Condiments

Does Apple Cider Vinegar Go Bad? How Long Does It Last?

Apple Cider Vinegar is such a handy tool to be used in making a multitude of situations. It can be used as vinaigrettes as well as marinades. You can also use it to dress salads with helpful vitamins.

This type of vinegar can be used commonly as a preservative for food. Some people even use it to cure illness with its powerful properties.

But Can Apple Cider Vinegar Go Bad? This is an important question that we will answer in this article. As well as answering Does Apple Cider Vinegar Expire to help you know when you can consume it or dispense with it.

Before that, we should first explain the question “does Apple Cider Vinegar Go Bad?” which we will do in the following passage.

Does Apple Cider Vinegar Go Bad?

This question isn’t the easiest to answer. The acidic nature of the vinegar allows it to withstand years of good storage. However, It would be smart to check the “best-by date” to ensure you have the most recent vinegar.

Generally speaking, apple cider vinegar doesn’t really expire. It can last almost indefinitely. Yet, the quality of it will start to degrade the longer it’s stored.

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Raw vs Filtered Apple Cider Vinegar

Before we go any further, it would be quite helpful to know the difference between the two different types of vinegar.

Raw vs Filtered Apple Cider Vinegar

Raw ACV

This vinegar is organic, it’s extracted from apples just as it is. It contains something called the mother, which is what turns your tasty apple juice into the vinegar you are consuming.

The mother is a friendly bacteria and in fact, they are Quite Nutritious. They are slightly dark and this why the raw ACV is not as clear as filtered one.

Filtered ACV

This vinegar has been pasteurized to get rid of all the mother in it. This allows it to be much cleaner and perhaps less “vinegar-y” compared to the raw one.

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How Long Does Apple Cider Vinegar Last?

It has been known that Apple cider vinegar can last almost 5 years if stored properly.

How Long Does Apple Cider Vinegar Last

It can even be used beyond the 5 years mark as long as it has been stored well. Make sure you know How to Tell If Apple Cider Vinegar is bad to ensure it’s still safe to use.

Remember, The Shelf life of Apple Cider Vinegar is around 5 years. But it’s not suggested to store it for this long.

The quality of the vinegar and its properties are heavily impacted by long storage and would degrade rapildy.

Apple Cider Vinegar Shelf Life [Full Chart]

Apple Cider VinegarPantry
UnopenedStays fine indefinitely
OpenedStays fine indefinitely

How To Store Apple Cider Vinegar?

The storage of the apple cider vinegar is perhaps the most important part. If you don’t know how to store it properly. It’s really hard to ensure that the vinegar would keep its special properties without proper storage.

How To Store Apple Cider Vinegar

Here is How to store properly:

  • Make sure the apple cider vinegar is fully sealed. Any type of debris would make it go bad fast.
  • Store the bottle somewhere dark as well as cold. The Pantry works best for such purposes.
  • Once you decide to open the bottle, storing it in the fridge seems to be the best option.
  • Make sure you seal the bottle well so there is no contamination.

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Can You Freeze Apple Cider Vinegar?

You might be wondering If storing Apple Cider Vinegar is a good idea or not. and the answer is to this is a yes, but take care while doing so.

Can You Freeze Apple Cider Vinegar

First of all, the glass should not be frozen. This is because vinegar would expand and thus make the glass shatter.

This is why you should follow these procedures:

  • Make sure you put the vinegar in a plastic container. don’t fill it all tho cause vinegar has the tendency to expand when frozen.
  • Wrap the container well and seal it properly in order to prevent any contamination.
  • Use an airtight seal in order to make sure the container is closed off properly.
  • Store it in the freezer as on as you like.

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How to Tell If Apple Cider Vinegar Has Gone Bad?

Apple cider vinegar has a strong acidity that makes it hard for it to go bad. But it does happen because of contamination and plenty of other factors. it’s not the best thing to consume such vinegar.

How to Tell If Apple Cider Vinegar has gone bad

Let’s first be clear, not everything that is sediment is bad. In vinegar, there is something called The Mother. This part of the vinegar has plenty of positive traits that make it desirable.

It’s found in the organic vinegar, which means, the organic variant of vinegar will be slightly darker and more cloudy.

With that out of the way, here are the general signs of bad apple cider vinegar:

  • The smell or the taste of the vinegar is different from the usual. it becomes more “intense” in the taste of it.
  • The bottom of the bottle will have sediment and residue in it.
  • The odor will be far more intense than usual.
  • The look of the vinegar will be more cloudy and hazy than clear, that’s in the case of pasteurized vinegar.

Does Apple Cider Vinegar go bad If Not Refrigerated?

Luckily, you don’t really need to refrigerate the vinegar. its acidic nature protects it from bacteria.

Does Apple Cider Vinegar go bad If Not Refrigerated

But make sure that the Apple Cider Vinegar is well sealed to avoid contamination as well as being in a safe place, dark, cool place to preserve its properties.

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Wrapping up

It’s quite clear that answering the question “does apple cider vinegar go bad?” is not as easy as it might seem. We hope this article helped you understand better on How to tell if apple cider vinegar has gone bad and How you can store it properly.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below. Thanks for reading and have a nice day!

Can Apple Cider Vinegar Go Bad

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About the author

Michelle Ivory

Hello! My name is Michelle Ivory. I am a health-conscious who also happens to enjoy writing about food! Did you know that almost 40% of all food in America is wasted food? That's right! this is because people are unaware If their food has really gone bad or not. This is why it's my job to guide people on how to tell if their food has gone bad or not. which is why I decided to create this website to help people make an informed decision on their food and whether they should throw it away or not.

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