How to Make Buttermilk (2024)

FAQs

How can I make my own buttermilk? ›

For every 1 cup of milk, stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes. You can scale the recipe up or down depending on how much you need.

To make 1 cup of buttermilk just mix ingredients. To make a delicious quart of buttermilk just mix 1/2 cup of dry buttermilk powder with 3-1/2 cups water.

This quick and easy buttermilk substitute is incredibly simple, and my hope is that you have what you need at home already. Here's what you need: Lemon juice OR vinegar. Fresh or bottled lemon juice OR distilled white vinegar will work equally well.

Store-bought buttermilk is thicker, tangier, and more acidic than traditional or homemade buttermilk. If you're preparing a recipe that calls for buttermilk, it's best to stick with store-bought, especially in baked goods that depend on precise leavening.

Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in Western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most modern buttermilk in Western countries is cultured separately.

Buttermilk adds a creamy, slightly tangy flavor to both sweet and savory recipes. But if you don't have buttermilk on hand, you cannot substitute regular milk instead, because it doesn't have the same properties.

You can make homemade buttermilk with 1 cup of milk and 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Simply stir the two ingredients together and let them sit for 5 minutes. The milk will react with the acidity of the vinegar and curdle slightly, creating the same, tangy, creaminess of store bought buttermilk!

Sometimes overculturing (too long or too warm) can cause the buttermilk to curdle or become lumpy before it separates fully. To make a smooth consistency, simply whisk it. (Remove some of the whey if you like, or stir it back in.)

If your milk is too cold it might not curdle properly. If this happens then don't worry, it can be fixed. Just let it sit on the counter until room temperature and then add more lemon juice and let it curdle. Distilled white vinegar also works as an alternative to lemon juice.

Guidelines from agricultural programs at various universities recommend consuming buttermilk within three weeks of the date stamped on the package. In the test kitchen, we've found that buttermilk won't turn truly bad (signified by mold growth) until at least three weeks after opening.

Is buttermilk supposed to be thick or thin? ›

It's more like a strong yogurt smell. I used to have that smell too, but then I saw a doctor. Buttermilk is a little thicker than regular milk and it has natural little lumps in it.

1 cup buttermilk = 1 Tablespoon white vinegar + enough milk to measure 1 cup. 1 cup buttermilk = 1 Tablespoon lemon juice + enough milk to measure 1 cup.

Yes, you can substitute sour cream! Thin it with milk or water to get the right consistency. For each cup of buttermilk needed, use 3/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup liquid. Editor's Tip: Sour cream has a higher fat content, so this will result in richer-tasting foods.

Yes, you can swap them in a recipe, but it's not as simple as switching buttermilk for heavy cream/heavy cream for buttermilk. For example, if you're replacing buttermilk with heavy cream you'll probably need to switch out your baking soda for baking powder.

But if you don't have buttermilk on hand, you cannot substitute regular milk instead, because it doesn't have the same properties. Fortunately, there are a number of buttermilk substitutes you can create with just a few simple ingredients that you probably already have in your refrigerator.

Buttermilk is low in fat and contains more protein per cup than milk. It's also lower in calories than milk and high in calcium, vitamin B12, and potassium. And because it contains live cultures (similar to yogurt), it's more easily digestible than milk.

Cultured buttermilk is produced from low-fat or skimmed milk and has a stable shelf-life of about 4 weeks. It is fermented with a DL culture and the fermentation takes place at approximately 22 °C for about 20 h. This temperature is well below the optimum temperature of 30 °C for both lactococci and leuconostocs.