How to Make Fire Cider
Fire cider is a folk remedy used to increase your circulation, warm your insides, and kick cold and flu symptoms to the curb. This is my fire cider recipe.
Make this Fire Cider Recipe from Scratch
Fire cider is a folk remedy used to increase your circulation, warm your insides, and kick cold and flu symptoms to the curb. Also called “Master Tonic” or “Mother Tonic,” it is used in conjunction with elderberry syrup and echinacea tincture, to strengthen your immune system. Use it this winter. It’s very easy to make, especially if you have the ingredients on hand from your own garden. If you have to buy the ingredients, purchase organic ingredients, as the vitality of the herbs is stronger when grown organically, on naturally fertilized soil.
Every ingredient in Fire Cider is food. There are no drugs here.
If you can’t find one of the ingredients you can leave it out or get some from the grocery store. If you are wondering what action each of the ingredients has in the blend, just nibble some of each ingredient and see how your own body reacts. Every person has a different constitution. Some people are warm and some are cold. Some people are moist and some are dry.
How you respond when you bite a piece of raw horseradish or raw onion may be different than how your friend reacts. Keep this in mind as you formulate your own personal fire cider blend. If you tend to be on the cold side, add more of the warming ginger and turmeric to the blend. If you tend to be hot, the vinegar in this mixture is cooling by itself. Other cooling herbs for immune building are echinacea and elderberry.
Most fire cider recipes come from adaptations of Rosemary Gladstar’s folk remedy. This is my version. I add turmeric and astragalus for the extra immune boost and warmth.
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Make this Fire Cider Recipe from Scratch
Description
Fire cider is a folk remedy used to increase your circulation, warm your insides, and kick cold and flu symptoms to the curb.
Ingredients
- 3 large heads of organic garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 2 medium organic onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 4-inch piece of organic horseradish, coarsely grated
- 1 4-inch piece of organic ginger, coarsely grated
- 1/2 teaspoon organic cayenne spice
- 2 tablespoon organic turmeric powder
- 2 tablespoon organic astragalus
- 3 cups of raw organic apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup of local raw honey (optional)
Equipment:
- Cheesecloth
- 1-quart mason jar
Instructions
- Prepare all ingredients by cleaning and chopping
- Layer these in a 1-quart mason jar
- Fill the jar with vinegar until the ingredients are completely covered
- Use a chopstick to release any trapped air. Cover with more vinegar if necessary, so that all vegetables are completely covered with vinegar
- Let this mixture sit for 4 to 6 weeks, at room temperature. Shake daily or as often as you think of it
- After 4 to 6 weeks, strain the infused cider through a cheesecloth, being careful to squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the vegetables. Reserve the liquid (feed the merk to your chickens or add it to the compost pile)
- To the strained, infused vinegar, add 1 cup of raw honey or to taste
Notes
- If you have to buy the ingredients, purchase organic ingredients, as the vitality of the herbs is stronger when grown organically, on naturally fertilized soil.
- If you can’t find one of the ingredients you can leave it out or get some from the grocery store.
- This recipe is just as effective if you leave the honey out but it is quite a bit spicier. For those who do not enjoy the spice, add honey to taste.
- Rosemary Gladstar recommends taking 1 teaspoon. of fire cider a day during the winter to warm the body, boost the immune system, and enhance circulation.
- Take 2 tablespoons a day at the first sign of cold or flu, to help your body deal with it quickly.
Fire Cider Ingredients:
- 3 large heads of organic garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 2 medium organic onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 4-inch piece of organic horseradish, coarsely grated
- 1 4-inch piece of organic ginger, coarsely grated
- 1/2 teaspoon organic cayenne spice
- 2 tablespoon organic turmeric powder
- 2 tablespoon organic astragalus
- 3 cups of raw organic apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup of local raw honey (optional)
Method:
- Prepare all ingredients by cleaning and chopping.
- Layer these in a 1-quart mason jar.
- Fill the jar with vinegar until the ingredients are completely covered.
- Use a chopstick to release any trapped air. Cover with more vinegar if necessary, so that all vegetables are completely covered with vinegar.
- Let this mixture sit for 4 to 6 weeks, at room temperature. Shake daily or as often as you think of it.
After 4 to 6 weeks, strain the infused cider through a cheesecloth, being careful to squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the vegetables. Reserve the liquid and feed the merk to your chickens or add it to the compost pile.
To the strained, infused vinegar, add 1 cup of raw honey or to taste. This recipe is just as effective if you leave the honey out but it is quite a bit spicier. For those who do not enjoy the spice, add honey to taste.
Note: 1 1/3 cups of honey equals 1 pound of honey.
How to use Fire Cider:
Rosemary Gladstar recommends taking 1 teaspoon of fire cider a day during the winter to warm the body, boost the immune system, and enhance circulation. Take 2 tablespoons a day at the first sign of cold or flu, to help your body deal with it quickly.
Add Fire Cider to salad dressings, put a teaspoon in a bowl of soup, or just take it right off the spoon. I actually like the taste, without the honey. Honey soothes a sore throat and cough though, so if you have a sore throat consider adding the honey.
Other Cold Remedies from Joybilee Farm
Natural Cold and Flu Remedies to Beat the Winter Chill
Mullein for colds and flu
A Little Ginger Therapy for Colds and Flu
Learn more about using herbs for health and wellness from my Book
Homegrown Healing From Seed to Apothecary
My book Homegrown Healing From Seed to Apothecary will help you grow healing herbs in your own garden. Focusing on the easiest plants for beginners to grow, Homegrown Healing From Seed to Apothecary covers 30 plants, recommended by professional herbalists, that can be grown in the temperate zone. Initial garden preparation, garden design and harvesting tips lead the novice herbalist into early success. Choose which herbs to grow, learn how to use these herbs for your family’s health and wellness using the guidance in my book. You can find out more about this useful guide to growing more herbs and using them strategically here.
How long does the Fire Cider last? A season?
If you haven’t used it up and it’s kept refrigerated, it should be good for a longer than a year. If it doesn’t smell “off” it is fine. But most people use it up within a year. The vinegar keeps it from going bad.
Would this be safe for my pregnant wife? Maybe leave our the astragulus? Would shallots work instead of onions because that’s all we grew this year?
I’d leave out the astragalus, but the other herbs are cooking herbs. If she’s in early pregancy though, she might not be able to stomach it. But you can make this up and then use it as part of a salad dressing or as a condiment. Also you can use the herbs as cooking herbs individually and she would benefit from the immune boost. Ginger actually gets more potent when cooked in an oil, like coconut oil.
I didn’t read the recipe properly and I added the honey in with all the ingredients immediately. Is my fire cider ruined?
You should be ok. You’ll need to watch it for fermentation, as the extra honey may trigger the alcohol in the symbiotic bacteria in the vinegar to over grow. That won’t harm it but it may cause the pressure in the jar to increase. If you notice pressure building up in the jar, pop it in the fridge and loosen the cap. The alcohol won’t cause a problem in the medicine though.
I dehydrated the leftover vegetable matter from my fire cider and ground it. Now I use it to season eggs, potatoes and fish…so good!!
Great idea.