In the winter months, we eat a lot of pineapple. I know, I’m supposed to promote homegrown food and local eating, that’s what we’re about. But…I still love pineapple. I cant get around it. And in January, they well them for $1 each around here. Every year, after we’re done canning pineapple, I take a look a the incredible mound of pineapple peels and it just feels wasteful. There’s a lot of tasty pineapple still clinging to those peels!
Sure, the compost worms get an extra treat, but they can wait their turn!
There’s still more to be made with those pineapple peels. I ran across a recipe for a traditionally fermented tepache in the All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving. That book blows me away with all the creative and off the wall ways to preserve foods, well beyond simple canning.
Tepache, or “tepache de piña,” is a traditional South American Pineapple drink, made by fermenting leftover pineapple peels with a bit of sugar and spices. It’s naturally probiotic and super tasty. And…just a touch boozy.
To make Tepache, or just about any home fermented fruit or vegetable, you’ll want a fermentation kit. That’s a water lock that allows pressure to escape but doesn’t allow outside bacteria or yeasts into the ferment. This helps keep it from getting contaminated and developing off flavors (or turning into vinegar).
For this recipe, I’m using a kit by Fermentools that looks a lot like a homebrew setup that you attach to a mason jar.
There are a number of brands of mason jar fermentation kit to choose from. Try this one. Or this one. I’m hoping at some point to try out these silicone fermentation lids from Mason Tops because they look super easy to clean.
Tepache is traditionally made with piloncillo or brown sugar, and it results in a dark caramel colored beverage. It’s only slightly alcoholic because of the short fermentation time, so beer sometimes is added to kick it up a notch.
I made this batch with raw cane sugar, which has a small amount of molasses, but clearly not enough to bring out the dark caramel color. It resulted in a more pronounced pineapple-y flavor, but lacks the richness that the molasses brings. Next time I’ll go out of my way to get a hold of some piloncillo.
Traditionally Fermented Tepache
Adapted from All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving
Yield: Roughly 6 to 8 cups
Fermentation Time: 24 to 72 hours
Batch Size: Half Gallon Canning Jar or a half batch in a wide mouth quart
1 cup Sugar (ideally, piloncillo, but brown sugar also works)
1 or 2 Pineapples, peels and cores only
6 cups Water
1 Cinnamon Stick (optional)
2 Cloves, whole (optional)
- Wash the pineapple and peel. Pineapples are easy to peel if you start by cutting off the top and bottom, and then slicing vertical strips of peel off from around the outside with a sharp knife.
- Quarter the pineapple vertically, and cut the core away from each quarter.
- Reserve the actual pineapple for another use.
- Pack the peels and cores into a half gallon wide mouth canning jar. Add the spices, if using.
- Dissolve the sugar in 6 cups warm water. Pour the water and sugar mixture over the pineapple scraps, and secure the top of your mason jar with a fermentation kit.
- Allow the mixture to ferment at room temperature for 12 to 48 hours.
- Remove the fermentation kit and filter the mixture through cheesecloth.
- Apply a standard wide-mouth mason jar lid, and allow the mixture to ferment at room temperature for another 6 to 12 hours to develop carbonation. The solid lid will keep the bubbles from escaping and allow it to get fizzy.
- After that extra carbonation period, store the tepache in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it. It should keep for about 2 weeks, if it lasts that long.
- Serve poured over ice, mixed with sparkling water or as part of a cocktail.
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I just bottled my first batch, have you ever made a second batch with the same pineapple?
Awesome! No, I’ve never used the same pineapple twice. I would think that most the sugars and flavor would be in the first batch. I do use the vegetables and bones twice when I’m making bone broth, and the second batch is always tasty too. So maybe there’s enough pineapple flavor left, give it a try! I’d love to hear your results.
Maybe I missed it but I don’t think you said what type of yeast you use? The only reason I ask is because there are so many different types out there
This recipe is a wild ferment with no added yeast. You’re relying on natural yeast present on the fruit, and it worked wonderfully for me. If you’d prefer, feel free to add a wine yeast.
I used a plastic pitcher for about 5 days now it has few white patches on top,
I’m scared to use it
Looks like you got mold contamination. In most cases, it’s still fine, just scoop the mold off the top, but obviously, you have to use your best judgment because you’re the one that’s drinking it (and I’m not a doctor or a microbiologist…). If you’re using an open fermenter like a pitcher, fill a Ziploc bag with water and place that on the top. That’ll hold everything under the waterline and help prevent surface mold.
Can you substitute the beer for white wine?
Yes, of course. This would be delicious in white wine.
A pharmacist friend told me that potent pesticides are used on pineapples. I stopped making something similar due to this info. How do you wash the pineapples? Do you worry about pesticides?
For my own use, I’ve stopped making this with anything other than organic pineapples. But that said, unless you’re on an all organic diet the companies packaging prepared foods are making pesticide-laden food every day. A can of tomatoes from conventionally sprayed crops or even just applesauce. Those are some of the heaviest sprayed fruits you can buy, and they’re eaten all the time. I’d worry much more about that then a very occasionally made drink from pineapple peels once or twice a year.