Greetings, our dear readers. Today we will learn how to make homemade kvass - a miracle drink from ancient times. Many people think that it is difficult to cook it. But after reading our recipes, you will find out that it is quite simple. Some recipes are generally quick to make and will let you quench your thirst quickly.
I didn’t delve into history much, but I know where the Russian expression “sour” came from. We associate it with drinking - alcohol. The fact is that kvass used to be an alcoholic drink. And yes, you can do it now. It turned out to be a kind of analogue of beer. More precisely, beer is an analogue of kvass, more precisely.
Well, over time it was made non-alcoholic, and thus it became much more useful. Its best advantage is that it perfectly removes thirst. All these sweet carbonated drinks, on the contrary, make you want to drink, drink and drink more. But there is no kvass - especially when it is cool.
And yet, they make okroshka on it in the summer - another favorite summer dish and another topic for our blog.
Kvass at home can be different: on kvass wort, on rye bread, honey, fruit, berry ...
The fastest and easiest way to make kvass is with ready-made wort. It usually consists of sugar, rye malt, yeast and ground crackers. It is desirable that there are no preservatives in the composition of kvass concentrate.
Recipe for homemade kvass for a 3-liter jar.
I offer you a simple, urban version of making kvass in a three-liter jar. The process will not take much time - in just a day you will already have a refreshing, sparkling, cool drink.
Save the sourdough starter from the first batch so you don't need yeast for the next batch. Bread kvass at home recipe is designed for a 3 liter jar.
Ingredients:
- Borodino bread - 5 slices;
- Raisins - 1 handful;
- Sugar - 3 tablespoons;
- Dry yeast - 0.5 teaspoon;
- Purified water - 3 liters.
Cut Borodino or other rye bread into small pieces, cubes or rectangles.
Dry the bread in the oven until it burns slightly - this will give the kvass a beautiful color and flavor. After toasting, pour the crackers into a jar or pan.
Add sugar and washed raisins to the jar. Raisins give kvass sharpness.
Boiled, but cooled down to 70 ° C (approximately) with water, pour crackers. Leave the future kvass to infuse for a couple of hours in a warm place.
In a separate bowl, dissolve dry yeast with sugar in half a glass of warm water. When the yeast "comes to life", they can be added to the jar and mixed.
Cover the jar with gauze to protect the drink from dust or insects, put it in a very warm place, maybe on a windowsill in the sun. Let kvass ferment for about 1 day, but not less than 12 hours.
Then strain the kvass through two layers of gauze, pour into bottles and cork well. Place in the refrigerator to ripen for another day or less. To give even more sharpness, two or three more raisins can be thrown into the bottles.
For a new portion of kvass, you can use all the ingredients described above, or you can select part of the sourdough (fermented bread) and do not add yeast to the new portion, but otherwise follow the recipe.
Such kvass quenches thirst very well and is very tasty to eat in okroshka. Bon Appetit.
Kvass from rye bread without yeast.
Homemade kvass is famous not only for its invigorating taste, but also for the proud name of one of the national dishes. It also has healing and beneficial properties for the body. It, especially at home, can be drunk even by children. It is very easy to prepare it at home.
On a yeast-free basis, it is made from bread wort. You can buy it in the store, or you can make it yourself. For cooking, we need such Ingredients:
- Black bread - 2 crusts;
- Sugar - 1 teaspoon (with a slide);
- Water - 2 cups (warm)
Bread pre-cut into small cubes and dry in the oven. You should get crispy ruddy crackers.
Pour them into a small jar (0.5-1 liter), add sugar and pour water. Stir with a spoon, cover with a lid and put in a warm corner.
The mixture will ferment in a day or two. The finished sourdough has a sour smell and a cloudy appearance.
We prepare a 3-liter jar and pour all the resulting sourdough into it. You can sprinkle a couple more croutons of crackers and add sugar. Adjust the amount of sand yourself - someone likes it sweeter, but someone does not like it.
Add boiled warm water and cover with a lid. We clean in a warm and dark place. After a day, the liquid will “play”, a typical smell will appear.
Then we pour the resulting volume into plastic bottles, adding a small handful of raisins to each.
Screw on the lid well. Soon the bottles will start to harden. It started fermenting. This means that kvass will be ready very soon. As soon as this happens, put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
After cooling, you can safely drink and enjoy.
Homemade kvass with mint and currant leaves.
This kvass has been made for a very long time, even by our grandparents. The taste of mint and currant perfectly quenches thirst in the sultry heat.
We will need:
- Water - 2.5 l;
- Rye crackers - 200 g;
- Sugar - 100 g;
- Raisins - 30 g;
- Yeast - 20 g;
- Mint - 10 g;
- Blackcurrant leaves - 8 pcs.
Dissolve the yeast in a glass of warm water. Pour rye crackers with boiling water and leave for 3 hours.
Strain the wort obtained in this way through cheesecloth folded in several layers, pour sugar into it, pour in yeast, add mint and blackcurrant leaves. Infuse for 10-12 hours, covering with a clean napkin.
When your wort is sour, strain it, bottle it, putting a few raisins in each of them, cork and put it in a cool place. After three days you can enjoy delicious kvass.
Recipe for kvass on sourdough and rye flour.
I never thought, but it turns out that you can cook kvass on rye flour. Nothing difficult, try it, very tasty.
Ingredients:
- Rye flour - 450 g;
- Sugar - 180 g;
- Dry yeast - a pack;
- Water - 3 liters (a little less);
- Raisins - 10-12 pieces (not washed).
Of course, we will prepare the starter first.
To do this, combine a glass of flour and 1 teaspoon with the top of sugar. Pour boiling water over all this, stirring, until the mass acquires the consistency of sour cream. We will also send raisins there. We send the mixture to a warm place, after covering it with a towel.
As soon as the mixture begins to “move”, foam and emit a sour smell, it is ready. It takes less than a day.
Now you can move on to the next step. To the resulting mass, add the remaining flour, sugar, yeast and pour in water. We mix everything thoroughly. Cover with a towel and leave warm overnight.
In the morning, pour the kvass into bottles or jugs and put it in the refrigerator. After a couple of hours, the cold drink is ready to drink.
It's so fast and easy!
Homemade kvass according to my grandmother's recipe.
This drink has been prepared for a very, very long time. It is noteworthy that it is prepared without yeast. However, the taste is amazing. Although an amateur who does not like beets, he may not like the taste. But we advise everyone to try, at least once. After all, not only tasty, but also useful.
We will need:
- Fresh beets - 500 g;
- Rye bread - 50 g (crust);
- Sugar - 1 tablespoon;
- Water - 3 liters.
Wash the beets, peel and cut into small pieces. We put them in a three-liter jar and fill it with water so that about 5 centimeters remain to the neck. Add sliced bread and sugar there.
Mix thoroughly and cover with cheesecloth. It is better not to use ordinary lids, as during the fermentation process they will swell and interfere with this action.
We clean the jar in a warm dark corner for 5 days. Every day, several times you need to remove the foam that will form on the surface.
As soon as the process of foam formation comes to naught, kvass must be poured into bottles and put in a cold place to cool.
If you plan to use it as a drink, then you can add more sugar. For soups, it will be great if you add a little chopped garlic to it.
Homemade kvass (video recipe), bonus.
Well, as a bonus, we decided to show another good recipe. It is easier for someone to perceive information in video format.
Well, that's all for us, leave your comments below, join us on Odnoklassniki and support us on our channel in Yandex.Zen.
Kvass is a unique drink inherited from our ancestors. It is not only tasty, but also useful. And it quenches thirst very well, unlike sweet soda, in which there are a lot of obscure ingredients. Cooking kvass at home is not so difficult, but your health will not suffer. Bon appetit and bye bye everyone.
Homemade kvass - 5 simple recipes for making bread kvass. updated: May 31, 2018 by: Subbotin Pavel
Today, scientists confirm that bread kvass regulates the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. It prevents the reproduction of harmful microorganisms, raises the general tone of the body, strengthens the cardiovascular system.
This is all because bread kvass contains many useful substances: lactic acid, vitamins, free amino acids, various trace elements and enzymes.
Bread kvass is used in many recipes of national Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian cuisines. And they poured it on hot stones in the Russian steam room, and in winter they poured ice kvass over it.
There are many varieties of bread kvass: sour or sweet, with mint, with other seasonings and spices, for example, with horseradish, special kvass, with the addition of various fruit and berry ingredients - pears, black currants.
The procedure for preparing real bread kvass is quite laborious. First, grain (rye or barley) is soaked, germinated, steamed, dried, ground, and wort is prepared from it. It is filled with water, wanders for several days, insists. The whole process takes at least a week. It is much easier to make bread kvass at home from a commercially available concentrate. And it’s even easier to buy ready-made kvass, from a barrel or already bottled.
How to make homemade kvass
Doctors believe that in its effect on the body, kvass is similar to kefir, curdled milk, koumiss and other products of lactic acid fermentation. Already two centuries ago, doctors knew that kvass improves digestion and "expels" microbes.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the industrial production of kvass was established, scientifically proving the medicinal, dietary and preventive properties of kvass. Today it is easy to buy ready-made kvass, an extract of this drink or kvass wort.
It is not worth talking about the method of preparing kvass from semi-finished products - it is indicated on the packaging. However, the most healing kvass is homemade and the most common is bread kvass.
How to choose kvass
In the heat, one of the most popular thirst quenchers is kvass. This traditional Slavic drink almost disappeared in the 90s and at the beginning of the new 21st millennium. Domestic producers of kvass have given up their positions in front of sodas of various colors and names. The huge wheeled barrels from which this drink was sold on tap have disappeared from the urban landscape. Now the situation is better, but not everything that is called kvass is such.
How to choose this Slavic national drink without running into a fake, we will be helped by the candidate of medical sciences Alexander Telegin.
The other day I almost “got caught” choosing kvass in the store. Most of the drinks on the shelves were already known to me. An unfamiliar bottle with a bright orange label and the inscription: “Monastyrsky Kvass” caught my eye. I began to habitually study its composition: “Purified water, carbon dioxide (wow, how much carbon dioxide was pumped here, I thought), citric acid (why add it, because kvass has its own acids), fermented rye malt (this is the first real kvass component, but it should be closer to the top of the list), kvass concentrate food additive, aspartame sweetener” (come on, this is a kvass drink - soda!).
Turning the bottle over, I saw something that I did not notice right away. To the very large printed word “KVAS”, the meaningless phrase “noy drink” was added in two lines, small and unobtrusive. I'm sure many were deceived just like me.
I still bought this “Kvass drink” ... for the collection. On the way home, my wife and daughter sipped it a little. Here is the tasting report. After such a “thirst quencher”, my wife and I were thirsty all the way and dreamed of rinsing our mouth with something: the sweetener left a long sticky and unpleasant aftertaste. And the 5-year-old daughter, immediately pulling the neck of the bottle away from her mouth, pointedly said: “Like kvass.”
Surprisingly, but a few years ago, almost everything that was sold with us as kvass was such rubbish. Today everything is different.
Fermentation is the head of everything
Why do I hate this drink so much? Kvass is not soda, but a product of a unique fermentation - double: lactic acid and alcohol. As a result of the first, lactic acid is formed, which gives it sourness and freshness, and during alcoholic fermentation, alcohol and carbon dioxide are obtained.
And if you look at all modern bottled kvass, you will always find information on the label that they are made by fermentation. Surprisingly, despite the fact that this information is not necessary to be indicated (after all, kvass is a fermentation product by definition), it is not only indicated, but also emphasized.
Often this is indicated not only in large print, but also emphasized with the help of various emblems and other tricks. For example, sometimes they write: “Kvass of live fermentation”, “Real live fermentation” or simply “Live fermentation”. All this is “butter oil”, fermentation cannot be dead, this process is always alive - killed bacteria and fungi do not cause it. Allowing such exaggerations in one, manufacturers may not be entirely correct in other important details.
Unconventional technology
For example, when they swear by tradition. Inscriptions like “traditional Russian kvass”, or that kvass is made according to “traditional recipes”, or on the basis of “age-old traditions of Slavic kvass” should also be treated with irony. And that's why. Fermentation fermentation strife. Traditional Russian kvass is a product of double fermentation, which we just wrote about. But in 2005, another kvass appeared - non-traditional. It can be done with only one type of fermentation - alcohol ... like beer, mash, wine. Imagine the irony: kvass is a non-alcoholic carbonated drink that is made by alcoholic fermentation. Don't believe?
Here is the official definition of a drink from the current GOST R 52409-2005 “Products of non-alcoholic and low-alcohol production. Terms and definitions”, adopted 5 years ago: “Kvass is a national non-alcoholic drink with a volume fraction of ethyl alcohol of not more than 1.2%, made as a result of incomplete 1) alcohol or 2) alcohol and lactic acid fermentation of wort”.
You can distinguish traditional Russian kvass from those made according to new traditions by the composition on the label. Acids are added to drinks of the latter type (they are highlighted in bold in the composition).
It’s just that double fermentation is a very capricious thing, they need to be steered in order to keep the proportion: so that there is not enough lactic acid, which gives sourness and freshness to kvass, and not much alcohol. But it turns out that the technology can be simplified. Why bother with lactic acid fermentation when the acid can be added later?
And now there are a lot of kvass, on the label of which food acids are indicated - lactic, citric or acetic. In traditional Russian kvass with double fermentation, they are formed naturally, and in new, non-traditional kvass they are added in the same way as in soda - as acidifiers.
Be careful with GOST!
It is believed that if there is a mention of any GOST on the label, then the product is what you need. In the case of kvass, everything is more complicated. For example, we came across a drink on which GOST 28188-89 was indicated. In fact, kvass today is made according to a different GOST - R53094-2008 “Kvass. General technical conditions”. But that GOST was called “Non-Alcoholic Drinks”, and along with kvass and other fermented drinks, it described juice-containing drinks, drinks on spicy-aromatic vegetable raw materials, flavorings and a bunch of other “sodas”. So, instead of kvass in a bottle with GOST 28188-89, there was just the same “Monastic Kvass Drink” on the label.
Grain to grain
Kvass is made from almost anything... that contains carbohydrates, including berries and fruits. Of course, the most popular kvass is bread or grain. Most often, flour and malt from rye and barley are used for it, but kvass can be made from almost any flour or cereal, even from bread and crackers.
But why does typical kvass contain not these components, but kvass wort concentrate? What it is? This thick, viscous liquid, usually dark brown in color, is occasionally sold for home-made kvass. It has a sweet and sour taste and aroma of rye bread, which is transferred to kvass.
The wort is obtained from rye or barley malt with the addition of flour from the same and other grain crops. All these components are crushed, mixed, poured with water, boiled, filtered, evaporated - as a result, the wort is obtained. In fact, these are the first stages of kvass production, then yeast is added to the wort, it ferments, and a traditional drink is obtained.
Most modern producers make kvass from ready-made wort, which, in turn, is made for them by other producers.
Sugar, or rather sugar, is almost always added to kvass: this is ordinary table sugar or sand, and fructose, glucose, dextrose, maltose, and so on, including honey.
But sometimes strange sweets are found in the composition of the drink. Here, for example, in the composition of one kvass, a sweet food mixture with the Marmix 25 trademark is indicated. It is 80% fructose, and the rest are sweeteners: acesulfame potassium, sodium cyclamate, sodium saccharinate. Of course, such a drink can officially be called kvass, and it fermented, but I would prefer something more traditional.
Live kvass or with preservatives?
This is one of the main questions in relation to kvass. The drink that was sold in the Soviet years from barrels for bottling was alive, but it had to be consumed within two days. The remains of kvass wort continued to live (ferment), and the drink quickly deteriorated.
Today kvass is made by anyone. But since the term “living” is not regulated by law, it is abused. For example, on a very popular kvass, I came across the following information: “filtered kvass: dehydrated, pasteurized”, and also: “live, tonic”. There are a lot of obvious contradictions here.
Firstly, translated into ordinary language, “pasteurized” is about the same as “dead”: pasteurization is heating during which microorganisms die. But such kvass are still useful, and most of them are on sale.
Secondly, kvass, which is subjected to cold sterilization, is called “depleted” – it is passed through special filters that trap bacteria and yeast. They are, of course, livelier than pasteurized, but still this term does not apply to them.
Thirdly, pasteurized kvass can no longer be considered safe, because it was heated to a fairly high temperature.
But in principle, there are kvass, which can be unofficially called alive, today. These are unfiltered and unclarified drinks that are stored for no more than 5 days. For comparison: pasteurized kvass is stored for at least 6 months, and unsecured kvass - from 10 to 30 days.
Need to know about kvass
If you want live kvass, look at its expiration date! This is not a filtered drink, which is stored for no more than 5 days.
There are several other important characteristics of kvass that must be indicated on the label:
Filtered kvass - this means that the drink is clarified by filtration (but this is a different treatment than deporization).
Unfiltered clarified kvass is not clarified by mechanical filtration, but is processed with special clarifying materials.
Kvass unfiltered unclarified - was neither filtered nor clarified with the help of special materials; may be cloudy and with sediment. But this kvass is closest to the living ones.
BARREL KVASS - this inscription is not regulated by law and does not mean anything significant.
OKROSHCHNY KVASS - kvass for okroshka should be more sour and less sweet (the content of carbohydrates in it should be less than in drinking), but, in fact, this inscription is also not regulated by law and therefore can be used arbitrarily.
How to make kvass at home from malt
Nothing will quench your thirst in the summer heat like kvass. However, the producers of this drink, despite following the recipe, fail to make it as tasty as at home. Making kvass at home from malt is easy. The only thing left to do is to find your favorite proven recipe.
An old Russian drink - kvass Russia is rightfully considered the birthplace of kvass. In ancient chronicles, information has been preserved that in Kievan Rus, a bread drink was consumed always and everywhere - both princes and ordinary people. Already in those days, there were several dozen options for making homemade kvass. Many recipes have been preserved and have come down to our days. On Russian soil, it has long been believed that kvass on the table is a symbol of well-being in the house.
The fact that kvass in Russia has always been held in high esteem is also evidenced by the existence of such a profession as kvass. He was a specialist in the preparation of a refreshing drink of various types: bread, fruit, berry, okroshka, milk. Real kvass has a pleasant, slightly sharp, refreshing taste, and thanks to the content of lactic and acetic acids, it perfectly quenches thirst.
What is kvass made from?
Kvass is formed as a result of the unfinished process of fermentation of bread wort. That is why this drink contains ethyl alcohol in the amount of 1.2 percent. Due to its alcohol content, kvass is classified as a historical traditional beer in Russia. This invigorating drink is made only from natural ingredients.
Kvass is prepared at home from malt, rye or barley bread and additives (raisins, dried apricots). And nothing else is needed. But such a composition occurs only in kvass prepared at home. Store-bought products, in addition to the required ingredients, contain sweeteners, flavors, and carbon dioxide. It will not bring benefits to the body, but it can cause considerable harm.
cooking
The almost forgotten taste of real rustic kvass will take you to the atmosphere of old Russia, where the hut and soul were warmed by the aroma of a real elixir of the inexhaustible vital energy of a Russian person.
Russian village kvass is a gastronomic jewel of the culinary traditions of the Slavs, reminiscent of the roots and the importance of preserving the knowledge of ancestors about these unique drinks. In the old days, there were hundreds of types of kvass: honey, herbal, berry, vegetable. All these recipes have been passed down from generation to generation until some time. After all, real kvass is an inexhaustible source of benefits, unique taste and many recipes of authentic cuisine. It was white kvass that was considered the king of all Russian drinks and feasts. Thick, satisfying, invigorating, with a refreshing tart taste and sourness, it was great for drinking and eating.
Centuries-old experience has shown that such kvass in the daily diet contributes to maintaining health and increases efficiency. When performing heavy work - mowing, plowing, logging - the Russian peasant took with him as a drink not milk or fruit drinks, but kvass, it was he who saturated, relieved fatigue and restored strength.
Some delicious history
The history of Russian kvass is unique; volumes imbued with the life wisdom of ancestors, amazing recipes and healing properties of this unique Slavic drink can be devoted to this interesting topic. In the old days, kvass was an indispensable product in the daily diet of peasants and kings, because the drink did not know the estates. If we talk about authentic kvass, then we will talk about a white fermented drink - the most valuable in terms of taste and benefits.
The theme of the revival of everything Russian has become more relevant than ever. If a couple of decades ago we were striving for everything Western, now a new trend for originality is the fashion for the healing properties of a proper diet. However, white kvass has actually disappeared from the tables of modern Russian people. During the period of popularity of carbonated drinks, we have become unaccustomed to the taste of real village kvass. If you were born and raised in Russia, and your grandmother lived in a village where you enjoyed coming for holidays from year to year, then you probably know how important our ancestors attached such a unique taste, composition and useful properties to a drink like kvass! Each housewife had her own recipe for village kvass, its recipe was not disclosed to outsiders, but was passed down from generation to generation.
Taking care of the well-being of consumers, the Ochakovo company recreates the national drinking tradition - it produces village white kvass Semeyny Sekret. Its recipe was brought from an ethnographic expedition to Russian villages and revived by the technologists of the plant using modern equipment. It is this kind of kvass that corresponds to the cooking traditions known in Russia from time immemorial.
"Family Secret" - a unique collection of double-fermented kvass
Kvass "Family Secret" has no analogues on the market. This original product is a real home-made country kvass recreated in industrial conditions. It is very satisfying, has a pronounced sour-salty taste. It was they who poured okroshka before. This kvass is not filtered, so malt sediment is possible. This is practically a farmer's eco-product, and therefore the shelf life is only 60 days. It is made from wheat malt and whole rye grain, unfiltered, live kvass of double fermentation (lactic acid and yeast).
The secret of double fermentation
Today, most producers prefer to make kvass using a simplified single yeast fermentation technology. However, only one that is prepared using the technology of double fermentation - yeast and lactic acid, as this drink was made in Russia, should be considered real Russian kvass. It was produced in the same way in the USSR. Double fermentation uses yeast and lactic acid bacteria. This is the only way to get real traditional kvass.
Antioxidant properties of kvass
Kvass is rich in natural antioxidants that prevent the accumulation of free radicals, thereby reducing the risk of atherosclerosis, heart attack, stroke, diabetes and cancer, as well as premature aging.
Grain raw materials - malt and whole grains - enrich Ochakovo's kvass with substances that have an antioxidant effect, which puts them out of competition among other drinks.
Germinated wheat (malt) is a powerful immune stimulant and antioxidant that removes toxins. Whole grain rye contains a large amount of vitamin E. One of the main functions of vitamin E is as an antioxidant.
The line of white kvass "Family Secret" contains 0.1 mg/l of vitamin E.
German scientists have found that a bread drink helps to strengthen the immune system, recover from colds, increase the body's efficiency, reduce hunger, and even help to lose weight. And Germany learned about kvass thanks to German prisoners of war during the Second World War, who personally experienced the beneficial effects of Russian village kvass. According to the stories of captured Germans, this drink worked wonders.
Continuing to study the topic of kvass (it turned out to be not so easy to make it - at one fine moment it turned sour, ceased to be "sparkling", and for some time it was not possible to fix it back), we found interesting information.
There was a feeling of bad spoiled kvass, before it became more like something alcoholic, with a degree, and sour - this is felt in the taste, it is not kvass at all. We decided to study how kvass fermentation differs from the preparation of mash for further distillation into alcohols.
There were a lot of interesting things here. I present it here in the article.
Celtic kvass - in an earthenware jug - under a fern with embroidery.
With a variety of methods for preparing bread kvass, the essence of the chemical changes occurring in this case in general is as follows. A mixture of flour and malt with water, the so-called mash, is aged for a long time at a moderately high oven temperature, as a result of which the starch contained in flour or bread, under the influence of the unorganized diastase enzyme, which is found in malt, is converted at this time into sugar and dextrin.
We already noticed this when we studied coffee roasting - at a certain temperature, starches turn into glucose, and other interesting transformations occur. We are now preparing porridge in this way: put the soaked grain in earthenware, and send it to the oven at 200-210 degrees (for half an hour), then you need to leave it to sweat in a cooling oven or under a blanket - this is how green buckwheat is done (it turns brown and awesome fragrant), naked oats, rye, anything.
So what
When the dough is subsequently diluted with water in vats and after the addition of yeast, the resulting sugar and other soluble parts of flour and malt are fermented under the influence of mainly two types of organized enzymes: alcohol-fermentative fungus and lactic acid fermentation bacilli, which results in formation of alcohol and lactic acid.
Because mash does not boil, the wort is kept at a low temperature for a long time and the cooling is slow, then this gives all the conditions for souring the wort, that is for the development of lactic acid fermentation; despite the addition of yeast (at home we change them to sourdough), alcoholic fermentation in the wort occurs only to a weak degree, since the alcoholic fermentation fungus does not withstand the above conditions for preparing the wort, under which lactic acid fermentation is predominant and goes so vigorously that it prevents strong development alcoholic fermentation.
According to a recognized expert in the field of beer and soft drinks based on bread, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ya. Sviridyuk, this is precisely what distinguishes kvass from beer - the starting materials are the same for both, nose cooking method is different: when making beer, everything is aimed at prevent acid fermentation, for which the mash is heated to a higher temperature and cooled as quickly as possible, so that alcoholic fermentation in the beer is predominant, When preparing kvass, the exact opposite happens..
Braga and kvass
The main thing in the process of obtaining mash (for subsequent distillation into alcohols - we study to understand what is needed for mash - this is definitely not needed for kvass) is the fermentation temperature. It should not be less than 18 C and not more than 24 C. If a sharp cooling occurs at the beginning of fermentation, the process may stop completely, although not all the sugar has yet fermented. At low temperatures, yeast cannot work. You need to raise the temperature to the required one and the yeast will be able to finish its job. The only thing to do is to "start the yeast" by stirring. High temperatures are more dangerous than low temperatures. At high temperatures, the vital activity of the yeast can slow down so much that it will be very difficult or impossible to start the fermentation process. If the temperature has risen more than required and the fermentation process can no longer be revived, then you need to remove the wort from the yeast with a rubber tube, add new yeast and place the container with the mash in a room where the air temperature will not exceed 20 C.
Noticed that we got good kvass in the first about 2 weeks, when the temperature was above 25-26 degrees. It can be assumed that kvass fermentation is a fast fermentation, and the temperature is needed above 24 degrees. Then kvass (provided that we make it on the sourdough from the previous kvass) is prepared quickly, in a day, and it is "sparkling". If it is colder - apparently 24 degrees - a critical mark -.
In addition to the substances mentioned, lactic acid and alcohol, other by-products arise during fermentation, such as carbon dioxide, acetic acid, formic acid, etc., then mannitol, dextrin, acid esters with alcohol, etc. substances, giving kvass its peculiar taste.
After pouring kvass into barrels and bottles fermentation does not stop.
The formation of lactic acid occurs most vigorously during the first 4-5 days, and then acetic acid fermentation occurs; subsequently, the more the percentage of lactic acid in kvass increases, the slower lactic fermentation occurs and acetic acid fermentation comes to the fore.
The higher the room temperature of kvass barrels, the faster the development of acetic acid.
When preparing kvass, of course, hygiene standards must be observed: barrels and vats must be thoroughly steamed, - otherwise, along with the formation of lactic acid, butyric fermentation occurs, and such kvass, when consumed, produces and enhances the development of butyric acid in the intestines and can cause serious digestive disorders
. That is why, basically, in kvass recipes, we pour bread with boiled water, cooled to 60-70 degrees.
Rationally prepared and carefully preserved kvass can remain unchanged for 2-3 months.
With careless storage in kvass, decomposition processes soon begin; acetic fermentation comes to the fore, and then kvass acquires an unpleasant sour taste.
Sometimes kvass acquires the properties to stretch into threads, which depends on the formation of a special gum substance; often kvass is covered with mold fungi. In such kvass, Dr. Georgievsky found a fatty acid of the highest order, reminiscent of caproic acid in smell.
And a bit of their history of kvass in Russia
The profession of “fermenter” was very common in Russia. Kvass makers usually specialized in certain varieties of kvass and were often called barley, pear, apple, etc. Kvass makers came up with a lot of varieties of kvass: sweet, sour, mint, with raisins, with horseradish, thick, kvass-shchi, daily, fragrant, white, fine, fragrant, with millet, with pepper…
Until the 12th century, kvass in Russia was stronger and thicker than modern beer. Kvass was considered an alcoholic drink, and the word for “drunkard” in the language of that time was “kvass”. From the 12th century, kvass began to be distinguished as a sour, low-alcohol drink and kvass as a highly intoxicating drink. Intoxicating kvass began to be called “created”, that is, cooked, and not arbitrarily soured, like ordinary kvass.
Until the middle of the 20th century, there were many varieties of yeast-free kvass (and, accordingly, absolutely non-alcoholic), safe for consumption by both adults and children. Apparently, there are a lot of subtleties of cooking here, we will gradually study further. Good kvass is the same drink that replaces almost EVERYTHING: no jams or pickles are needed, only bread and kvass. :-) Therefore, learning how to cook good tasty kvass is a very important task.
Many synthetic surrogates of kvass (the so-called "kvass drinks") are also commercially produced now. As a rule, they consist of soda (solution of carbon dioxide), sweeteners, flavoring - imitating the taste of kvass, and are sold in plastic bottles. In general, such drinks have nothing to do with kvass.
Now it becomes more or less clear why kvass is not always obtained.
Conclusions for today:
To prepare kvass, it is better to boil the water, let it cool down so that you can barely hold your finger, and pour the mass with this water (flour + bread, malt, croutons, plus honey and raisins - that is). Let's add a starter.
A beautiful Celtic sourdough.
Next is a jar (preferably opaque - apparently light is not needed (earlier kvass was made in wooden tubs) - we put together a plywood box for it - we cover it with linen cloth (fermenter) and put it in warm place. Above 24 degrees.
The first young kvass can be prepared for 2-3 days, then (when there is a lot of kvass thick and it is ripe) it should be prepared in a day. We drain the kvass, take it to the basement, partially drain the wort so that it is constantly renewed, add, plus honey, a new portion of fresh bread, flour, boiled chilled water - and again into the heat.
The most difficult thing is to provide the right temperature when it is around 20 degrees outside - the house is no longer heated, and this temperature is not enough for kvass fermentation. It was not for nothing that they used to heat the oven for kvass, put dishes there, and the temperature gradually dropped. So when it's cool - dishes with kvass, apparently, need to be placed over the stove when cooking, or over a small heater, so that it is warm enough.
The same is with bread (already written somewhere on the site) - it fits well, as we found out, in a "greenhouse" (we cover the dishes with a box), when it stands above the heater - there the temperature is about 43-38 degrees.
Tomorrow I will do this:
I boil water, cool it down to 60-70 degrees, pour in the wort (adding honey), put the jar in a drawer and cover with a cloth, and under a blanket - so that the temperature drops very slowly. And I'll see what happens.
I clarify: add the starter only when the temperature of the wort has dropped to the optimum (about 25 gr.), Otherwise, almost all microorganisms will die. And vice versa, if you have a delicious sourdough, then all the ingredients: water, flour, malt; - d.b. pre-heat treated to kill unwanted competitors. And the notorious raisins (in fig it is needed in kvass - to give the taste of kvass a shade of dried fruit compote?), May not add a certain proportion of wild yeast to the cultured ones from your sourdough, but it may well give pathogenic microflora - this is determined by an unpleasant odor during fermentation ...
I googled a lot of sites, made several unsuccessful attempts - finally everything is described in detail and logically. Well done. I'll be back with comments on the result
:-) Thank you. And the results - yes, interesting!
Yes, the site is great.
I would like to comment on the phrase: Until the middle of the 20th century, there were many varieties of yeast-free kvass (and, accordingly, absolutely non-alcoholic), safe for consumption by both adults and children.
Non-alcoholic? I do not agree. Yeast is an invention of the 20th century, but this does not mean that everything before them was yeast-free. Yes, people baked bread, made kvass and much more on sourdough. What is included in the starter? Lactic acid bacteria and... Yeast! The only difference is that modern yeasts are culturally bred, sourdough yeasts are called wild, because it is impossible to predict in advance how they will behave.
How else? Surely someone would have thought that only lactic acid bacteria raise bread, give kvass a pleasant carbonation?
If there are those who doubt my words, look at what KMKZ is - concentrated lactic acid sourdough. There is practically no yeast in it, it gives the dough taste, but, alas, it cannot raise it at all, and therefore yeast is always added to the dough with it. Sergey writes very accessible about this in LiveJournal:
Now about the use by adults and children. Undoubtedly, kvass is a very useful product containing a lot of nutrients for our body, however, any kvass (cooked with breadcrumbs, sourdough - which is the same thing in the end - or with the help of yeast) has degrees, which causes it to be banned for drivers. We draw conclusions - and for children under 3 years old, because even though the content of degrees is low, it is undesirable for kids. It should also be borne in mind that kvass is a carbonated drink (whatever one may say), therefore it, as well as harmful sodas, should not be given to children in order to avoid disruption of the gastrointestinal tract (colic known to all mothers) \u003d)
Carbon dioxide is also useful for the body, so do not confuse it with harmful sodas.
excellent, I was just looking for an answer on the topic of the optimal temperature for kvass fermentation, because in the summer it turned out easy, now when the temperature has dropped kvass is not very good, I would like to clarify from the author whether the quality of kvass on rye sourdough changes greatly if the fermentation temperature is 15 degrees instead of 24-26 degrees, or only the fermentation time increases and the quality of kvass does not deteriorate?
If the fermentation temperature is insufficient, normal fermentation may not work at all, of course, the difference is not only in time, but also in quality.
How to increase the resistance of kvass up to 7 days.
Rationally prepared and carefully preserved kvass can generally remain unchanged for 2-3 months.
I make yeast-free beetroot kvass (mine, cut off the top and tail, do not peel, cut into small pieces, fill with water for 2-3 days) and yeast-free banana kvass (one banana per one and a half liter jar, peel, cut the pulp into thin slices and fill with water not until the end, 2-3 days and kvass is ready!). Only bananas need to be taken ripe, soft, with a yellow skin.
We also made beetroot kvass in the summer, very tasty, one of our favorites! Haven't tried bananas yet.
Fight butyric acid bacteria by boiling, and even more so by cooling the water to 60 degrees. C is meaningless: "The spores formed by butyric acid bacteria are very resistant to adverse effects, withstand boiling for several minutes and die only with prolonged sterilization."
At pH<4, 5 маслянокислые погибают, а ржаная закваска аккурат рН=3-4.
In addition, butyric - strict anaerobes, that is, they live in an oxygen-free environment, that is, they cannot live in kvass by definition.
Very interesting comment, but a lot of contradictions
I cook kvass in a three-liter jar on toasted crackers and rye sourdough
Constant proportions of sugar crackers to a dark color of sourdough and kvass is very different in quality
and the golden rule in making kvass is to guess with sourness, which I read on the internet and with which I agree with a hundred pounds
when you read that kvass needs to be insisted for a day or two, this is complete nonsense, it can be banal even after 12 hours on rye sourdough, and even in four hours at a temperature of 22 degrees, one can only imagine what will happen to it at a temperature of 26 degrees and two days of fermentation,
the question of why it is necessary to infuse croutons at a temperature of 70 degrees, and not pour boiling water or boil for 10 minutes
Home goods, books
Home mills, seeds
Farm products - a list of where to buy.
About home mills for making flour at home, grain crushers for muesli and where you can order them. Also dehydrators-dryers.
Seeds of flowers, vegetables and fruits, trees and shrubs, mushroom mycelium!
Homemade kvass. Kvass recipes. Bread kvass. Choosing kvass
Bread kvass has been one of the most beloved drinks since the times of Ancient Russia. Kvass was brewed everywhere - in monasteries, in landowners' houses, and in peasant huts. Previously, peasants never went out to work in the field without taking kvass with them. Even then, people noticed that kvass promotes health and increases efficiency. Today, scientists recommend kvass to all athletes to relieve fatigue, increase muscle volume, and increase efficiency.
How to make homemade kvass
Today it is easy to buy ready-made kvass, an extract of this drink or kvass wort. However, the most healing kvass is homemade and the most common is bread kvass.
Young rye kvass
Cut rye bread into slices and dry in the oven so that they are lightly browned. Pour boiling water over crackers, close and leave for 3-4 hours. Strain the resulting infusion, which is called wort, put yeast, granulated sugar, mint diluted in warm water, cover with a napkin and let it ferment for 10-12 hours.
After the appearance of foam, strain again and bottle into bottles, putting five washed raisins in each half-liter bottle. Close the bottles tightly with corks soaked in boiling water and hold for 2-3 hours at room temperature, and then put in a cold place. In three days, young kvass will be ready. For 500-700 g of rye crackers, you will need 4-5 liters of water, 10-15 g of yeast, 100-150 g of granulated sugar, 10 g of mint, 25 g of raisins.
Petrovsky kvass
It is prepared in the same way as mentioned above, but instead of mint, put in kvass 100-150 g of grated horseradish and 100 g of honey, which replaces half of the sugar. He perfectly fights chronic diseases of the nasopharynx.
Kvass from calamus roots
Add calamus infusion to bread kvass prepared in the usual way in the proportion of one glass of root infusion per 3 liters of kvass. Such kvass sharpens vision and hearing, strengthens the gums, calms nervous excitement and lowers blood pressure.
Kvass with hops
50 g of hop cones are added to 3 liters of finished kvass and infused for at least 5 hours. It is used in dietary nutrition for gastritis and in cosmetology to strengthen hair as masks.
Kvass with mint
Dip a gauze bag with mint into the prepared kvass - 20 g per 3 liters of drink and add 2 tablespoons of honey. Mint kvass calms the nervous system and provides a healthy sound sleep. Kvass was also made from fruits, berries, oats, wheat crackers and other products.
Kvass with lemon
With regular use, lemon kvass is a wonderful tool for improving metabolism. Such kvass is good for rheumatism, acne in adolescence, obesity, and also lowers blood cholesterol levels. Pour 250 g of dry black bread with 4 liters of boiling water and leave for several hours. Then strain, add 200-250 g of sugar, 5 g of dissolved yeast and the juice of one lemon. Leave this mixture for a day, then pour into bottles and place in a dark, cool place for 3 days. You can add some raisins or ground hazelnuts to kvass.
Lemon honey kvass
Favorite drink of Russian emperors. Pour the juice squeezed from one lemon into 1.5 liters of boiled water at room temperature. Add 4 tablespoons of honey, 6 teaspoons of sugar, stir, cover with gauze and let it brew for a day. After that, strain kvass through triple gauze and pour into bottles, adding 4-5 raisins to each. Close bottles tightly. Put in a cold place for aging and ripening for one to two weeks.
Berry kvass
Recipe from the archive of the cook Nicholas II. Berries: black currants, raspberries, blackberries, lingonberries or blueberries - rinse, mash and place in an enamel bowl. Pour warm sugar syrup at the rate of: for 4 liters of water - 1 kg of berries and 500-600 g of sugar. Stir the resulting mixture thoroughly, cover with gauze, keep for a day at room temperature. After that, strain twice and bottle with a few raisins. Keep in a cold place for 1-2 weeks.
Apple kvass
Cut the apples, pour them with water, bring to a boil and leave for 2-3 hours. Then strain, add yeast, sugar and citric acid diluted in warm water and leave for 3-4 days for fermentation. For 1 kg of apples - 500 g of granulated sugar, 50 g of yeast, 3 g of citric acid and 5 liters of water.
homemade kvass recipe
Rye bread - 800 g, cut into small slices, dry in the oven to the state of crackers, put in a large saucepan and pour boiling water - 4-7 l. Close the lid and leave for 3-4 hours; stir from time to time. Strain the resulting wort through gauze, cool to 25–30 ° C, add sugar, for which 1–2 cups; pre-diluted in parts of water and boil for 30 minutes, and yeast sourdough (5–10 g of yeast mixed with 3/4 cup of warm boiled water, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tbsp flour and leave for 1–2 hours in a warm place). Leave at room temperature for fermentation for 12 hours, do not close tightly. Pour into bottles, without topping up to the very top. Cork the bottles well and put in the refrigerator for maturation. You can try in a couple of days. Keep in mind that homemade kvass should be drunk fresh - after about five days it will lose a significant part of its taste.
Start experimenting at the stage of introducing sugar and yeast. Add mint, cumin or cinnamon, raisins and lemon, as in Poland and Lithuania, or blackcurrant leaves, as in the Russian North. If you put honey and grated horseradish, you get kvass, known as "Petrovsky". It would be good to brew mint and blackcurrant leaves in advance and stand for five hours. (
Kvass is also prepared from wheat bread - it will have a lighter shade and a less pronounced aroma. Instead of sugar, honey or jam, or fruits and berries are often added to this kvass, and the aroma is "improved" with the help of herbs, vanillin or cinnamon.
Berry kvass, which in the old days were not recognized by people of the upper class, are very popular today. From the fruits of strawberries, lingonberries, rose hips or mountain ash, cherries, cranberries, currants, apples and pears, something like a fruit drink is prepared. Pour boiling water, leave for several hours, strain. Add sugar, citric acid or honey, and then add leavened yeast or sourdough. Further - according to the recipe described above. Effervescence and frothiness, the essential qualities of good kvass, are guaranteed.
General rules
Kvass is prepared on cooled boiled water. It is recommended to store kvass in a cold place. Chilled kvass tastes better.
Ready kvass should be consumed in 2-3 days. With longer storage, it loses its taste and becomes sour.
Champagne bottles with dense and reliable polyethylene stoppers are the most convenient for making kvass.
The utensils in which the wort is infused should be glass or enameled; kvass cannot be cooked in aluminum utensils, as it oxidizes.
For the preparation of berry kvass, only ripe selected intact berries are used.
The benefits of kvass
Bread kvass regulates the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. It prevents the reproduction of harmful microorganisms, raises the general tone of the body, strengthens the cardiovascular system. This is all because bread kvass contains many useful substances - lactic acid, vitamins, free amino acids, various trace elements and enzymes.
Doctors believe that in its effect on the body, kvass is similar to kefir, curdled milk, koumiss and other products of lactic acid fermentation.
Sour kvass should not be abused for chronic ulcers and gastritis, high acidity, colitis, gout and liver diseases. To reduce the acidity of kvass, add honey to taste.
How to choose kvass
Not everything that “pretends” to be kvass is far from being it. Kvass is not a soda, but a product of a unique fermentation - double: lactic acid and alcohol. As a result of the first, lactic acid is formed, which gives it sourness and freshness, and during alcoholic fermentation, alcohol and carbon dioxide are obtained.
And if you look at all modern bottled kvass, you will always find information on the label that they are made by fermentation. Surprisingly: despite the fact that this information is not required to be indicated (after all, kvass is a fermentation product by definition), it is not only indicated, but also protruded. Often this is indicated not only in large print, but also emphasized with the help of various emblems and other tricks. For example, sometimes they write: “Kvass of live fermentation”, “Real live fermentation” or simply “Live fermentation”. All this is “butter oil”, fermentation cannot be dead, this process is always alive - killed bacteria and fungi do not cause it. Allowing such exaggerations in one, manufacturers may not be entirely correct in other important details.
Manufacturers often swear by tradition. Inscriptions such as “traditional Russian kvass”, or that kvass is made according to “traditional recipes”, or on the basis of “age-old traditions of Russian kvass” should also be treated with irony. And that's why. Fermentation fermentation strife. Traditional Russian kvass is a product of double fermentation, which we just wrote about. But in 2005, another kvass appeared - non-traditional. It can be done with only one type of fermentation - alcohol like beer, mash, wine. Imagine the irony: kvass is a non-alcoholic carbonated drink that is made by alcoholic fermentation. Don't believe?
Here is the official definition of a drink from the current GOST R 52409-2005 “Products of non-alcoholic and low-alcohol production. Terms and Definitions". “Kvass is a national non-alcoholic drink with an ethanol content of not more than 1.2% by volume, made as a result of incomplete 1) alcoholic or 2) alcoholic and lactic acid fermentation of the wort.”
You can distinguish traditional Russian kvass from those made according to new traditions by the composition on the label. Acids are added to drinks of the latter type (they are highlighted in bold in the composition).
Just double fermentation is a very capricious thing, they need to be steered in order to keep the proportion: so that there is not enough lactic acid, which gives sourness and freshness to kvass, and not much alcohol. But it turns out that the technology can be simplified. Why bother with lactic acid fermentation when the acid can be added later? And now there are many kvass, on the label of which food acids are indicated - lactic, citric or acetic. In traditional Russian kvass with double fermentation, they are formed naturally, and in new, non-traditional kvass they are added in the same way as in soda - as acidifiers.
It is believed that if there is a mention of any GOST on the label, then the product is what you need. Kvass today is made in accordance with GOST - R53094-2008 “Kvass. General technical conditions”.
Kvass is made from almost anything that contains carbohydrates, including berries and fruits. Of course, the most popular kvass is bread or grain. Most often, flour and malt from rye and barley are used for it, but kvass can be made from almost any flour or cereal, even from bread and crackers.
But why does typical kvass contain not these components, but kvass wort concentrate? What it is? This thick, viscous liquid, usually dark brown in color, is occasionally sold for home-made kvass. It has a sweet and sour taste and aroma of rye bread, which is transferred to kvass. The wort is obtained from rye or barley malt with the addition of flour from the same and other grain crops. All these components are crushed, mixed, poured with water, boiled, filtered, evaporated - as a result, the wort is obtained. In fact, these are the first stages of kvass production, then yeast is added to the wort, it ferments, and a traditional drink is obtained.
Most modern producers make kvass from ready-made wort, which, in turn, is made for them by other producers.
Sugar, or rather sugar, is almost always added to kvass: this is ordinary table sugar or sand, and fructose, glucose, dextrose, maltose, and so on, including honey.
But sometimes strange sweets are found in the composition of the drink. Here, for example, in the composition of one kvass, a sweet food mixture with the Marmix 25 trademark is indicated. It is 80% fructose, and the rest are sweeteners: acesulfame potassium, sodium cyclamate, sodium saccharinate. Of course, such a drink can officially be called kvass, and it fermented, but it is better to give preference to something more traditional.
Live or dead kvass
This is one of the main questions in relation to kvass. The drink that was sold in the Soviet years from barrels for bottling was alive, but it had to be consumed within two days. The remains of kvass wort continued to live (ferment), and the drink quickly deteriorated.
Today kvass is made by anyone. But since the term “living” is not regulated by law, it is abused. For example, on a very popular kvass, I came across the following information: “filtered kvass: dehydrated, pasteurized”, and also: “live, tonic”. There are a lot of obvious contradictions here.
Firstly, translated into ordinary language, “pasteurized” is about the same as “dead”: pasteurization is heating during which microorganisms die. But such kvass are still useful, and most of them are on sale.
Secondly, kvass is called “depleted”, which is subjected to cold sterilization - it is passed through special filters that trap bacteria and yeast. They are, of course, livelier than pasteurized, but still this term does not apply to them.
Thirdly, pasteurized kvass can no longer be considered safe, because it was heated to a fairly high temperature.
But in principle, there are kvass, which can be unofficially called alive, today. These are unfiltered and unclarified drinks that are stored for no more than 5 days. For comparison: pasteurized kvass is stored for at least 6 months, and unsecured - from 10 to 30 days.
It is important
If you want live kvass, look at its expiration date! This is an unfiltered drink that is stored for no more than 5 days.
There are several other important characteristics of kvass that must be indicated on the label:
Kvass filtered - this means that the drink is clarified by filtration (but this is a different treatment than decoldization).
Unfiltered clarified kvass - clarified not by mechanical filtration, but treated with special clarifying materials.
Unfiltered unclarified kvass - was neither filtered nor clarified with the help of special materials; may be cloudy and with sediment. But this kvass is closest to the living ones.
BARREL KVASS - this inscription is not regulated by law and does not mean anything significant.
OKROSHCHNY KVASS - kvass for okroshka should be more sour and less sweet (the content of carbohydrates in it should be less than in drinking), but, in fact, this inscription is also not regulated by law and therefore can be used arbitrarily.
In 1975, at an international competition in Yugoslavia, drinks were evaluated according to ten parameters, and kvass received exactly twice as many points as Coca-Cola. And no wonder: we will not undertake to argue that it is tastier, but there are incomparably more benefits in it. It is believed that it acts on the stomach like kefir, curdled milk or koumiss: it calms the digestive processes, destroys harmful microbes, improves metabolism and strengthens the cardiovascular system. It is unlikely that Coca-Cola can boast that it contains lactic acid, trace elements and amino acids, some of which are recognized as essential.
