Dry kvass with horseradish root and honey. Preparation of an enzyme preparation, or malt

Kvass is not only the most famous and favorite drink of many Slavic peoples.

In the past, he did not know class restrictions and was used with equal pleasure by both the nobility and the common people.

About the benefits of an ancient drink

Much has been written about the benefits of this drink, it is not for nothing that our ancestors respected it so much, and even now good kvass, especially home cooking, appreciated.

• It contains lactic acids, live yeast, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, potassium and other substances that our body needs;
• Vitamin C contained in kvass is important for improving performance;
• This ancient drink has a beneficial effect on the activity of the digestive system and helps to absorb fatty foods;
• The high content of yeast in kvass gives it antibacterial properties;
• In ancient times, they were sure that he was able to increase male potency;
• Kvass has a good effect on nervous system because it contains vitamin B;
• This drink helps with hangovers and reduces cravings for alcohol due to the refreshing and sour taste and low alcohol content (about 1%);
• The calorie content of 100 grams of kvass is only 27 calories. This allows you to use it for weight loss.

However, in some cases, this drink is not worth drinking. For example, children and women who are expecting a baby, and also those who have high acidity. Kidney diseases are also a contraindication for excessive consumption of kvass.

Let's look into history

The history of kvass in Russia goes back over a thousand years. Even the ancient Romans knew how to prepare barley and fruit drinks using the sourdough method, but only the Slavic peoples learned how to make kvass from malt and rye flour.

In many ways, this fact is due to the fact that only the Slavs cultivated rye, which was considered a weed among more southern peoples.

Two centuries ago, there were more than 150 types of kvass in Russia, and even now every housewife who makes it at home has more than one unique recipe of her own. But the basis of this drink and the technology of its preparation are the same in all cases.

From what and how can kvass be made at home?

This ancient drink is very simple in composition, because in its preparation you can do with just three ingredients:

• Bread made from rye flour;
• water;
• Sugar or honey.

The fermentation process of the drink occurs due to the yeast contained in the grain. Moreover, there are more of them in germinated grain, therefore, in the past, to make kvass, malt was used - previously germinated, and then dried and roasted grains of barley or rye.

But now they get by with just rye bread. And the technological chain has not changed for hundreds of years and consists of four main stages:

1. Preparation of the starter, which is obtained after fermentation of malt or rye bread;
2. The process of fermenting sourdough diluted with water. Sugar and rye crackers are also added to the sourdough;
3. Filtration;
4. Fermentation (standing) of the drink.

Although now they make kvass without sourdough, but for the real, classic recipe she needs.

Without it, you will not get a good, sharp, foamy drink.

True, you only have to cook the sourdough once.

In the future, you can use the one that remains after the first serving of the drink.

For yeast-free sourdough you will need:

• 200-300 grams of rye bread;
• 1 liter of water;
• 100 grams of sugar.

Dry the rye crackers in the oven until brown. Pour warm boiled water over them in a glass, ceramic or enamel bowl and put sugar.

Then cover with gauze, as carbon dioxide released during fermentation will accumulate under the lid. In order for the starter to succeed, the container with it must stand warm for 2-3 days.

Its readiness can be determined by air bubbles accumulating on the surface. A whitish, cloudy film may also form on top. Do not worry, this is not mold, but yeast, you do not need to remove them.

Another delicious kvass is obtained from birch sap. You can learn about this drink and how to make it right now! Once cooked, you will always return to these recipes.

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Wort on malt

To make kvass traditional recipe, you will need sourdough on malt. For this you need:

• Soak and then germinate a grain of barley or wheat;
• Make malt, for which the germinated grain must be dried and roasted in the oven, and then crushed;
• Mix malt and sugar with water - you should get a mixture similar in density to sour cream;
• After 2-3 days in a warm place, the wort will be ready.

The must not only facilitates the preparation of kvass, but also gives it a special aroma and taste. Such a drink has a darker, brown color, in contrast to the light (white) - bread.

Delicious kvass: step by step cooking recipes

Khlebny

There are many different recipes this drink. Therefore, there is no exact recipe, adjusted to the gram.

Each hostess has her own, different from the others. Yes, and at home, bread kvass is often made "by eye".

For a five-liter pan you need:

• 0.5 liters of sourdough;
• 200-300 grams of dried or fried rye bread;
• Half a glass of granulated sugar.

Cooking:

Of course, you can drink kvass immediately after the spill. But having stood in the cold in a sealed container, the drink acquires a sharpness and the effect of bubbles tingling the tongue.

And the remaining sourdough can be poured again with water, add bread and make another serving.

Kvass prepared according to this recipe was called “white” in the old days because of its light yellow cloudy color. It differs from the one brewed with barley malt and has a darker, amber brown color.

Let's watch the video and you will clearly understand how to make bread kvass yourself:

Yeast (alcoholic)

There is 3-4% alcohol in any kvass, because it is a product of fermentation. But the strength of the drink can be increased, in the old days they knew how to cook drunken kvass, which were often stronger than beer.

The process of preparing alcoholic kvass does not differ from ordinary bread kvass. But there are differences in the composition.

1. It includes yeast. For 5 liters of water, 5 grams of dry yeast is enough;
2. More sugar is needed - 2-3 cups. Moreover, the strength of the drink will depend on its quantity. But here we must not overdo it. If there is too much sugar, then the water will turn into syrup and will not ferment at all.

It should be remembered that the strength of such a drink will never be higher than 11-12 degrees.

That's all! Kvass with a degree is ready!

You can get a little distracted and watch a video recipe for a drunken drink:

Beetroot

This is a special drink. It differs from the bread one in that it can be made without sourdough and even without bread, using only beets and water.

It's also easy to prepare:

1. Large beets, preferably maroon, cut into slices;
2. Three liter jar fill with chopped beets to half and pour boiled water into it;
3. You can add quite a bit of sugar (100 grams), but this is not necessary;
4. Leave for 5-6 days at room temperature.

Everything, beet kvass at home is ready, you can drink a delicious and very healthy drink.

The peculiarity of beet kvass is that as you drink it, you can add water to the jar until the drink completely loses its taste.

Sometimes, along with beets, a piece of dried rye bread is added to it. This speeds up the fermentation process and gives the beetroot drink a more familiar “leavened” taste.

2 more options for beet kvass can be seen in the video:

Oat

Like other varieties of kvass, this drink is easy to prepare.

For three liters of water you will need:

• An incomplete half-liter can of oats;
• 100 grams of sugar.

Boil water, cool a little and pour oats in a saucepan or a three-liter jar, add sugar and place the container in a dark place at room temperature for 3-4 days.

The first portion should be poured out, it is tasteless, and pour the swollen oats again and add the same amount of sugar. After 4–5 days, oat kvass prepared at home can be drunk. It should be remembered that the strength and acidity of the drink depends on the fermentation time, so kvass that has stood for a week will be sourer and stronger.

How to make oatmeal kvass at home on your own, see below:

Summing up

In order to make the taste of the drink more diverse, various additives are put into it during preparation: mint, currant leaves, horseradish, cloves.

Bread kvass can be prepared not with plain water, but with a decoction or decoction of berries and fruits. Blackcurrant kvass is especially good, as well as apple and pear kvass.

To make the drink ferment better and be sharper, raisins should be added to it.

Instead of sugar, you can put honey in kvass, this will give the drink an additional taste, aroma, and healing properties.

If you are impatient to try kvass, then a video has been prepared for you that shows the process of preparing this drink, which will be ready to drink in 6 hours. Time will fly by quickly!

O useful properties kvass is full of legends. Real kvass and metabolism in the human body, inhibits pathogenic microflora. This drink increases efficiency, it is used to prevent beriberi, since kvass contains many trace elements (magnesium, calcium, lactic acid and phosphorus), vitamins (groups B, E), amino acids.

Kvass for the treatment of the nervous system, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, as well as for improving mood due to the presence of amino acids, calcium, magnesium and B vitamins in the drink. weight, helps the secretion of gastric juice. Kvass with the addition of beets is endowed with a choleretic effect, it restores liver cells, and is used for arrhythmias.

The recipe for making real kvass

To make real homemade kvass, you will need the following ingredients:
- a loaf (500-700 grams);
- a handful of raisins;
- 60 grams of yeast;
- a glass of granulated sugar;
- 8 liters of purified water.

The yeast must be fresh, and the bread for the wort must be rye. It is recommended to store kvass in a cool place. The finished drink should be consumed in two to three days, with long-term storage it loses its taste, becomes sour.

Borodino rye bread cut into slices, put on a baking sheet or pan and put in a heated oven to dry. The darker the crackers turn out, the darker the kvass will be. Try not to burn the bread, otherwise the drink will taste bitter. Take a big enamel pan and pour 8 liters of pre-purified water into it, put on fire, boil. Send a glass of granulated sugar and fried crackers into the water, cool. As a result, the water should be slightly warm.

Scoop out the cooled water from the pan with a bowl, dissolve the yeast in it. Then pour back into the saucepan, stir with a wooden spoon to distribute the yeast evenly. Tie the pan on top with gauze or cloth and put it in a dark place for two days to ferment.

After the time has elapsed, strain the kvass through several layers of gauze, if desired, you can add a little more granulated sugar. Pour the sweetened and strained drink into three-liter jars, throw a small handful of raisins into each. Cover the jars with saucers and put in the refrigerator for a day.

Dishes for making kvass should be enameled or glass, an aluminum pan oxidizes, so you can’t cook wort in it.

Sediment should form at the bottom of the jar. Carefully pour kvass through a strainer into clean jars, try not to shake the sediment. Transfer the raisins back to the kvass. Real

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It's hot... Eh, now it would be kvass! Soon a yellow barrel with the bright name "Kvass" will appear on the streets of all cities. In the summer heat, this is the most popular traditional Russian drink. How to cook real Russian kvass watch and read on.

KVASS - recipes for real Russian kvass

Bread kvass recipe, simple

Ingredients:

• 1 box black bread ("Darnitsky", "Rural", "Ukrainian")
• 350 gr. Sahara
• 20 gr. fresh yeast
• 5-5.5 liters of hot boiled water

Cooking method:

1. Bread cut into cubes, place on a dry baking sheet and put in hot oven. Fry crackers until brown. Cool slightly and transfer the breadcrumbs to a bowl.
2. Pour crackers with three liters of boiling water. Close with a tight lid and leave to cool until room temperature.
3. Strain the cooled bread broth through several layers of gauze.
4. Rinse the gauze with the rest of the crackers with the remaining boiling water. Pour water into the pan, where the crackers were steamed and leave under the lid for an hour.
5. Strain the cooled water through cheesecloth. Combine both liquids. Important! The broth should be warm or even slightly hot.
6. Pour sugar into the liquid and dissolve the yeast in it.
7. Cover the pan with a towel and leave in a warm place overnight.
8. In the morning, pour kvass into bottles or jars with tight lids. Remove to refrigerator to cool.

Recipe Homemade kvass with a twist

Ingredients:

• 1 box black rye bread without spices
• 30 gr. fresh yeast
• 1 st. Sahara
• a handful of dark raisins

Cooking method:

1. Bread cut into cubes or sticks. Fry crackers in the oven until brown.
2. Fill a 3-liter jar halfway with breadcrumbs.
3. Boil 3 liters of water and fill the jar of breadcrumbs with boiling water for 2/3.
4. Leave the jar to cool at room temperature for several hours.
5. Dilute fresh yeast in a small amount of warm water with 2 tbsp. l. Sahara. Pour the yeast dough into a jar of warm water and crackers. Stir.
6. Put the jar of sourdough in a deep bowl or basin. Remove this design in a cool place for two days.
7. After the set time, drain the water from the sourdough, and divide the remaining thick into 2 parts.
8. Divide the starter into two clean 3-liter jars.
9. Add to each jar 3 tbsp. l. sugar, a handful of crackers and raisins.
10. Pour the sourdough with warm boiled water and leave in a warm place for a day. Put the finished kvass in the refrigerator.

Recipe Bread kvass №2

Ingredients:

• 1 box black bread
• 300 gr. Sahara
• 20 gr. fresh yeast
• 5 l hot water
• mint or currant leaves

Cooking method:

1. Cut the bread into cubes and fry in the oven until brown.
2. Put the crackers in a saucepan and pour three liters of boiling water.
3. Close the lid and refrigerate for several hours.
4. Strain the crackers along with water through cheesecloth into another saucepan.
5. Pour the remaining crackers with boiling water again. Cool down to 50-40 degrees. Strain and combine with the first serving.
6. Add sugar and yeast. Mix and cover with a towel.
7. Leave kvass in a warm place for 8-10 hours.
8. Then strain the kvass again into large jars, add mint or currants, close the lids.
9. Remove the kvass in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours to cool.

Homemade kvass recipe with lemon

Ingredients:

• 10 liters of warm boiled water
• 100 gr. fresh yeast
• 700 gr. Sahara
• lemon
• 3 art. l. chicory

Cooking method:

1. Skip the lemon through a meat grinder.
2. Wrap lemon porridge in a gauze bundle.
3. Boil water and cool until warm.
4. Dip a bunch of lemon into the water.
5. Add sugar, yeast and chicory to the water. Stir, squeeze a bag of lemon.
6. Pour kvass into plastic bottles, without adding 3-4 cm to the top, leaving room for gas.
7. Screw the bottles with caps and put in the refrigerator for two days.

Mint kvass recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 liters of boiling water
• 300 gr. mint
• 3 art. l. Sahara

Cooking method:

1. Put fresh mint with leaves and stems in a two-liter jar. Approximately 1/4 can.
2. Pour sugar and pour boiling water.
3. Cover the jar with a towel and leave in a warm place for three days.
4. Then remove the foam and strain through cheesecloth.
5. Remove kvass from the refrigerator.

Video recipe "Bread Kvass"

Cook with pleasure and be healthy!

Always your Alena Tereshina.

Russian kvass saved a lot of people
(Folk saying)

Game like champagne
and the gas went off and on... Nectar!
N.V. Gogol. Dead Souls

Kvass is the perfect drink.

The main task of drinks (from the word "nourish") is to quickly replace the spent forces and the nutrients that have gone. Traditional summer national drinks that are taken during physical work (in Russia - kvass, and in the East - salted curdled milk (airan) and green tea with milk and flour dressing), serve exactly this purpose: they quickly relieve thirst, fatigue and nervous tension. Each of these drinks contains a natural complex of quickly absorbed nutrients, vitamins, enzymes and mineral salts.

Modern drinks that imitate kvass are made from a set of chemically pure substances - water, carbon dioxide, dye, acidifier, sweetener and flavoring - do not give a real recuperation. The caffeine included in their composition and stimulants like it only spur the nervous system for a short time.

With the advent of the beer variety, live kvass was almost forgotten. But having tried overseas drinks, our people again begin to remember with a kind word about real Russian kvass. After all, this is a drink for everyone - old people and children, healthy and sick, drink it. It can be prepared from a wide variety of raw materials. And finally, perhaps only water is cheaper than kvass.

Kvass, like beer, is a fermented extract of fermented grain. But the taste and effect of these drinks are completely different: beer always relaxes the soul and body, and kvass invigorates. For hard work: mowing, plowing, harvesting, harvesting firewood - from time immemorial, Russian peasants tried to take with them not water or milk, but kvass, because they knew that it would relieve fatigue and restore strength. In tsarist Russia of the 19th century, the diet of every soldier recovering from a wound included the so-called "hospital" kvass with a daily norm of at least one and a half liters.

When making kvass, alcoholic fermentation is slowed down and most of the sugars have time to turn into lactic acid. This is facilitated by: the presence of lactic acid bacteria in the sourdough, incomplete fermentation and low fermentation temperature.

When making beer, every effort is made to ensure only alcoholic fermentation. To do this, achieve the most complete splitting of grain polysaccharides to monosaccharides, so that they quickly turn into alcohol; secondly, fermentation is carried out at elevated temperature with pure cultures of brewer's yeast and thirdly, a decoction of hop cones is added to the wort, which inhibits the growth of lactic acid bacteria.

By the way, beer lovers should remember that hops contain a lot of plant estrogens, so do not be surprised if the future beer obesity suddenly becomes female - with deposits also in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe mammary glands, hips and buttocks.

Buying kvass on the street, someone may have concerns that intestinal infections can spread through kvass. You don't have to worry - back in the 19th century, special studies showed that natural live kvass (without the addition of any antiseptics!) Has a pronounced bactericidal effect - it kills the causative agents of many infections, such as typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, cholera and anthrax. From time immemorial, despite the lack of sanitary control and archaic methods of preparing and storing kvass in wooden barrels, there have been no cases of infection through kvass. What can not be said about dairy products and drinking water ...
For those who want to provide their household with an excellent live drink without much difficulty for the whole summer, I reveal my know-how.

Technology and biochemistry

The technological scheme for making kvass has remained unchanged for centuries. It boils down to the following three main steps:

1. Obtaining an enzyme preparation (malt) and fermentation of kvass dough, or the so-called "mash" (from the word "mash"). Most often, this dough is then baked, turning it into kvass bread and crackers to produce dark, or “red” kvass.
If the baking stage is excluded, then the result will be the so-called “white” kvass, which has a peculiar taste - it is most suitable for summer okroshka.
2. Extraction of water-soluble substances - obtaining kvass "wort".
3. Fermentation of the wort.
All sorts of variations are allowed at each stage, but in any case, the drink will remain kvass with a characteristic sour "nutritious" taste and bready aroma.
The composition of this living drink is extremely complex. There are present:

Whole grain starting materials, including proteins, polysaccharides, minerals (calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, copper, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum) and B vitamins;
-Products of hydrolysis of reserve substances into oligopeptides, amino acids, oligo- and monosaccharides, etc.;
-Products of saccharoamine condensation of sugars with amino acids and peptides, which occurs when baking malt dough, or melanoidins.
- Products of lactic and alcoholic fermentation, enriching the drink with active enzymes, lactic acid, carbonic acid and others.

Each component of kvass deserves a separate discussion regarding its undoubted health benefits, but melanoidins should be mentioned separately.
In the process of roasting at temperatures above 40 degrees, malt amino acids react with sugars, forming a wide range of irregular polymers of various structures - melanoidins (from the Greek "melanos", which means "black"), which color the infusion in a dark color and give it a characteristic aroma of breadcrust. . Recently, these substances have attracted special attention, since it has been proven that melanoidins have antioxidant, radioprotective, carcinostatic, immunomodulatory, antiviral, anticoagulant, antimicrobial, antifungal, wound healing, vitamin and other beneficial effects. There is an assumption that the melanoidins of the World Ocean were a necessary condition for the evolution of the biosphere, since they protected cells from free radicals and heavy metal ions.

Since the mid-60s, it was possible to find in pharmacies an effective external remedy for the treatment of skin diseases "Mitroshin's liquid". It was a concentrate of melanoidins - a thick resinous dark brown liquid with the smell of burnt bread. Now a concentrate of melanoidins called "MIGI" is being produced, which has a therapeutic and prophylactic effect in a number of serious diseases and in 2002 was awarded the Gold Medal. II Mechnikov "For practical contribution to strengthening the health of the nation."
So, it was not in vain that a popular saying was born: “Russian kvass saved a lot of people” and it was officially included in the mandatory diet of patients in hospitals and infirmaries!

The most important thing is malt!

It is believed that getting kvass malt is a painstaking and long process. If everything is done the way it has been done from time immemorial, then the whole journey “from grain to mug” will take about two months. Therefore, for homemade kvass is most often offered to take ordinary rye crackers. But any connoisseur will say that there is a huge distance between real kvass and a drink made from breadcrumbs (even from Borodinsky bread, where there is a little rye malt). In addition, table salt, which passes into a drink from bread, completely spoils its taste. Yes, and not everyone is useful.

Nowadays, it is possible to radically simplify the process and quickly prepare excellent kvass in a city apartment, which is superior in quality to classic barrel kvass. Moreover, having the main semi-finished product - malt, it is easy to reproduce wonderful old recipes, for example, from the book by Elena Molokhovets “A Gift to Young Housewives”.

1. Preparation of an enzyme preparation, or malt.

Germination of seeds should be maximum, the activity of the enzyme preparation directly depends on this. If the germination rate is about 90%, then only one kilogram of live grain will be enough for us to prepare 50 - 100 liters of kvass. The minimum acceptable germination is 30%. To germinate the grain, we need a container with a lid for 3-5 liters, with a small hole in the bottom (an old leaky pan is suitable).

To begin with, we wash the grain to remove impurities, completely fill the grain with water and hold for 6-8 hours so that it swells, periodically changing the water. The swollen grain needs oxygen to germinate, so it is important not to overexpose it in water, otherwise it will "suffocate" and become unusable. The appearance of small gas bubbles in the form of foam on the surface of the water indicates the beginning of the active life of the embryos - the grain requires immediate access to oxygen!

We transfer the swollen grain to a pan with a hole in the bottom and rinse it thoroughly cold water under the shower to wash off the microflora and the remnants of seed germination inhibitors. At the same time, we drain the water to the last drop, since the embryos covered with water will inevitably die and mold will develop on them. We close the pan and leave to germinate at room temperature, periodically washing the seeds in the shower and draining the water. It is necessary to wash them at least four times a day, but it is especially important to do this at the end of germination - this accelerates growth, protects against the development of microflora and guarantees good quality malt.

	On the second day, tender roots appear. In order not to damage them, we irrigate carefully, trying not to stir up the seeds. Then the sprouts turn into vertically standing strong rods (coleoptiles), which, under natural conditions, overcome the resistance of the soil and come to the surface.
	Germination of seeds can be considered complete when the length of the coleoptiles reaches 2-4 centimeters, and the contents of the pan will noticeably increase in volume, turning into a kind of "washcloth" of intertwined roots. The smell of this mass should be pleasant, slightly sour (slightly reminiscent of fresh cucumbers). The whole process takes three to four days.

Traditional technology would have required the sprouted grain to be dried in a Russian oven "free spirit", ground and stored in this form until use. This path does not suit us, because. it is difficult to comply with the "stove" mode of drying in the apartment, and in addition, heating with dehydration leads to the destruction of enzymes. Therefore, instead of heat drying, we use freezing, which will preserve the main thing - the whole range of "live" enzymes.

We shift the sprouts from the pan into a plastic bag and put in the freezer. For the next step, fermentation, the malt must be finely ground. It is impossible to scroll through fresh seedlings in a meat grinder - a sticky mass is obtained that completely clogs the mesh. We use the cold here too: we crush well-frozen sprouts in a meat grinder without much difficulty. The resulting mass is laid out in plastic cups and returned to the freezer, where the malt can lie for months without losing its activity.

2. Receiving custard dough, or "congestion".

The task of this stage is to convert the starch and storage proteins of the grain into a dissolved, gelatinized form that is convenient for enzymes. And then there is the fermentation itself.
Now let's take a larger container, somewhere around 10 liters. Rye (wheat, barley, buckwheat - depending on the desired kvass recipe) flour in the amount of 1-2 kg is gradually mixed in small portions with 3-5 liters of boiling water to get a thick dough without lumps. The dough must be hot (barely tolerates a finger, or 60-70 degrees), so that the starch turns into a paste. The gelatinization temperature of rye starch is about 60 degrees, for wheat it is slightly higher - 65 degrees. If the dough is not hot enough, then it must be heated in a water bath or in microwave oven. As soon as the dough is ready, we put frozen malt into it in pieces, at the rate of 100-200 g of raw malt per 5-10 liters of dough. Mix thoroughly, cover with a lid, wrap with a blanket and leave for 2-4 hours for fermentation.

If for some reason there is no desire to knead hot dough, then simply cook a thick porridge-slurry from wheat (barley, corn, buckwheat, oatmeal) groats and add frozen malt to it (hot!) The result will be the same, but it will take longer to bake due to the fact that there is more water.

Kvass can be made even from potatoes, taking unsalted instead of flour dough mashed potatoes. You will get an excellent drink of mild taste.

After 2-4 hours, a liquid mass of a grayish hue with a characteristic malty smell and a sweet taste forms in the pan. The hydrolysis reaction does not go to the end, therefore, the mixture contains both the original nutrients and the products of the conversion of starch and proteins into various polysaccharides, oligo- and monosaccharides, proteins, oligopeptides and free amino acids.

Pour this mass onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven until a dark brown crust and a wonderful smell of freshly baked rye bread appear. Baking modes can be very different, but we must remember: the lighter the product turns out, the thicker and more cloudy the drink will be. If overcooked to blackness, then the blackened part, as experts say, "vitrifies", that is, it becomes insoluble. Therefore, it is necessary to bake slowly, it is best to start at 150 degrees, gradually lowering the temperature.

By the way, in the old days, sweet kvass croutons were a favorite and healthy treat peasant children.

3. Extraction and fermentation.

D.I.Mendeleev, a great supporter of the development of kvass, wrote that kvass should be prepared with boiled water. Indeed, raw water causes rapid alcoholic fermentation.

The standard ratio of dry raw materials and water for extraction is 1:10. Therefore, we take about 300 g of kvass crackers for a three-liter jar (2 times more fresh bread), pour boiling water over it and let it cool to room temperature. In order to save money, it is necessary to drain this infusion and re-fill the sediment with fresh boiling water, then combining both portions.

Then you need to add sourdough. In the factory, for this purpose, a mixture of special kvass strains of microorganisms is used. It is best to take them, that is, simply pour a glass of fresh live “barrel” kvass into a jar. At worst, you can put a traditional crust of rye bread, smeared with ordinary yeast.

Right now it's time to add natural flavors: mint leaves, oregano, currants, anise seeds, ginger and so on.

When a layer of small bubbles appears on the surface of the mixture (this indicates the beginning of yeast fermentation), kvass must be filtered first through a colander, and then through a fine sieve or cloth. The drink is already ready to drink, but to improve its taste and saturation with carbon dioxide, we do the following.

Add chilled sugar syrup, boiled in a small amount of water from 30-50 g of sugar and 2 g citric acid for every liter of finished drink. Sugar can be replaced with honey or jam.

We pour the drink into plastic bottles - "one and a half". For special sharpness, we will throw 2-3 raisins into each. Closing tightly, put the bottles in the refrigerator or other cold place where the temperature does not exceed 10 degrees. In this form, the drink should stand for 2-3 days to gain strength. Be careful when opening the bottle - it can act as a fire extinguisher, spraying you with foam.

For lovers of antiquity, I give a recipe for “hospital” kvass, gleaned from the encyclopedic dictionary of F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron.

“Take 4 poods of 10 pounds of rye malt, 4 poods of barley malt and 1.5 poods of rye flour, pour boiled water, mix to a dough and put in cast iron in a heated oven for 9 hours. Then pour into a large vat and bring the volume to 80 buckets. Infuse for 8 hours, drain from the sludge and pour into barrels. Separately, 5 pounds of mint is brewed for 7 hours in cast iron, the infusion is poured into a vat with 3/4 pound of yeast and 2 pounds of wheat flour. This mixture is poured equally into barrels. After 2-3 days, kvass is ready for use.

Kvasnik - this is what the Slavs called drunkards in the period from the 9th to the 14th century. The offensive nickname appeared thanks to alcoholic drink- kvass, which was made at that time. Of course, you are surprised, but it was once an intoxicating drink. It was served at weddings and various festivities.

Kvass appeared in Russia more than 1,000 years ago. But there is evidence that the Eastern Slavs knew the secrets of its preparation long before the advent of Kievan Rus. Be that as it may, the traditions remain in force. Few people today prepare kvass at home, because this drink can always be bought. But the question arises: do we really buy kvass? The label says yes, but doubts creep in every now and then. Let's figure it out together.

Carbonated drink

The natural fermentation process takes a very long time. It is for this reason that many manufacturers sell kvass under the label. In pursuit of enrichment, they forget that you buy kvass not only to quench your thirst.

During the fermentation of kvass, lactic acid bacteria are released, which make the drink useful. Kvass from concentrates does not undergo fermentation. During the production of such kvass, the powder from natural ingredients is diluted with water. And acetic or lactic acid replaces lactic acid bacteria. The final product irritates the walls of the stomach and leads to gastritis. But we can teach you how to choose a quality product.

How to distinguish real kvass from a fake

Draft kvass

In the summer, in big cities, they often sell kvass for bottling. If the outlet meets the sanitary and technical requirements, then this is quite acceptable.

If you buy several bottles of such kvass, and consume within 3 days from the date of purchase, no more.

Real kvass is very useful

And these are not empty words. Depending on the recipe and starter, real kvass contains from 0.7 to 2.6% alcohol. Therefore, allowing children under 3 years of age to drink this drink is undesirable.

Kvass not only quenches thirst, but also has a positive effect on the body.

• beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system
• enriches the body with vitamins E and B1, as well as enzymes
• increases appetite
• prevents the development of harmful microorganisms
• raises the tone

Did you pay enough attention to such nuances when you bought kvass before? Whatever the answer, now is your chance to fix it. Even if you don’t know how or don’t have time to cook kvass in the summer, go through the store shelves in search of real kvass. It will only take time the first time. Running for