest says

      August 31, 2020 at 7:30 pm

      Hi Patricia, I am SO happy to hear that you are enjoying the vinegar! Yes, it can ferment quicker than 30 days – especially in warm weather. Many people like their vinegar at around 4.5. You do not need to get it down to 3.0. Yes, with ferments, you can slow things down by putting it in the fridge but you really don’t need to worry about that with vinegar. The process can go quickly from fruit water, to a mild alcohol, to vinegar. As long as it starts to smell “vinegary” and no longer “yeasty” or “beer like”, your vinegar is ready. Great job! Love, Mary

      Reply
  3. Sandra Kunkle says

    May 1, 2021 at 11:23 am

    5 stars
    Hi Mary, think I received my answer: my small jar of strawberry vinegar looks on top like: yeasty, mold; from blog, guess that is ok? I guessed @ the amt of sugar since I just had enough scraps for a small jar.
    I just bought 9 baskets; going for the “big jar”! Thanks. Love your videos; such a smart lady!
    Sandra Kunkle
    sjkunkle@comcast.net

    Reply
    • Mary's Nest says

      May 10, 2021 at 1:18 pm

      Hi Sandra, Thanks so much for the kind words! A white film on top of a vinegar ferment is usually kahm yeast. It’s not problematic – just a pest! You can try to skim it off but it usually comes back. But when the vinegar becomes very acidic it will most likely disappear. If it is fuzzy and possibly multi-colored, it is mold and should be discarded. Some people just skim off the mold and carry on because they believe that as the acidic level increases, the environment for mold will not be hospitable so all the mold will die but I am not comfortable with that. Love, Mary

      Reply
  4. Holly says

    June 28, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    Making this with Fredericksburg peach today. Sacrificed one to have a yummy salad vinegar. Cut the recipe down to about 1/3…didn’t follow exact proportions (math!) but hope it turns out good!
    Thanks!
    Holly

    Reply
    • Mary's Nest says

      July 21, 2021 at 3:28 pm

      Hi Holly, Hope it turns out great! Those are wonderful peaches!! Love, Mary

      Reply

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