Buttermilk is not a common recipe ingredient but, from time to time, you’ll stumble on a recipe that requires it. It is so easy to make, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been doing it for years.
Originally, buttermilk was the term given to the liquid left over from churning butter. Before cream could be skimmed from whole milk, the milk was left to sit and separate.
In our forefathers time, buttermilk was also the term given to milk that had gone sour (and in the days before refrigeration that was a regular event) when it would begin to curdle.
In New Zealand, Kiwis throw away 8,426 tonnes of dairy products every year! When it comes to ‘dates on our dairy’ we often throw them away on their best before date – just because.
A reminder folks, that ‘best before‘ relates to quality and ‘used by’ is not to be messed with. How long after the best before date is safe? Eventually all dairy products go off. Use your senses and sensibility. If the bottle is bulging, there is a foul smell or a pack is leaking – discard it. Take a whiff and if it smells normal, pour a small glass. If there are no lumps, take a small taste test. You make the call!
Making Cultured Buttermilk
If you have a bottle of THAT type of milk, or if you have a perfectly good bottle of milk in the fridge for that matter, we can replicate the buttermilk process. To avoid confusion, let’s call it cultured buttermilk as it seems to be a better descriptor – replicating the ‘sour milk’ of yesteryear (not the literal butter-milk from the butter making process as using full cream it can be relatively sweet).
You can make cultured buttermilk very easily by mixing regular milk you’d buy from your local supermarket (or farmer if you are lucky) and lemon juice or white vinegar. This acidic element helps curdle the milk before your eyes.
You can make cultured buttermilk in ten minutes!
Don’t be put off by the coagulation. Give it a quick stir and the lumps will dissipate, resulting in a thickened, watery, yoghurt texture.
What recipes need buttermilk?
Buttermilk can be used in pancakes, waffles, scones, panna cotta, muffins – you name it. Check out my Buttermilk & Chia Scones.
While our forefathers may have consumed buttermilk by the glass (the traditional byproduct of butter making) it was often sweet due to the full cream. Cultured buttermilk will smell great but taste sour so not of acquiring taste to drink!
Cultured Buttermilk Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup of regular milk
- 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice, approx 1 lemon
Method
- Strain the lemon over a sieve into a bowl (to remove pips). If you are concerned with how much is too much, the average lemon will contain between 1-2 tablespoons of juice.
- Pour in milk.
- Leave to rest for 5-10 minutes. You’ll see it coagulate before your eyes. Give it a quick stir then get baking happy.
It really is that simple. Enjoy.
January 16, 2019
Hi Lynley, I use this recipe as a ‘cheats’ buttermilk which is GREAT for baking, but won’t have the same qualities you’ll need if you are wanting to use it as a starter. Best look for a cultured buttermilk ‘starter’ for your cheese.
November 12, 2017
Question- this version of cultured buttermilk- can it be used as a mesophillic starter (OMG the autocorrect changed that to pedophile starter- literally dying here) – as all the cheese recipes call for a mesophilic starter and according to Aunty Google you can use cultured buttermilk as the starter