Why it works: Molasses and ginger are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,116 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Ginger Beer
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
Combine 1 pint of molasses and 2 tablespoons of ginger in a pail.
Add boiling water and stir well.
Fill the pail with cold water, leaving room for 1 pint of yeast.
Wait until the mixture is lukewarm, then add the yeast.
Ferment and bottle
Place the pail on the hearth overnight.
Bottle the ginger beer in the morning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Molasses
- Provides sweetness and the sugars that yeast feeds on to produce fermentation.
- Ginger
- Adds the sharp, spicy aroma and flavour that defines the drink.
- Yeast
- Ferments the sugars, producing carbonation and the drink's gentle alcohol.
The step that matters
Wait until the mixture is lukewarm before adding the yeast. Yeast is killed by very hot liquid, so adding it too early can stop fermentation. Water that is too cold slows yeast activity, so the mixture should be lukewarm.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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