Cooking homemade kvass using different ingredients
The favorite drink of both adults and children in the warm season is kvass, but with the onset of cold weather it becomes more difficult to find it even in stores. So why not make homemade kvass with your own hands and enjoy a healthy drink all year round?
The benefits and harms of homemade kvass
The benefits of the drink are proven: it contains lactic acid bacteria, vitamins C, B, PP, E, as well as macronutrients and amino acids.
During the fermentation process of homemade kvass, elements are produced in it that have a beneficial effect on human health:
- digestion is normalized;
- microbes and harmful bacteria multiply less;
- the cardiovascular system is strengthened;
- the level of bad cholesterol is reduced;
- teeth, nails, hair are strengthened due to the increased calcium content in the kvass.
Doctors have already identified several groups of people for whom kvass is especially useful:
- owners of weak immunity;
- tired people who are regularly exposed to stress;
- diabetics;
- patients with problems with the pancreas, bronchitis or pneumonia;
- losing weight, because kvass contains a minimum of calories.
Of course, a bread drink cannot be called harmless. With frequent use in large quantities, problems will arise. Care should be taken to drink kvass for cancer patients, owners of ulcers or other stomach diseases. Pregnant girls and drivers behind the wheel should also not drink homemade kvass. Albeit in a small dose, but it still contains alcohol.
What homemade kvass is made from
Just buying kvass in a store, you can hardly get a quality product with a natural, safe composition. There are usually both flavored sweeteners and preservatives. What are they needed for? Store-bought kvass is prepared not by fermentation, but simply by mixing the necessary components. Artificial ingredients are needed to give the mixture the “right” taste and aroma, and to extend the shelf life.
There are many recipes for making kvass at home. Malt and flour are traditionally used to make kvass. Barley and rye malt are used. 
More original recipes include dry rye bread. Old guides on making kvass have come down to us. There, in the process of fermentation, honey and various herbs are added to kvass.
According to some recipes, it is not malt that is initially taken as a basis, but vegetables, fruits or berries:
- currant;
- cherry;
- beet;
- pear;
- cranberry;
- cherry;
- lemon.
Natural berry and fruit sweeteners can be added to a regular bread drink in the form of a jam. Or use it as a base - then the kvass will not have the characteristic aroma of a rye loaf.
Sourdough and drink recipes
Any preparation begins with a leaven. It is either yeast-added or yeast-free. The latter takes longer to prepare, but does not have a characteristic sharp aroma. During fermentation, honey is added to the sourdough, raisins to taste.
Homemade yeast starter for kvass turns out to be good if you follow the recipe:
- Dilute 100 g of sugar in warm water (the optimum temperature is about 40 degrees).
- Pour 40 g of dry bread crumbs with sweet syrup.
- Dissolve 50 g of yeast in warm water.
- Add yeast to sugar-bread water, hide the leaven in a dark place for two days.
Popular recipes
There are many recipes for making homemade kvass. But here are collected the most simple and delicious.
Rye homemade kvass
To prepare rye kvass you will need:
- rye bread - 1.5 loaves;
- dry yeast - half a teaspoon;
- Borodino bread - 1 loaf;
- water;
- sugar.
Step-by-step process of making rye kvass at home:
- Prepare the leaven. Cut half a loaf of rye bread (be sure to take fresh) into pieces or chop it by hand. Remove the crust. Pour water over the bread and leave the sourdough for a couple of days.
- Cut two loaves of bread into cubes, dry well in a heated oven. It is important that the bread darkens only a little, but does not burn completely.
- In a pre-washed and dried jar, sourdough is poured to the bottom, then some bread crumbs, sugar and water are put. The liquid can be topped up every other day.
- Gauze is pulled over the opening of the can. Kvass is drained directly through cheesecloth. With the help of sugar and salt, you can adjust the taste of the drink.
Dry kvass drink
For those people who do not want to wait for the sourdough to be ready, there is a special dry mixture - a special concentrate, on the basis of which the drink is made. Kvass from dry kvass, prepared at home, turns out to be no worse than using sourdough.
For cooking you will need:
- dry kvass concentrate - 100 g;
- sugar - half a glass;
- dry yeast (ideally taken in large granules) - 7 pieces;
- water - filtered.
Step by step guide:
- Sterilize and dry a glass jar or bottle.
- Pour dry mixture into it, pour warm water.
- Add sugar to the jar and mix well so that it dissolves completely.
- Add yeast, stir again.
- Cover the neck of the jar or bottle with gauze. Remove the kvass in a dark, warm place for two days.
- When the kvass is matured, it can be poured into glasses or individual bottles.
According to this recipe for kvass at home, you can add additional ingredients to the drink - raisins, apple crusts or berries. Flavoring accents are added before pouring kvass into separate containers.
There is no alcohol here, so it can be drunk even by children in dosage amounts.
Homemade kvass with raisins
A raisin drink is an original and delicious way to quench your thirst. Notes of raisins add sophistication to the kvass. The taste becomes sparkling, reminiscent of champagne.
To prepare a classic bread kvass with raisins at home, you need a minimum of ingredients:
- bread - 500 g;
- sugar - 1 glass;
- dry yeast - 15-20 g;
- raisins - 50 g;
- water.
Preparation:
- Bread cut into cubes, after removing the crust. The loaf must be dried in the oven until golden brown. It is important to ensure that the crackers do not burn, otherwise the finished kvass will get a tasteless, bitter taste.
- Heat the water to a boil. Dissolve the sugar in boiling water, and then, after removing the pan from the heat, pour the crackers and remove the leaven in a cool place.
- Part of this water must be poured into a separate container to dissolve the yeast in it. Then add the yeast mixture to the bread and sugar sourdough. The wort is infused for at least 1.5 days.
- When the product is ready, it is poured into glasses or bottles through cheesecloth, avoiding the ingress of thicknesses. Before serving, add a little raisins, washed in water and soaked in boiling water.
- If you want to drink carbonated kvass, then you need to keep it in a warm place for at least 10 hours.
The article describes only a few recipes. However, you can make kvass based on rice or with the addition of horseradish: at home, you can experiment with products and get a tasty and invariably healthy product.