Nothing Wasted: Turning Older Fruit into Fizzy Water Kefir

Nothing Wasted: Turning Older Fruit into Fizzy Water Kefir

This month I had a full bowl of apples that were 'floury'. You know - you want the fresh crunch but it's not giving it. Before they went bad (or worse) I peeled and chopped them up to make apple sauce. Instead of mashing them I decided to add pepper and clove and cinnamon and then some sugar and I went too far. Actually - it's yummy just not conventional. And so I thought I'd just add 2 tablespoons of it to a 1F water kefir satchel. I poured it into jar - added the stewed apple, lidded and let it sit.

It is fun watching those bubbles form isn't it.  Turned out to be a complex apple cider style kefir. So good. So here I am letting you know about it.

And also - because there's a particular kind of guilt that comes with a bowl of fruit turning in front of you, right?  When peaches get a bit too ripe I often just pop them in the freezer whole - for a ferment. Apples with a bruise, the berries that are too soft to pick up... .but a bowl of fruit on the table or bench can make me feel like I'm not on top of things. 

So - before you reach for the compost, reach for a saucepan instead. A little gentle stewing turns "past its best" into exactly what your water kefir's second ferment has been waiting for.

This is one of my easiest and therefore favourite zero-waste tricks in the kitchen. Overripe fruit isn't spoiled fruit — it's fruit that's already partway to being sweet, soft and ready to give up its flavour. Stew it down, cool it completely, and it becomes a natural, unrefined flavouring for your bottled water kefir. The wild yeasts get a feed of real fruit sugar, your bottles come out fizzy and gently flavoured, and nothing goes in the bin. You also get to be a bit more confident with your spices and herbs because you know you were about to lose them anyway - and it's a small batch perhaps? Play. Create fun flavours. Blackberries and fresh sage. Grapefruit with chamomile tea.

You can store the result in the freezer in cubes for easy adding, or in a jar or bowl in the fridge. Ready for your next batches of kefir. Or if you made a really good one - pop it in with your milk kefir bowl with some granola. It's all win win. 

Stewed Fruit Syrup for Second Ferment Water Kefir

A simple way to rescue overripe fruit and turn it into a naturally sweet, flavour-packed syrup for flavouring your water kefir's second ferment. Great for soft stone fruit, bruised apples or pears, and berries on their last legs.

Ingredients

• 300g ripe or slightly overripe fruit (stone fruit, apples, pears, berries), roughly chopped
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tbsp raw honey or sugar (optional, to taste)
• 1 cinnamon stick or a few cloves, nutmeg, black pepper, you play with this one (optional)
• ½ lemon, zested and juiced (optional)
• 1L finished first-ferment water kefir, bottled

Method

1. Prep the fruit. Rinse and roughly chop the fruit, cutting away any genuinely spoiled or mouldy bits — a little overripeness and bruising is exactly what you want, it just means more natural sugar for the fruit to give up.

2. Stew gently. Place the fruit in a small saucepan with the water and, if using, the cinnamon stick and other herbs and spices. Simmer gently over low-medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and mashing the fruit against the side of the pan as it softens.

3. Sweeten and finish. Once the fruit has broken down into a soft, syrupy mixture, stir through the honey and lemon to taste. If using sugar, cook until that is dissolved. Remove from the heat and discard the cinnamon stick or cloves - or keep them there as the water kefir doesn't mind them.

4. Cool completely. Let the stewed fruit cool right down to room temperature — this matters, as adding it hot to your water kefir will scald the live culture and can also build up too much pressure too fast in the bottle.

5. Add to your water kefir. Spoon 1–2 tablespoons of the stewed fruit into each bottle or jar of finished first-ferment water kefir, seal, and leave at room temperature for the second ferment.

6. Second ferment and "burp." Leave the sealed bottles at room temperature for around two days to build fizz, opening the lid briefly once a day to release pressure ("burping") and check the flavour.

7. Chill and enjoy. Once it's fizzy and tastes good to you, move the bottles to the fridge to slow fermentation right down. Drink within a week or two for the best flavour and fizz. You might want to do the 2F in a jar and then strain to get a clearer liquid and then bottle that. 

If you manage to make a very lovely one - you can even pop it on toast with blue cheese or your own Milk Kefir labneh. x Just like in the picture above.