Homemade Soda Recipes
There's lots of different ways to approach this, so you'll end up doing it with whatever you happen to have on hand at the time. I'll give you a few methods, and you can pick what works for you and experiment from there:
WATER KEFIR
I have water kefir grains that I use to make soda, but that's just one way, and sometimes I use them, sometimes I don't. With water kefir grains, you just put water, 1/4 c. sugar, 1/2 lemon, a couple of figs or a small handful of raisins, and a cheesecloth bag with the grains into a 1/2 gallon jar of water, leaving a little space at the top. Yes, you can use regular kefir grains and eventually they will become water kefir grains. I purchased water kefir grains which were grains which have only been used to make water kefir for 20 some years. They never really grew for me, so I don't have any to share. I use glass
jars with mason lids for maximum fizz. I haven't had one explode yet, but I leave them under the counter just in case. The soda kefir is usually done in a couple of days, but I leave it for 4-5 days or whenever I need it (it's in a rather cool spot).
WHEY SODA
I prefer fresh raw whey that is strained off of clabbered raw milk or kefir for soda, not leftover from cheesemaking, though you could use that as well. My favorite whey for soda is that which is strained off of goat cheese (goat milk that is left at room temperature until curdled; it may be made with up to 3 consecutive milkings added together to the same jar, always at room temp or fresh).
I fill 2 gallon wine jugs 1/2 full with whey, and then add 1/2 can frozen juice concentrate to each jug, fill the rest of the way with water, and cover, but not too tightly. Don't do this in a glass jar with a mason lid or you may have an explosion. Adding a wedge of lemon or pineapple peels helps make more fizz. Drink when it's fizzy, 2 or 3 days. It loses sweetness and gets fizzier the longer it sits out, so if you like it where it's at, refrigerate it. Be careful not to cover with a tight lid!
OVERRIPE FRUIT/FRUIT PEELINGS SODA
Follow the same guidelines as above, but used fresh ripe fruit such as pears or apples and/or fruit peelings. If you use whole fruit, it will actually whiten and preserve it and you can use it in recipes. Actually, I discovered how to make whey soda by attempting to preserve apples and pears. We found we loved the "juice" so went on to find other ways to make it.
If you leave the soda out at room temp it may start to get a bit of a kick to it, but we like it that way, too :-). If something goes wrong, you'll get a poopy unappetizing smell and you won't like it. That has only happened to me a couple of times when I made the soda with a bunch of fruit peelings and cores and egg shells (for the calcium) and then forgot about it
under the sink for too long. It stunk really bad. That's typical of fermented foods.. they smell horrible if they've gone bad so there's no need to worry.. you WILL know if it isn't good :-).
Oh, and it's ok to combine methods. I often add some of my kefir soda to my big batch of fruit juice soda and then will continue to add whey as it may become available and then, perhaps, add some more fruit juice and leave it out overnight.. it becomes the perpetual juice bucket (I use a 2 gallon ice cream pail). Also, the thicker stuff on the bottom is the beneficial yeasts.. full of B-vitamins and good stuff, make sure you don't let it go to waste (I always drink it myself, since I figure I'm the one who needs the most nutrition in the family :-).
Check out my blog for my polypore soda post.
