Kvass at home is prepared only from natural products. Such a drink is not only useful, but also perfectly quenches thirst. In addition, homemade kvass can be drunk even by those who monitor their weight, because it does not contain components that stimulate appetite.
Homemade kvass - basic principles of cooking
Classic kvass is made from rye bread, or with the addition of crackers of black bread. In addition, fermentation or yeast is used to make the drink. To make the drink fragrant and diversify the taste, many housewives add raisins, fresh berries, mint, juice of lemon and ripe apples, herbs and honey.
If you are preparing kvass using concentrate, then when choosing it, pay attention to its composition. Do not use the product with dyes, preservatives, etc.
Do not cook kvass in tap water. Use filtered, bottled, spring or boiled for cooking. Only in this case, the drink will not have any foreign taste or smell.
The container for making kvass should be glass or enameled. Aluminum or plastic will not work.
Yeast is best taken fresh. If you were unable to buy them, you can use dry ones.
The bread should be rye or black. Great "Borodino" or black bread with caraway seeds. Rusks are made from it. For this, a loaf is cut into slices of medium thickness, and then chopped into small pieces. Bread is spread on a baking sheet and sent to dry in the oven. It should be remembered that the color of the drink depends on the degree of roasting bread.
To get a tasty drink, it is very important to observe the correct temperature regime during preparation. Kvass is kept warm to begin the fermentation process.
In the room where the dishes with kvass will stand, there should not be without drafts. The finished drink is placed in the refrigerator. The shelf life of homemade kvass is no more than two days. Then the drink loses its beneficial properties.
Sourdough is prepared using yeast or malt. The latter can be prepared independently. For this, grains of rye, barley, oats or wheat are taken. Rinse them thoroughly in warm water. Then the grains are placed in a clay container or an oak barrel. Cereals are poured with barely warm water so that it covers them. Leave until the seeds germinate. Water is changed daily so that it does not bloom. As soon as the sprouts reach two centimeters, the grains are removed from the dishes and dried in a warm place. Then crushed in a coffee grinder. The finished powder is poured into fabric bags and stored in a cool place.
Ready malt is poured with hot water and left for three hours. Then granulated sugar is added. Yeast is dissolved in warm water and this mixture is introduced into the leaven. All mix well. After a day, the drink will be ready. Kvass is drained, and the remaining yeast is used to prepare a new portion of the drink. Take about half of the old sourdough, add toasted bread and sugar. Add raisins and fill everything with water.
To make kvass wort, pour two cups of rye flour into a glass liter container. Two spoons of sugar are added to this and mixed. Gradually add warm water, and mix until a dough turns into pancakes. Ten raisins are added to it and the sourdough is placed in heat, covered with a cloth. After about three days, the leaven will be ready. Be sure to remove the raisins from it.
Homemade kvass is filtered through cheesecloth and bottled in glass bottles. Store in the refrigerator.
Recipe 1. Homemade Kvass: A Step-by-Step Recipe for Yeast Cooking
Ingredients
brown bread - 300 g;
cane granulated sugar - 70 g;
spring or bottled water - three liters;
35 g fresh or 25 g dry yeast.
Cooking method
1. Take half a loaf of brown bread. Put it on a cutting board and cut into slices of medium thickness. Then cut them into oblong pieces. Now make bread crumbs. This can be done in the oven or in a pan. In the first case, put the pieces of bread in one layer on a baking sheet and place in a preheated oven. Dry until light brown. In the second case, put the bread in a dry pan and fry, stirring constantly. Cool ready crackers.
2. Take a glass liter jar, wash it thoroughly and wipe dry. Put the crackers in a jar, filling it halfway. Pour boiling water over everything. Crackers will soak and increase in volume, so fill the jar with this fact in mind. Leave on for five minutes. As a result, you should get a slurry of bread, the consistency of thick sour cream.
3. Pour sugar into the resulting slurry and mix everything until it is completely dissolved. Take a piece of cheesecloth, fold it in three layers and cover a bowl of bread. Leave the container to cool at room temperature.
4. Add fresh or dry yeast to the slightly warm mixture. Mix well, cover with gauze and leave to roam. After two days, the leaven will be ready. Now it can be used to make kvass.
5. Take a three-liter glass jar. Wash and dry it thoroughly. Put three or four handfuls of rosy crackers on the bottom.
6. Make pure syrup from pure water and sugar. To do this, dissolve granulated sugar in hot water. Pour rusks with warm syrup, filling the jar about ¾ of the volume. Fill the rest of the container with leaven. Cover the jar with a thick cloth and leave it in a dark, warm place. After three days, strain the drink through cheesecloth. Pour it into glass bottles, seal tightly with lids and refrigerate. You can use thickener to prepare the next portion of the drink.
Recipe 2. Homemade kvass: a step-by-step recipe for making a yeast-free drink
Ingredients
wheat-rye or rye bread;
raisins - 25 g;
bottled or spring water;
cane sugar - 75 g.
Cooking method
1. Put half a loaf of bread on a cutting board, and cut it into slices that are not too thin. Put the bread on a baking sheet and place in a preheated oven. Make sure that the crackers are not burnt, otherwise the drink will turn out to be bitter.
2. Thoroughly wash and dry the three-liter jar. Put ready crackers in it and pour them with two liters of boiling water. To prevent the jar from breaking, place a knife blade under it.
3. Make sugar syrup by dissolving it in a small amount of water. Pour the syrup into a jar and mix. Cover with gauze, folding it several times, and leave to cool to a warm state.
4. Add raisins to the slightly warm mixture. Never rinse it. Unwashed raisins will significantly speed up the fermentation process. Cover the bottle with a thick cloth and put it in a warm, darkened place. The duration of fermentation can be from eight hours to a day. It all depends on the quality of water, raisins and bread. The first signs of fermentation are the appearance on the surface of the foam, sour aroma or hiss.
5. After three days from the start of fermentation, strain the drink through five-layer cheesecloth.
6. If you want a carbonated drink, pour it into plastic bottles, leaving a little space, and leave it warm for another five hours. When the bottles become “hard”, refrigerate them so that the fermentation process stops and the taste stabilizes.
Recipe 3. Homemade kvass with honey and horseradish: a step by step recipe
Ingredients
filtered or bottled water - four liters;
fresh yeast - 25 g;
rye crackers - 800 g;
natural honey - 100 g;
raisins - 50 g;
granulated sugar - half a kilogram;
horseradish - 100 g.
Cooking method
1. We begin the preparation of kvass with the preparation of crackers. Cut the rye bread into small pieces on a cutting board. We spread them on a dry baking sheet and send it to the oven, which must first be turned on 200 degrees. Rusks should be browned, but not burnt, so that the drink does not turn out to be bitter. We take the crackers out of the oven and cool.
2. The glass containers are thoroughly washed and dried. Put the finished rye crackers in a dry glass bowl. Boil water in a teapot and pour crackers with boiling water. We cover the container with gauze and leave for three hours until completely cooled.
3. Filter the ready-made kvass wort. Add yeast to the resulting liquid, mix and leave it to warm for five to six hours. Cover the neck of the container with a thin cloth or gauze.
4. We clean horseradish, wash and cut into small pieces. After the allotted time, add horseradish and honey to the liquid. Mix the contents of the container well and infuse the drink warm for another couple of hours.
5. I wash and dry glass bottles. Kvass is filtered and poured on a clean glass container. We add a few highlights to each. Close the lids tightly and send to the refrigerator.
Homemade Kvass - Tips and Tricks
- To prepare kvass, take only bottled, filtered or spring water.
- Cook crackers without spices and butter.
- Do not use purchased crackers with different flavors for kvass.
- Do not wash raisins. Yeast fungi are preserved on its surface, which significantly accelerate the fermentation process.
- Do not cook kvass in aluminum dishes.
