Content

• Ingredients
• Traditional pruno
• Simple pruno
• To step
• Method 1 of 2: Making traditional pruno
• Method 2 of 2: Make simple pruno
• Warnings

Pruno, also called prison wine, is a simple, home-made wine often made by prisoners. Because pruno is often made with improvised ingredients, the wine does not always taste very good. Pruno is quite easy to make, but some recipes create the perfect environment for the Clostridium botulinumbacteria. This bacteria causes botulism, a form of food poisoning that can be deadly. Therefore, you have to be very careful when making this wine yourself.

Ingredients

Traditional pruno

• 10 oranges, peeled and cut into large pieces
• 10 apples, cut into large pieces
• 225 grams plus a tablespoon (15 grams) of sugar
• 2¼ teaspoons (1 packet with about 7 grams) of yeast
• 700 ml of water
• 225 grams of fruit cocktail
• 40 grams of raisins

Simple pruno

• 10 oranges, peeled
• 225 grams of fruit cocktail
• 500 ml of water
• 50 sugar cubes
• 6 teaspoons (30 ml) of ketchup

To step

Method 1 of 2: Making traditional pruno

1. Gather your supplies. The traditional pruno made by prisoners is made with the few tools and ingredients available in prison. At home, however, you can make your own variation on pruno using all the handy tools and ingredients available in a modern kitchen. To make traditional pruno at home you need the following:
   • Blender
   • Wooden spoon
   • Large saucepan
   • Small bowl
   • Resealable plastic bag with a capacity of 4 liters
   • Clean bath towel
   • Heat pad
   • Sieve
   • Cheesecloth
   • Big bowl
   • Funnel
   • Large sterile bottle or jar with lid
2. Puree the fruit. In a large saucepan, mix the apple and orange pieces with the fruit cocktail and raisins. Use an immersion blender to mash the fruit until it is juicy and pulpy, but still contains a few whole pieces of fruit.
   • Move the hand blender through the bowl while pureeing so that the fruit is evenly mashed.
3. Boil the fruit, sugar and water. When the fruit is ready, add 225 grams of sugar and 500 ml of water and stir to mix everything together. Cover the pan, put the fruit mixture on the stove and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir the mixture regularly to prevent it from burning.
   • When the fruit is boiling, let it simmer for another half hour to kill any bacteria. Keep stirring the mixture from time to time.
4. Let the fruit cool. After you let the fruit simmer for half an hour, remove it from the heat and let it cool. The fruit should not cool completely. Make sure it is slightly warmer than room temperature so that the yeast can do its work. While cooling, stir the fruit from time to time so that it cools evenly.
   • It will take about half an hour to an hour for the fruit to cool.
5. Activate the yeast. In a bowl, mix the yeast with 250 ml of warm and 3 teaspoons of sugar. Set the bowl aside for 5-10 minutes to activate the yeast.
   • When the yeast is activated it starts to foam and bubble in the bowl.
6. Add the yeast to the fruit and pour the mixture into the bag. Pour the yeast mixture over the fruit and stir to mix everything together. Put the mixture in a plastic bag. Push as much air out of the bag as possible and then close it.
   • It is important to warm the fruit mixture because the yeast will die if it gets too cold.
7. Keep the mixture in a warm, dark place. Wrap a clean bath towel around the bag with the fruit mixture to keep it warm. Then place the towel on an electric heating pad that you have set on a low setting. Place the heating pad with the towel and the fruit bag in a dark place, such as a cupboard.
   • If you don't have an electric heating pad, fill a pitcher with warm water. Check the water every 6 to 12 hours and add warm water as needed if the pitcher starts to get cold.
   • The reason that the fruit mixture has to stay warm is because the yeast then lives to be able to ferment the fruit and convert it into alcohol.
8. Open the bag daily. As the yeast converts the sugars in the bag into alcohol and carbon dioxide, the bag slowly fills with gas. To prevent the bag from popping, take it out of the towel once or twice a day and open it to get the gas out and release the pressure.
   • Close the bag, wrap the towel around it and place it back in its dark spot on the heating pad.
   • When the bag stops swelling, the yeast has converted all the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which means that the pruno is ready. This will take about five days.
9. Strain the pruno. When the bag no longer swells, you can strain the mixture. Place a strainer with cheesecloth in it on a bowl. Pour the mixture into the strainer and let the juice run into the bowl.
   • To get as much juice out as possible, wring out the piece of cheesecloth with the fruit still in it.
10. Put the pruno in a bottle and refrigerate it before serving. Insert a funnel into the opening of a sterile glass jar or bottle. Pour the pruno into the bottle. Put the bottle in the fridge and let the wine chill for several hours or overnight.
    • You can also store your pruno in a large weck jar or a large soft drink bottle with a volume of 2 liters.

Method 2 of 2: Make simple pruno

1. Gather some supplies. This simple pruno is more like the kind of wine that prisoners make, so you don't need any special tools and cutlery. You do need the following:
   • Resealable plastic bag with a capacity of 4 liters
   • Three clean towels
   • Large bowl or sink
   • Hot running water
   • Spoon or T-shirt
2. Mix and puree the fruit. Remove the wedges from the oranges and put them in the resealable plastic bag. Add the fruit cocktail and seal the bag tightly. Squeeze the fruit in the bag between your fingers so that you get small pieces.
   • The fruit is ready when it has the consistency of fruit pulp mixed with paste.
   • Instead of oranges, you can also use apples, pears, peaches, and other fruits you have at home.
3. Add water and heat the fruit. Open the bag and pour in water. Then close the bag again. Place the bag of pureed fruit in the sink or a bowl and run the hot tap water over it. Leave the fruit in the hot water for 15 minutes. Add hot water again every 5 o'clock.
   • If you don't have a bowl or stopper for the sink, run the tap water over the fruit for 15 minutes.
4. Pack and store the mixture. When the mixture is nicely warmed by the water, wrap towels around the bag to keep the fruit warm. Then store the mixture in a dark place for 48 hours.
   • The heat is needed for fermentation, otherwise the wild yeast will die instead of converting the sugars into alcohol.
5. Add sugar and ketchup. After two days, remove the towels from around the bag. The bag should be swollen from the gas, so open the bag to get the gas out. Add the sugar cubes and ketchup. Close the bag and let the mixture sit for 10 to 15 minutes for the sugar to dissolve.
   • You will need about 3.5 bags of ketchup for this recipe.
   • If you don't have ketchup at home, you can also use a slice of bread cut into small pieces.
6. Heat the bag again. When the sugar has dissolved, knead the mixture to mix the fruit, sugar and ketchup. Then heat the mixture again with hot tap water.
   • Let the fruit soak in the hot water or run under the hot tap for half an hour.
7. Pack and store the mixture. After you have warmed the mixture in the water bath for half an hour, wrap the towels around the bag again. Store the bag in a dark place and leave the mixture alone for 24 hours.
   • Once you have done this, it will take another 72 hours for the mixture to convert to alcohol.
8. Heat the bag daily. For the next three days, open the bag daily to let the gases out. Also heat the bag under the hot tap for 15 minutes. Then wrap the towels around the bag again and leave it in the dark place for a day.
   • When the bag no longer swells, the pruno is ready.
9. Strain or skim the wine before drinking it. After three days or when it stops swelling with gas, open the bag and scoop out the fruit pulp so that you are left with only liquid.
   • If possible, use a tea strainer, a clean sock, or a clean T-shirt to strain the fruit pulp from the liquid.
   • Before serving, pour the wine into cups or return it to the plastic bag and drink from the bag.

Warnings

• Potatoes can contain traces of botulism, so don't use them when making simple pruno.