OK, folks, I had a great day in the kitchen, playing around with making buttermilk, yogurt, and ricotta, and now I find myself parked ¼ mile south of Interstate 80 as Lydia attends a barn dance. I think it’s 5° outside. I’ll have to turn the truck on soon to warm up. Let’s see if I can remember learning anything about buttermilk today.
While modern buttermilk isn’t the same as what our great-grandparents traditionally used, we value it just the same for its ability to produce fluffy biscuit and pancakes.
Buttermilk isn’t at the top of my list for prep items. It probably doesn’t even make the top 100. But it is there somewhere, because we have to have it for making caramel syrup, which is absolutely divine on top of pumpkin waffles, or for dipping apple wedges, or topping vanilla ice cream and banana slices, or you know, just dipping your fingers in.
However, for some people buttermilk is going to be a higher priority item, especially those who drink buttermilk for health reasons. More on that later.
Those drinking buttermilk for health are going to want real buttermilk—the stuff that actually contains the live cultures. Fortunately, making buttermilk at home—and keeping the culture going to make more—is super easy.
Fresh Buttermilk from Live Cultures
1 cup fresh milk
1 tablespoon buttermilk with active cultures
Combine ingredients in a canning jar and just barely screw the lid on. Let it sit at room temperature for 8-12 hours. The longer it incubates, the tangier it will be. Bubbles will appear on the side of the jar and the contents will thicken. Place the buttermilk in the refrigerator for 6 hours, and then it will be ready to use.
Buttermilk Powder
If you only need real buttermilk occasionally, several companies offer a powdered option. It’s just like powdered milk—just add water and mix. Most grocery stores offer at least one option for it right next to all the other powdered milk. This powder works quite well in cheese making.
Buttermilk substitutes
The following substitutes cannot be used for making most cheeses that call for live buttermilk cultures, but they do work fairly well in baking and cooking.
Vinegar or lemon juice. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Add regular milk to yield 1 cup. Stir and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Once it curdles, it can be used in your recipes.
Yogurt. Yogurt (or sour cream) can be thinned with a little milk until it reaches the consistency of buttermilk. Then it’s ready to use in your recipe.
Buttermilk has a few health benefits and medicinal uses as well. I can remember my grandmother drinking it often to deal with ulcers.
Hypertension, 3 tablespoons per day lowered blood pressure in both men and women.[1]
High cholesterol, 3 tablespoons per day lowered cholesterol levels in both men and women.[2]
Unfortunately, buttermilk can be a bit sour for some. However, it is easily hidden in a smoothie.
Links to related posts:
[1] V Conway, et al., Effect of buttermilk consumption on blood pressure in moderately hypercholesterolemic men and women, Nutrition, January 2014, Vol 30 No 1, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24206823/ (accessed 11 March 2022).
[2] V Conway V, et al., Impact of buttermilk consumption on plasma lipids and surrogate markers of cholesterol homeostasis in men and women, Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases, December 2013, Vol 23 No 12, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23786821/ (accessed 11 March 2022).
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When I was young, I can remember Mama making a gallon of milk from dried powdered milk, adding a cup of buttermilk and let it sit on the counter for a day or so. From what I can remember, it was good.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great information!
ReplyDeleteI found your caramel syrup recipe in an April 2020 post-do you use buttermilk in place of the milk and vinegar in it?
The original recipe calls for buttermilk, but I usually use milk and vinegar or lemon juice.
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