Cooking kvass - recipes for home use

At least, more than a thousand years ago the Slavs were able to cook kvass. For the first time it is mentioned in the letters that refer to 989. Then Poles and Lithuanians could cook it. And kvass was not a drink that people of one class used. He was drunk by landowners and peasants, monks and soldiers. Kvass was drunk after hard work, as it was believed that it helps to remove fatigue and restore strength. It was also believed that this miraculous drink helps with all diseases and some harmful microorganisms perish in it.

And already in the 15th century there were at least 500 varieties of this drink in Russia. But even now the cooking of kvass has not lost its relevance. Today, people use at least 150 recipes of berry, fruit, honey and bread kvass. They use rye bread rusks, berries and fruits, honey, juices, cereals and rhubarb. And as additives to it go yeast, raisins, sugar or other products.

And now about how to cook kvass at home. To do this, you need to learn a simple technical process. It consists of two stages. The first stage is the preparation of wort, and the second stage - its fermentation. Kvasnoe must in its essence is an aqueous extract of fruit, bread or other raw materials. And for its fermentation baker's yeast is used.

And in order to wort began to wander, it must be poured into a bowl (a large pot or something like that), cover it with a lid and put it in a warm place. Once it is thrown out, the kvass should be filtered and cooled, and then poured into bottles. For these purposes bottles from under champagne or plastic bottles in which non-alcoholic drinks are sold will approach. And that further cooking of kvass passed without excesses (shots and explosions of containers), these bottles should be tightened as tightly as possible with stoppers and bandaged with twine or wire. Then they need to be put in a cool place, so that the kvass will do good to the end.

These are only general rules, which must be adhered to to make kvass. The recipe for preparation of wort can vary greatly. Take at least apple kvass, it is also called cider. It will require such components: 8-12 kg of apples, cinnamon - 3 tsp, 1 kg of sugar, 1 kg of honey and 6-8 liters of water.

Apples should be cut into pieces and folded into a clean sack of linen. This bag should be tied and put in an enamel tank, and on top of the apples lies a wooden circle with a load. Then boiled water is poured into the tank, in which sugar and honey are dissolved. The tank is covered with a clean cloth and placed in a cool cellar for fermentation. This process lasts about 4-5 weeks. At the end of this period, when the cider is fermented, it should be poured into clean dishes and left to be stored in the same cellar.

Then the preparation of kvass begins in a new way. This same mash should be poured again with boiling water, which also dissolves honey and sugar, and also leave it to wander. And after the same period we again get ready kvass. In the same way, this process is repeated for the third time. Then all three plums of kvass should be mixed and left in this cellar, where he will throw out finally. It will take 6 to 9 months. After this, the cider can already be poured into bottles, corked and held for another month in the cellar. After all these procedures you will get a good apple kvass.

As you can see from the above recipe, in order to prepare real apple kvass, it takes a lot of time. But there are recipes when a good drink turns out much faster. For example, cooking kvass home takes no more than four days. It will require such components: 500 g rye breadcrumbs, 4 liters of water, 200 grams of sugar, 50 grams of raisins, 4 currant leaves and up to 10 shoots of mint.

To make biscuits, you need to take rye bread and dry it in the oven. It should turn dark brown. Then these rusks are poured with boiling water and put in a warm place for 3-4 hours. Then this semi-finished wort is filtered through gauze, which is folded into several layers. Yeast is dissolved in a glass of water and also added to this wort. Also there must be thrown currants, mint and sugar. Then the dishes are covered with a cloth and put for 10-12 hours in heat. During this time the wort will have time to brew well. And when it completely ferments, it should be filtered again and poured into bottles. In each of these bottles lies a few highlights, they are well corked and placed in a cool place. A day after three you get a ready-made homemade kvass.