How to Make Fire Cider (Easy Cold Season Tonic)

00:00 — Why fire cider is easy, cheap, and very hard to mess up00:55 — What fire cider actually is (and why it feels like cheating)01:30 — Cheap, customizable, practically indestructible02:20 — The foundational ingredients, and why it isn’t just chaos in a jar02:55 — Onion, garlic, and hot pepper: what each one does in the jar03:30 — Ginger, turmeric, and horseradish, the drama queen04:15 — Can’t find horseradish root? What I buy instead04:50 — The half teaspoon that cleared my sinuses05:30 — Lemon and rosemary, two easy add-ins06:00 — How to make it, no measuring required06:50 — Filling the jar: citrus, apple, and my elderberry syrup kit08:00 — Pouring the vinegar and getting the air pockets out08:55 — The parchment trick that protects your lid09:20 — Shake it daily, wait six weeks, strain10:50 — How I take it every day (and protect my teeth)11:20 — Salad dressing, marinades, and spicy chamomile tea12:20 — Feeling sick at Homesteaders of America, and the vendors who helped13:30 — Self, family, community: once you learn a skill, it’s yours14:30 — Don’t toss the leftovers: chutney, powders, chickens, compost15:40 — Freeze-dried and dried ingredients work too16:50 — All you need is a jar and the willingness to tryA few things worth writing downStart with the base, then make it your own. Onion, garlic, hot pepper, ginger, turmeric, and horseradish go in first. Citrus, apple, berries, rosemary, and elderberries are optional add-ins.Wash everything, chop it up, and fill a quart jar about three-quarters full. Pour in raw apple cider vinegar (with the mother) all the way to the top, and poke out the air pockets with a wooden or bamboo stick.Put parchment paper between the jar and a metal lid so the vinegar doesn’t eat at the metal. Label it with the date.Shake it once a day for about six weeks, topping it off with vinegar in the first few days if dried ingredients soak some up. Then strain it and sweeten with honey if you like. Honey isn’t safe for babies under one year old.A tablespoon in a glass of water is a simple daily habit. Sip it through a straw or rinse with plain water afterward to protect your tooth enamel.The strained ingredients aren’t trash. Use them in chutney, dehydrate and powder them, add them to soups and stir-fries, or give them to the chickens or the compost.LinksMentioned in this episodeHomesteaders of America and their annual conference — https://homesteadersofamerica.com/homesteaders-of-america-conference/Storing infused vinegars safelyClemson Home &amp; Garden Information Center, Flavored Vinegars — https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/flavored-vinegars/National Center for Home Food Preservation — https://nchfp.uga.edu/Find meWebsite — https://joyfullyprepared.com/All episodes — https://joyfullyprepared.com/podcast/Joyfully Prepared Library — https://learn.joyfullyprepared.com/libraryFree Facebook group — https://www.facebook.com/groups/joyfulprepInstagram — https://www.instagram.com/joyfulprepper/Send me a message — <a href="https://joyfullyprepared.com/co