Why did my ginger simple syrup develop such a disgusting consistency?
I made a ginger simple syrup. I took a large amount of ginger, simmered it in water to cover for an hour, drained it (reserving the water), and repeated the process with fresh water. I did this three times. I took the reserved ginger water added a bit of sugar and reduced to maybe 1/3rd. Let it cool and stuck it in the fridge. It was cloudy and clearly had some fine ginger particulate floating around in it. It was very strong and tasted great.
I used it for a couple of weeks to make ginger based drinks, and then it got stuck behind something in the fridge to be rediscovered this morning. I made it 43 days ago, and it's probably been untouched in the fridge for 28 days. I checked to see if it was still good and it smelled ok, however, it had the consistency of mucus. It was really, really disgusting. I did not taste it. My wife tried to throw it out but started gagging as it oozed out of the jar. Naturally, I got a camera (unfortunately it's acting up and I can't upload the photos, hopefully they'll follow).
What on earth caused this to happen?
Best Answer
My guess is that:
1) The syrup wasn't acdic enough
and
2) The sugar concentration wasn't high enough.
If the sugar concentration is high enough, the sugar so-to-speak draws the water out of bacteria by osmosis thus killing them. If you don't like the syrup to be too sweet, try adding lemon juice.
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Why is my simple syrup thick?
Remember \u2013 the longer you boil it, the thicker the syrup will be when cooled. To test if the sugar is completely dissolved: Using spoon, scoop up a small amount of the syrup. You should not be able to see any sugars crystals in the liquid.What consistency should simple syrup be?
What consistency is simple syrup? It is fairly thin and easy to pour (nowhere near as thick as maple syrup even). However, rich simple syrup will be thicker than the regular version. For a thicker syrup: you can bring the mixture to a boil and allow some of the water to evaporate.Can you overcook simple syrup?
If you were to cook it for longer, you would reduce the syrup, increasing the concentration of sugar in the solution. You'd have to reduce it an awful lot before you burnt this. However, if you reduce it too much, then the liquid will become solid when it is cooled.How can you tell when simple syrup is bad?
How to Tell if Simple Syrup Has Gone Bad?What is Simple Syrup? And how to make it!
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