Pressure Cooker Invert Syrup

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Owly055

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2014
Messages
3,008
Reaction score
686
I'm using invert sugar syrup in kombucha making to accelerate fermentation..... It does actually help. Normally making invert sugar syrup is a messy process involving putting sugar and some water in a pan and adding an acid.... usually citric acid or cream of tarter, then cooking it using a candy thermometer to around 130F or more, at which point you have a gooey mess if it cools, so my process has been to pour the hot syrup into boiling hot water and transfer it back and forth between a couple of pans until it has all be absorbed into the water. You can of course caramelize the sugar, making dark or medium candi sugar, and you can then pour it out and let it harden. I always preferred to keep it in an easy to handle liquid state, and often made it into a very dark syrup, then added it to water while hot to avoid ending up with hard candy.
It recently dawned on me that my pressure cooker reaches 250F at 15 psi, which makes it perfect for inverting sugar without every dealing with hot sticky dangerous liquified sugar (napalm). Simply add the sugar to water, and add your acid, then pressure cook at 15 psi for 15 minutes, and you have perfect invert sugar syrup, though it will have no color. It never thickens, because it does not have to thicken to reach conversion temp as it does in an open boil.

I use a stainless steel stove top pressure cooker, but an Instant Pot or equivalent would work just as well.... I love my pressure cooker! I cooked brown rice the other day to exactly the point I like.... 10 minutes at pressure, and natural depressure. You do not need to soak beans, I use it on potatoes and numerous other foods..... and some "non food projects". Once you have the time figured out, the results are perfect every time.... highly repeatable. I seem to cook on either side of conventional open pot cooking more than I do conventionally. Either Sous Vide, or pressure cooking these days.

H.W.
 
Back
Top