Apple cider: health benefits and how to make it easily

Apple cider is probiotic and offers different benefits to your health. The tasty fermented drink is packed with bacteria, vitamins and polyphenols can help restore intestinal flora and improve digestive function.

Cider is made from raw apple juice. According Live Strongthe fruits are crushed and cold-pressed, then left to ferment for up to three weeks and then left to mature for several months.

You get a sweet and smooth cider in three or four days; It is the type of cider that we will teach you to make.

Apple cider stands out for its high content of LAB, or lactic acid bacteria, such as Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus casei, Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Oenococcus oeni.

The drink is rich in vitamin C y antioxidantsespecially polyphenolic compounds which contains the apple. The fruit is rich in phytochemicals (quercetin, catechin, chlorogenic acid, anthocyanin).

Los polyphenols and phytonutrients of apples have effects cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, as described by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH).

Different types of cider

Depending on the degree of sweetness, the cider can be sweet, dry, semi-dry or extra dry.

Hay alcoholic and non-alcoholic apple cider. The non-alcoholic drink can be found as “sidra” o “soft cider”. Fermentation converts all the sugars in the cider to alcohol; therefore, this cider will no longer be sweet when drunk, it is dry or hard alcoholic cider.

Apple juice and apple cider are not the same

It is important to mention that sometimes, in certain places like Australia and North America they also call unfermented apple juice cider.

The Cider It is produced when raw apples are crushed and pressed to extract the liquid. It does not filter. This makes the cider appear cloudy.since it contains pulp and sediments. It is more acidic and contains more flavonoids than apple juice.

The Apple juice It has been filtered out to remove solids and has been pasteurized so that it stays fresh for longer, which removes most of the flavonoids and fibers, explica la HSPH.

How to make apple cider

Ingredients: 2 kilos of apples

1. Wash and boil the jars or glass bottles that will be used to contain the squeezed apple juice.

2. Core and cut the apples with skin previously washed, then process them in a food grinder, blender or processor.

3. Place the crushed apple pulp in a muslin sack, and squeeze the juice. You can also pass the mixture through a very fine sieve or strainer.

4. Let the juice rest at 72 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 to 4 days. Clean bottles should be filled to just below the brim and capped with new, clean cotton plugs instead of a regular cap or stopper. The cotton plug is used for safety.

Be sure to use strong, sturdy glass bottles that won’t break during fermentation.

If pressure builds up during fermentation, the cotton will pop out and release the pressure.

After 3-4 days the sediment will start to settle as the fermentation bubbles rise.

5. If you want sweet, smooth cider, it’s time to stop the fermentation. Extracting the transparent liquid. Store in a bottle leaving ½ inch headspace for expansion.

Ready! You already have your apple cider.

He National Center for Home Food Preservation at the University of Georgia recommends that young children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems they should not drink apple cider unless it has been pasteurized to kill harmful bacteria.

To pasteurize, heat the cider to at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit and 185 degrees Fahrenheit maximum.

Store the cider in the refrigerator for immediate use or up to 5 days. If you want to keep the drink for longer, you can also freeze it.

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