I've been hankering for a freeze-dryer for a few years now. I was supposed to get one as a bonus for all the work I put into repairing, painting, and staging our house for sale. But instead, I let my husband get a tractor for this house.
One of the foods I want to freeze-dry is sour cream. I've tried commercial options and using yogurt. I haven't been happy with them. The sour cream powder from Hoosier Farms rates an F. Plain yogurt gets a C- or D for fresh use. It usually works in baking. This new substitute? Read on.
Last week I read about an incredible sour cream substitute. I thought it might be too good to be true.
Fortunately, the substitute is fantastic. And easy. And not really too expensive. And at the grocery store. You need just two ingredients. The first is Media Crema. It's manufactured by Nestle and is a product of Mexico (unfortunately, I know). The second ingredient is white vinegar. And you can make it in less than a minute.
Sour Cream Substitute
1 can (7.6 oz) Media Crema
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Whisk the vinegar into the Media Crema. Chill 1 hour. Serve.
The ingredients in Media Cream are light cream, carrageenan, sodium alginate, disodium phosphate, and sodium citrate. It's basically whipping cream with preservatives.
How would I rate this sour cream substitute? I'd give it an A-. I microwaved a potato to test it out. While it doesn't taste just like fresh, it is really darn close. The color is a little off, about like onion soup mix dip, where it would substitute perfectly for sour cream. I liked it on the potato just fine--way, way better than that horrid-tasting expensive powder, and much better than yogurt as well.
Give it a try, and then stock up. While the shelf-life isn't great--about a year, Media Crema can be used for making a lot of other foods, including ice cream. It shouldn't hang around long enough to go bad.
Family reviews: OK, I made this substitute two or three days ago. The rest of the family just tasted a little bit on their fingertips at that time. Tonight we had baked potatoes for dinner, and I put both this substitute and regular sour cream on the table. Surprisingly, everyone tried the substitute. And everyone really liked it.
9.24.23
Isn't there a sour cream powder you can buy at those LTS websites? I think there is. Maybe its at a bulk foods store website. I remember seeing it somewhere. I live in WV there ain't too much "Mexican" foods in the stores around here lol
ReplyDeleteThe sour cream powder I've had is absolutely nasty. The Media Crema and vinegar was really, really good.
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