Getting Cultured

[vakkotaur]

When I made butter a couple weeks ago the byproduct was "churn buttermilk" which I found to be good, but jmaynard did not as he prefers cultured buttermilk. While cultured buttermilk is available around here, it's the low fat version, which starts with skim milk. That has been something of a complaint of Jay's for a while, that the buttermilk, especially one brand, is, he says, "wimpy."

Last year, when I was experimenting with homemade soda-pop, it started partly because of this page and I remembered the page about making buttermilk. This was not the byproduct of butter production, but the infecting inoculating of milk with specific bacteria, thus the use of the word cultured. It seemed simple enough: Get a bit of fairly fresh cultured buttermilk, pour a cup or so into a clean jar, fill with milk, seal, shake, let sit in a warm room for a day or so, and it should be ready but for refrigeration.

A couple days ago I cleaned up a couple quart Mason jars, bought a half pint of cultured buttermilk with the expiration date the farthest out I could find (best chance of live and lively bacteria), and a half gallon of whole milk (Oddly, I didn't see any brand calling it "Whole milk" as every brand said it was "Vitamin D milk" - but isn't vitamin D added to skim and 2% as well?). I followed the directions and started a jar going.

About 24 hours later it looked like it had clabbered (turned thick) to the point it looked lumpy to me. I sampled it and it tasted like cultured buttermilk to me (a unique but not pleasing taste, IMO) and so chilled it. Jay sampled it and said it tasted right, then said something about seeing if he'd get sick in a while. An understandable concern as leaving milk out intentionally warm has a certain weirdness to it to someone used to it being cold almost all the time. Later I knew things has worked as Jay had more of the stuff. I've started another jar going.

Once chilled, the whole milk derived buttermilk is quite thick indeed and seems reluctant to leave the side of the jar. I haven't heard any complaints about it being wimpy. It still seems if not lumpy, very nearly so, to me.

Comments

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The cultured buttermilk you buy at the store is made from a reduced fat milk, probably 1%, which is why it is runnier than if you culture from whole milk.

Buttermilk left over from cottage style buttermaking is also quite low in fat because, of course, the butter has been removed. Since normal buttermaking starts from clabbered cream, the natural buttermilk is sour tasting but not very thick. It does, however, usually have tiny flakes of butter floating in it.

I use cultured buttermilk in baking quite a bit, but don't care for it as a drink. I like natural buttermilk, but it's almost impossible to get any more. I used to get it in Michigan from the place where I bought unhomogenized milk, with the cream that floats to the top. They made and sold butter and the byproduct buttermilk.

Cheese and yogurt are also made from milk that has been inoculated and allowed to stand at room temperature or even incubated at around 100F. "Spoiled" milk is rarely spoiled in fact, just changed.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm aware of the various dairy products and at least some of the means of production. Growing up in Wisconsin tends to have that effect, even if some details get forgotten.

The acid of the cultured (and I suppose clabbered cream derived - I didn't clabber the cream) buttermilk being something for baking soda or similar to react against for leavening is the real key to "yummy buttermilk $ITEM." One thing I found amusing was that for chocolate cake a person could substitute tomato juice (also acidic) for the buttermilk and get the same result, though the cake would be perhaps a bit tangier. I haven't had any great urge to try it.

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

My landlady (with whom I currently share a kitchen) insists on buying whole, nonhomogenized milk. If it gets slightly too old (which it frequently does, since there are only two of us using it and she insists on buying it in gallons) the cream tends to separate and no amount of shaking it up will get rid of the ensuing "lumpiness" which is anathema to my mouth. I cannot imagine intentionally going for milk which is in any way "lumpy".

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

The lumpiness I'm not sure about, as the smell and sharp taste put me off. Jay says, "It makes your taste buds stand up and say 'Howdy!'" No, it makes mine yell, "Duck and cover!"

The lumpiness doesn't help. I don't like tapioca as pudding shouldn't have lump. I wonder if there is homogenized or otherwise de-lumped tapioca available anywhere.

I wonder where one gets NON-homogenized milk. I've not seen such available, but then I don't live in a large city either.

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

To my knowledge, places such as Whole Foods or perhaps a dairy farm or farmers' market.

"The lumpiness doesn't help", but my main objection to tapioca is the taste. And I'm totally with you on buttermilk - it should exist only for the making of biscuits, doughnuts & pancakes.

[temperlj.livejournal.com]

Forgive me but
*Calvin face*

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

I quite agree. I can make the stuff, but I don't care to drink it. It's not food, it's a biology experiment.

It reminds me of a skit/scene from You Can't Do That On Television:

"Do you know what that is?"

* eating some * "Sure, it's spumoni." * eats some more *

"No, that's my culture of Peruvian Deathwort fungus!"

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

Damn, I miss that show. *sigh*

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

So do I. I can see snippets on youtube, but if whoever has the rights to the show ever has the good sense to release it on DVD it's getting added to the collection. And hopefully they'd include the "controversial" episodes that weren't aired in one market or another or were only aired once.